Why Periscope and live video streaming is the the social media that really matters.

unidirectional and boring.  (Don’t believe me? Check out the Twitter feed of the Microsoft CEO, which has to hold the world record for the most canned and unoriginal content in the history of Twitter.) The problem with social media, as understood by the public relations departments of most major companies and social media ‘stars’ is that they aim rather low. They seek to have a “conversation” and then love to talk about how the conversation is leading to engagement, but “engagement” is a rather hollow concept and many traditional measurements of ‘engagement’ are as useless as ‘eyeballs’ as a metric. It may be a quantifiable (and billable) number, but does it really matter? Into this landscape comes Periscope and a host of other live video streaming services. Live, raw, unfiltered views of the world from ordinary people communicated out to waiting eyes and ears. With a motto of “See the world through someone else’s eyes” Periscope has millions of producers around the world sharing their slice of life to a waiting and eager audience. And while it, at times, has dropped in the banal and boring, there is something else going on that is worthy of note. Despite some feeble attempts to script and control the narrative of a live video stream by some broadcasters, the end users of live video actually have far more control over the conversation than most public relations professionals would ever allow. Discussions overlaying the presentation can go on tangents of their own, and users can often stray the conversation off the intended course and subject despite the best efforts of the broadcaster. The conversation can turn directions and spin and it takes a steadied broadcaster to keep it on focus and moving toward the real goal. It is this ebb and flow of conversation that offers the best opportunity for social media in its history. What should be sought, developed and fought for with this new medium is the true Holy Grail of social media. People should cast aside the one-sided conversations that are pointlessly supported by the hollow engagement metrics of likes and shares. With live streaming we have a chance to really communicate what is most important: Understanding. Understanding comes when you see the world through someone else’s eyes and UNDERSTAND why they see it a certain way. A person who watches a live video experiences the decision-making process of another person first hand and begins to UNDERSTAND why they turned this way or that, why they eat this or that, why they buy this or that. When a person is given the chance to see things live as they occur, and occasionally even take part in the decision-making process of that individual or guide a conversation a certain way, that person develops a much greater understanding of what is going on, and a greater respect for the other person. Periscope started with the voyeuristic view of the world:  “Look at this, I’m seeing a guy in Hong Kong ride the ferry to the toy store. He’s taking his morning hike in the clouds above the city.  He’s taking a tram to get some lunch.  Wow. This is amazing”.   But as time goes by and people start to think more about what they are seeing, a new, empathetic realization takes starts to take hold. “Yes, I am seeing a guy on a tall mountain, but he’s really just out for his morning walk. And he’s really just going to get some lunch.  Hey, I go for hikes, I eat lunch–wait a minute–this guy is a lot like me.” The empathetic instead of voyeuristic reading of “See the world through someone else’s eyes” is what offer the greatest potential for live video to rule social media. A person who listens and understands is someone who has learned something and may alter their own behavior to that in line with that understanding. A myriad of choices, from political decisions to simple mundane tasks can be altered when an understanding consumer of social media makes their own decisions with the views of another person in mind. It also leads to a tremendous marketing potential in that a person who understands why they should do something a certain way become a consumer who will perform that way without additional influencing. It’s one thing to have a conversation with a person and say to them “I really think you should buy this product” but it is something far greater, and more valuable, to have a person say “I understand why I should buy this product and will buy it myself, now and in the future.” Getting to this level creates a consumer FOR LIFE, not just for one transaction. While difficult to quantify, the empathetic consumption of live video can truly be the revolutionary social media development of the next decade. Or it might just end up as an updated version of Chatroulette… (more on that in my next post). IMG_4968      ]]>

Rio 2016 Olympics Opening Ceremony Parade Order of nations will be slightly different than previous years.

An interesting tidbit for the English-speaking world is that the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics will feature the countries taking the field in alphabetical order, but by the Portuguese spelling of the nations.  As such some countries, like the United States, which generally enters toward the end of the parade, will find themselves entering early on during the event with the ‘E’s under Estates Unidos. This has even led to the US television networks asking that this be changed, as they fear American TV audiences will quickly turn the channel after they see the American team enter the stadium. Something similar happened in Beijing where the teams entered by ‘stroke’ order of the Chinese alphabet.

