By Milan Polk ’16

Since Twitter’s beginning, users have enjoyed sharing clever stories, jokes and more all in 140 characters or less. With Meerkat, a new app released February 21, Twitter users can now livestream video.

Meerkat’s interface is simple and easy to use. The user logs into Twitter and is automatically linked to the livestreams of the people they follow. The app includes a main screen featuring current, ongoing livestreams. Users can click to enter into a full screen to watch their favorite accounts. Above these livestreams is a place for users to interact with their own followers. Users can also schedule a livestream to record later. They can even tweet and post straight from the app. Notifications can be activated so that users are alerted when their favorite accounts have livestreams.

Reception to Meerkat has been generally positive; its rating is four out of five in the Itunes Store. Users love the high-definition streaming, although one needs a fast and reliable connection most of the time for it to work. Meerkat has been praised for its focused community and unique interface, especially in comparison to its competitor, Periscope, which boasts a larger community and the ability to replay livestreams but has numerous bugs. As of March, Twitter owns Periscope. Also in March, Twitter actually temporarily blocked Meerkat from using imported contacts, which of course hurt the app, as well as the public’s perception of it. As of April, Meerkat is still cut off from importing contacts.

Many have speculated that problems with Meerkat and other video streaming devices will soon culminate. Some worry that users could end up illegally taping TV programs and movies, and livestreaming to their followers, much like bootleg movies and non-copyrighted content on YouTube. Concerns also grow with the huge amount of data that videos may take to stream on Twitter, considering the website is used to short blurbs of text. Time will tell how these new applications will affect Twitter, as well as any other social network that pursues livestreaming.

In its purest form though, Meerkat seems like a useful app for socialites to quickly and efficiently livestream to their Twitter followers. The only obstacle the app faces is whether it will be able to sustain itself against Periscope. Meerkat is available to the general public only on iOS and is currently an invite-only beta for Android.