Periscope is a free application that is accessible for smart phones and online. Periscope was created with the intent of sharing experiences visually around the world. Directly from their website, they state that “a picture may be worth a thousand words, but a live video lets us explore the world together.” Periscope has direct links to Twitter, and many similarities. Periscope is essentially a live video format of Twitter. Many popular applications have adapted and created a “live” feature lately, most notably Facebook. But Periscope differs because it is strictly visual, that is its purpose and that’s why users have it. They want to see these people that they are following along with news, events and experiences around the globe.
Periscope is easy to gain access to. You can directly link it with your twitter account if you have one, your email, or just your phone number on your smart phone. There is a trending/popular page so you can see big experiences that are currently happening, you can also search for specific people or companies, as well as by locations around the world or certain categories. It is incredibly accessible, and if you miss the live stream, the videos are also saved. They don’t disappear, so you can see feed that is live, or has already happened. Periscope can be used to document what is currently happening in any part of an arts organization. It’s like an all access application where users can see the behind the scenes or backstage. They can see all the components of what makes art happen.
Arts organizations are using this tool to help give first hand experiences to their followers. I was specifically looking at theaters and they use it primarily to show how their productions are coming along in order to market for it and build hype. They show rehearsals, design elements coming together and quick little shout outs from the company. The Public Theater is one that I follow that was especially good at doing this, they even went as far to show snippets of shows. (Click Public Theater to connect with their channel on Periscope.)
My experience was great, there’s a lot of room for curiosity. I enjoyed my experience on the phone app much more. It offered more room for searching and categories for specific places.
Technology in the Arts 