The battle for live video bubbles as Twitter tests ‘Go Live’ button in Android
Don’t tell YouTube, but Facebook and Twitter are on the brink of a live video battle that could have huge implications on the social media war. Twitter owned Periscope was largely seen as the dominant force in live video, but when Facebook flipped their own switch on the feature, interest ballooned, attracting record-breaking viewership levels. Now Twitter is striking back.
According to The Verge a small subset of Twitter users are seeing a “Go Live” video button in their Twitter Android app. The integration, however, is less than optimal:
- If a user has Periscope installed, the button launches Periscope
- Otherwise, the button opens the Google Play Store download page
This will certainly raise awareness about Periscope but it is not the seamless experience you may expect from one of the world’s leading social networks. Facebook is growing at breakneck speeds and this daisy chaining of features and products is Twitter’s best effort to keep up.
We hope the company moves to build this live streaming capability directly into Twitter. It could still be powered by Periscope and the Periscope app could still exist as an exclusively live video experience, but the current test scenario is just too unpolished to compete with alternatives from Facebook and YouTube.
Give Twitter some credit, though. The company’s product had been stagnant until Jack Dorsey took back the reins as CEO. The company is furiously criticized for failing to make sweeping changes more quickly; can you simultaneously fault them for making improvements too hastily?
I think not, but that’s just my opinion. Let us know what you think in the comments.
[Via AF News]