The Live-Streaming Paradox: 6 Pitfalls Blocking Network Effects

The mobile live-streaming video platform became one of the hottest trends in 2015. Now, Facebook Live is committed to success with its colossal scale, Twitter’s Periscope turned one year old, and Google is preparing to launch YouTube Connect.

Fun and interactive by nature, live video is one of the only mediums in which a fan can participate and even shape the content they are consuming.

The Live-Streaming Paradox:

If live streaming is so hot, why have new live-streaming apps, such as Periscope, YouNow, and Meerkat, not exploded into mainstream use?

It’s not a download or new user problem: Periscope and YouNow see healthy levels of downloads, in varying degrees. Thus, it’s an engagement and retention issue that’s blocking them from market-tilting network effects.

Following are my insights on 6 key pitfalls to scaling network effects on live video platforms:

(1) Scaling Live = Scaling Concurrency

Live video is only live when it’s live, that’s a limited window in which to take advantage of and accumulate an audience. The length of a broadcast is a relatively small window to capture its full potential value.

The Fix: Schedule broadcasts. Calendarize repetitive and dependable broadcast time slots.

(2) Asymmetric Consumption

Live’s ephemerality bars it from benefiting from the natural, asymmetric consumption habits of web viewers. A lack of asymmetric consumption misses a huge window to accumulate additional views. For example, a 1-hour broadcast is exposed to 1/24th the potential value of a Snapchat video, which stays up for 24-hours. In live-only video, 23-hours would be void of value.

The Fix: Allow for asymmetric video consumption (aka VOD).

(3) Long Broadcasts = High Hurdles for Discovery

Successful live broadcasts are longer rather than shorter, but a long video is a relatively large investment for the viewer. Significant time and energy are required to discover a new video; this can lead to consumer fatigue prior to arriving at the product’s magic “aha!” moment.

The Fix: experiment with short highlights or previews of specific creators you want to feature on the platform. Pull users into an “aha!” moment, quickly.

(4) Lack of Viral Sharing

Longer broadcasts lack viral benefits. Potentially viral clips are baked and hidden within long video formats.

How do you share 20-seconds of a 40-minute broadcast? How do you push a clip to your other social networks, to multiply the video’s reach?

The Fix: Highlight segments of “exciting” moments. This can be done using audience engagement (“likes” or comments) as a proxy, or triggered using the broadcaster’s mobile device sensors, such as audio for volume, location and speed via GPS, or gyroscope.

(5) Limits on Consumption & Engagement

Long broadcasts force limits on the number of videos a person can consume in a day. Consuming three 1-hour broadcasts requires 3-hours; ten broadcasts would require 10-hours. Compare this scenario to viewing a tweet or photo. In a short session, a user can effortlessly rip through 50 tweets or 20 photos on Instagram (not to mention, several sessions are expected per user per day). That user hypothetically rewarded 50 or 20 Twitter or Instagram contributors, respectively. This is motivating reinforcement.

The Fix: You want a high ceiling on a user’s daily unit consumption potential. Optimize some content and features for shorter session lengths and effortless consumption. Think critically when adding features to a social network. Ask the following: Does this feature allow for more consumption or less?

(6) Where’s the Mid-Tail?

Today’s live-streaming platforms have a broadcaster-to-audience curve that resembles the graph below.

An “Influencer-takes-all” network:

I mean to highlight the general shape and slope of the audience curve.

Instagram’s network would more closely resemble the graph below, where ordinary people, like my mom and me, enjoy a modest audience.

A network with a healthy mid- and long-tail:

This curve exhibits a long-tail that extents (to the right) across its user-base.

The Fix: Actively curate and support the mid-tail. They are your biggest evangelists and your network’s future value creators. A network should facilitate broad engagement generously across its user-base.