Grab the mic! Now it’s easier to host Talkshows about the things you love
Over the past few months, in addition to compelling interviews and Q&As, we’ve seen great community-driven Talkshows about photography, Pokemon Go, word games, or even Things Batman Doesn’t Like. These are shows where the host kicks off the show and is looking for co-hosts to talk about the things they love.
Now you can host shows with an “open mic”
With Talkshow 1.4, shipping today, it’s easier for you to start a show for you and your friends on Talkshow to talk about the things you love, without having to explicitly invite hosts or accept co-host invitation requests. Now, when you start a Talkshow, you’ll have the option of…
- Allowing anyone to instantly join your show; or
- Only allowing people you explicitly invite or approve to join your show (which is how Talkshow has worked since we launched)
We can imagine all sorts of new ways that this opens up Talkshow, from “hey, let’s all talk about the game,” to “let’s talk about the new Frank Ocean record,” to “let’s play a role playing game and tell a story about the upcoming zombie apocalypse.”
Here’s what the new settings screen for a show looks like. Up to 20 people can be co-hosts of your show at one time, and as the host, you are always in control of the conversation — you can always remove co-hosts from your show.
If you’re already hosting shows on Talkshow, nothing changes — every show on Talkshow is already set to “Only people I invite or approve.” But if you want, you can start a new open mic show, or change your existing show to be an open mic show by tapping the ••• icon, and tapping the “Hosts” tab of the show info screen.
Want to co-host? Just tap the green mic
It’s now also easier to join a show as a co-host. When you’re tuned into a show, just tap the green microphone icon. If it’s an “open mic” show and there are open slots, you’ll automatically be promoted to co-host, and you can start sending messages to the show. If the host has the show set to “only people I invite or approve,” then a co-host request will be sent to the host. If they accept you, you’ll get a push notification letting you know.
Faster and easier emoji reactions
We’ve also made it easier to leave emoji reactions, and easier to see all the reactions that have been left on a message. If you’re the first to react to a message, just tap the message, and then tap the emoji that you feel captures your reaction to that message. And if you’re not the first, you’ll see the emoji reactions that audience members (or hosts!) have left before you. If you see one you love already, just tap it directly to bump up its count.
Shows are now easier to browse
We’ve also simplified and streamlined the app’s home screen, and everywhere the app displays lists of shows (like on the Explore tab, in search results, or on your profile). We wanted to make it easier for you to browse through shows you might want to check out, and on the home screen we’ve made it easier for you to see which one of your friends is hosting a show that’s displayed there.
Have questions? Come join our Q&A show with the Talkshow team
For us, one of the best parts of building Talkshow is talking with community members. If you have questions for us, you can join our “Come ask the Talkshow team anything” show, and, of course, ask us anything. (That show is not open mic; the only way to become a host is to come work with us!) You can also check out our (newly reorganized) help site, and if you have specific questions that need a bit more room to explore, hit us up at hello@talkshow.im.
See you on Talkshow!
