Twitter released three long overdue but actually awesome features for Periscope
"RIP Periscope," creators and analysts have been crying. Twitter's decision to introduce going live in its main app, release an API and increase the presence of the app throughout Twitter — let alone killing Vine — have caused them to foresee an end to Periscope.
Not so, apparently. Twitter announced Wednesday (amid the frenzy that is Samsung Galaxy S8's release) three new features on Periscope.
The first: Periscope videos can now play directly in Moments. You may say that's putting two dying properties together, and hey, maybe you're right. But for now, live videos from Periscope will improve Twitter Moments, which feature curated collections of tweets and videos.
For Periscope, the integration adds way more context to what you're watching. For Moments, it's more exciting stuff to actually watch and not just swipe through.
Secondly, Twitter has finally released an analytics dashboard for Periscope. Broadcasters will now be able to easily see how their streams are being watched, beyond just a count of live and replay viewers along with hearts.
The analytics page now includes video duration, total viewers, hearts, total time watched and total time watched per viewer. The dashboard also separates out live versus replay views. For now, the feature is only available on the web at periscope.tv.
It's a long overdue feature especially with how Periscope faced nearly two years of getting called out for sharing inaccurate data. Prior to December, after several press inquiries from Inc, Periscope did not adequately explain what a video view is on the site and a bug was, in fact, inaccurately reporting them. It's a horrendous error for creators to deal with when they use Periscope for their careers.
Twitter also released a new activity tab on the app which shows broadcasters a list of new followers and replay viewers.
"The new activity tab brings forward different types of community engagement - for you as a broadcaster and for each of your videos," Periscope wrote in a blog post released Wednesday.
Each of these moves should impress creators who remain on the platform. While app downloads are evidently down for Periscope, people are still using it — and enough of them to keep Periscope CEO Kayvon Beykpour convinced that he won't have to shut down his baby any time soon.
"Having a dedicated space for watching and creating live video, having a dedicated space [where] you can go and discover those communities, where you can search the map, those are things that power the ecosystem," Beykpour said in an interview with Mashable earlier this year. "The ecosystem wouldn’t exist without those things."
Once upon a time, a.k.a. back in January 2016, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey put creators on his list of top five priorities for his company. Since then, creators have been somewhat left on the back-burner while Twitter focuses on professional live video and the platform's persistent issues with abuse and terrorism.
With creator-focused attention being brought to Periscope, the app and creators apparently aren't disappearing any time soon.
Topics X/Twitter
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
