Jul 24, 2009

Live Streaming Twitcam (No, this is not X-rated)

I tested TwitCam today, a new Twitter-based video broadcasting service launched by Livestream which lets anyone with a Twitter account stream their own "show," complete with live chat.

Great idea, but I'm seeing some room for improvement. My biggest issue was that I was "LIVE!" just about the moment I logged in. No time to run for lip gloss, much less to put clothes on over the underwear I was working in.

I don't say this often, but this is perhaps too easy, and since most users these days have imbedded webcams, the first step is automatically eliminated:

  • Connect your webcam
  • Login with TwitterIf you don't have a Twitter account you can sign up for one for free atTwitter.com.
  • Click the broadcast button

    • Here is how it works. As you are broadcasting your video, tweets arrive from your followers via Twitter and are displayed to the right of the webcam where you are broadcasting. When someone replies to one of your tweets (the tweet must include the link to the show), the app counts it as a reply and it is posted for everyone watching your TwitCam stream to read.

    All of this, video and tweets, is captured and archived. Since each page created gets its own URL, users can come back to at any time to watch the video. And if you aren't ready you get video'd and archived whether you want to be or not.

    Given that I was testing products half-clothed and there is no "stop video" button to be found on the site, I was forced to run screaming from my laptop almost immediately (not really, actually I just X'd out but it sounds way more interesting) . Still, way to chase off your users, TwitCam.

    I'm excited to see that Livestream plans to include this product in an API that will be released in the near future, leaving the door open for others to build a similar service with their own branding and audience tools. Very cool.

  • No sign up required
  • 100% Free (ad supported)
  • No software required
  • Handles up to 100,000+ viewers
  • Share your broadcast on other social networks.

    • I wasn't able to stay long so I'll continue testing and will get back to you with more...er...after I have dressed, and have done hair and makeup.