Aug. 04--It's human nature to want to declare a winner quickly in any battle. VHS defeated Betamax in the videotape format war of the 1980s. More recently, Blu-ray beat HD DVD for supreme high-definition optical disc format.
Now in the world of live-streaming apps and platforms, we have Periscope and Meerkat. Similar yet different, two will go in, and only one will emerge victorious.
Maybe, maybe not. Periscope vs. Meerkat could follow a Coke vs. Pepsi model, peacefully co-existing with their own loyal fans while each works behind the scenes to lure people away from the other.
So until we know, how do you proceed? On which one should you spend the most time, energy and perhaps money? Here's a look at a few differences between the two -- followed by my pick for a winner in each category, so you can make an informed decision.
Interacting off the platform (where can you see your streams?)
Periscope: Everything lives on the Periscope app, which is also visible on the Web through a link generated by Periscope.
Meerkat: Recently implemented the ability to embed streams elsewhere on the Web with a simple code. But there's more than that -- it's a smart embed code. According to Meerkat, it will show your live stream if you're live. If you're not live, it will show your next upcoming stream. If you have no upcoming streams, it will display stats from your last stream. If you have not streamed yet, it will show your profile.
Winner: Meerkat. Meerkat is winning the battle when it comes to being social and getting the word out. Periscope, owned by Twitter, should have had an easy win here. .
Letting people know about your live stream
Meerkat: Lets users schedule in advance. When you do, you get a link plus buttons to tweet or post on Facebook. And of course you could use this link anywhere, such as on a website.
Periscope: No scheduling function. You go live when you go live. That doesn't mean you can't plan a live stream a few hours ahead of time and share a tweet that it's happening, but you won't have a link to share, so that people can click later. Not that you wouldn't anyway, but you'll need to tweet out that link once you start -- or have Periscope do it for you automatically.
Winner: Meerkat. The ability to generate a link ahead of time is so important.
Saving streams for later
Periscope: You get 24 hours for people to come back and watch your stream unless you disable this function ahead of time. I wouldn't recommend disabling it.
Meerkat: You can save broadcasts to your Meerkat library and come back and watch them later. The link is shareable, so you can watch it in the app or on the Web.
Winner: Meerkat. Before the Meerkat library, your stream ended when you stopped broadcasting. The library changes the game.
Overall winner
Though Meerkat wins in all three sections above, Periscope still gets big points for being owned by Twitter. I think people are naturally drawn to Periscope because of its owner, but discounting Meerkat would be a terrible mistake. As far as declaring a winner in the war, it's still too early. There's a lot to like about both, and for now you should continue to use what you like. Becoming an expert on one is good, but so is using both, so you're ready for what ever happens next.
What questions do you have about social media? Tweet them to @scottkleinberg with hashtag #SoSocial. He might select yours for use in a future column.
