Meerkat

The new live video streaming app on iPhone, known as Meerkat, has been gaining popularity quickly over the last couple of weeks.

The app, which requires a Twitter account, enables you to stream live video with the push of a button. It’s a very simple app and streaming video is really all you can do to interact with other people. With Meerkat it’s important to remember that everything you do in the app also shows up in Twitter. So if you comment on the stream, like it, or retweet it, in Meerkat, it will show up in Twitter as well.

If you’re interested in checking the app out here are a few things you’ll want to know. The numbers on the screenshot match the descriptions below

1. Stream

Video is live and isn’t recordable except for the person who’s streaming it. They can down load a copy of the video to their phone after they’ve stopped streaming.

2. Give Your Stream a Name

Just like you would give a title to a blog post or podcast episode, you can give your stream a name. It’s important give clarity to what your stream is about & feel free to add people’s Twitter handle (it’s the same on Twitter and Meerkat) or a hashtag right into the title.

Every stream, whether you create a title or not, will include |LIVE NOW| as well as the hashtag #meerkat and a link to your live stream. So you’ll be limited to approximately 100 characters for your stream’s name so it can fit within one tweet.

Bonus: Use the hashtag #katch and you’ll get a tweet with a link to YouTube where your stream has been saved.

3. Schedule

You can let your followers, on Meerkat & Twitter, know about an upcoming stream by scheduling it. This is always a great way to up the chances that more people will watch your stream because they know it’s coming. You’ll also receive a reminder

4. Find Friends

You can follow other people on Meerkat by using the magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the app. This is great for connecting with people on Twitter you follow or engage with regularly.

Note: Meerkat is still very new and can be glitchy/buggy at times. Don’t get frustrated if it acts up on you. All of us using it have had issues at some point.

5. Username

Clicking your username will take you to your list of people your following and who are following you. Your score has something to do with how frequently you stream and the number of people watching. I don’t think anyone knows for sure what it is.

6. Top Streamers

A list of people with the highest score will show up here. You may recognize some of these people and you can follow them if you choose.

7. Scheduled Streams

If people you follow have a live stream, or have scheduled one they will show up here in chronological order. You may also see the streams of people you don’t follow but have been shared by people you’re following.

If you’d like to share a link to tell people you’re on Meerkat just use the following URL: www.meerkatapp.co/yourtwitterusername, so for example mine would be, www.meerkatapp.co/ryan_bilello

Meerkat seems to be all the rage right now, but the real question is, will it survive? Do you see potential in Meerkat? What would you use it for?