In case you are wondering, the USA will be wearing Ralph Lauren again this year.

For a full list of nations in the order they enter, take a look here and plan you viewing accordingly.

Afghanistan                  Afeganistão

South Africa                  África do Sul

Albania                  Albânia

Germany                  Alemanha

Andorra                  Andorra

Angola                  Angola

Antigua and Barbuda              Antígua e Barbuda

Saudi Arabia                  Arábia Saudita

Algeria                  Argélia

Argentina                  Argentina

Armenia                  Arménia

Australia                  Austrália

Austria                  Áustria

Azerbaijan                  Azerbaijão

Bahamas                  Bahamas

Bahrain                  Bahrein

Bangladesh                  Bangladesh

Barbados                  Barbados

Belgium                  Bélgica

Belize                  Belize

Benin                  Benim

Belarus                  Bielorrússia

Bolivia                  Bolívia

Bosnia and Herzegovina                  Bósnia e Herzegovina

Botswana                  Botswana

Brazil                  Brasil

Brunei                  Brunei

Bulgaria                  Bulgária

Burkina Faso                  Burkina Faso

Burundi                  Burundi

Bhutan                  Butão

Cape Verde                  Cabo Verde

Cameroon                  Camarões

Cambodia                  Camboja

Canada                  Canadá

Qatar                  Catar

Kazakhstan                  Cazaquistão

Chad                  Chade

Chile                  Chile

China                  China

Cyprus                  Chipre

Colombia                  Colômbia

Comoros                  Comores

North Korea                  Coreia do Norte

South Korea                  Coreia do Sul

Côte d’Ivoire                  Costa do Marfim

Costa Rica                  Costa Rica

Croatia                  Croácia

Cuba                  Cuba

Denmark                  Dinamarca

Djibouti                  Djibouti

Dominica                  Dominica

Egypt                  Egito

El Salvador                  El Salvador

United Arab Emirates                  Emirados Árabes Unidos

Ecuador                  Equador

Eritrea                  Eritreia

Slovakia                  Eslováquia

Slovenia                  Eslovénia

Spain                  Espanha

United States of America                  Estados Unidos

Estonia                  Estónia

Ethiopia                  Etiópia

Fiji                  Fiji

Philippines                  Filipinas

Finland                  Finlândia

France                  França

Gabon                  Gabão

Gambia                  Gâmbia

Ghana                  Gana

Georgia                  Geórgia

Grenada                  Granada

Greece                  Grécia

Guatemala                  Guatemala

Guyana                  Guiana

Guinea                  Guiné

Equatorial Guinea                  Guiné Equatorial

Guinea-Bissau                  Guiné-Bissau

Haiti                  Haiti

Honduras                  Honduras

Hungary                  Hungria

Yemen                  Iémen

Marshall Islands                  Ilhas Marshall

Solomon Islands                  Ilhas Salomão

India                  Índia

Indonesia                  Indonésia

Iran                  Irã

Iraq                  Iraque

Ireland                  Irlanda

Iceland                  Islândia

Israel                  Israel

Italy                  Itália

Jamaica                  Jamaica

Japan                  Japão

Jordan                  Jordânia

Kiribati                  Kiribati

Kuwait                  Kuwait

Laos                  Laos

Lesotho                  Lesoto

Latvia                  Letónia

Lebanon                  Líbano

Liberia                  Libéria

Libya                  Líbia

Liechtenstein                  Liechtenstein

Lithuania                  Lituânia

Luxembourg                  Luxemburgo

Madagascar                  Madagáscar

Malaysia                  Malásia

Malawi                  Malawi

Maldives                  Maldivas

Mali                  Mali

Malta                  Malta

Morocco                  Marrocos

Mauritius                  Maurícia

Mauritania                  Mauritânia

Mexico                  México

Micronesia                  Micronésia

Mozambique                  Moçambique

Moldova                  Moldávia

Monaco                  Mónaco

Mongolia                  Mongólia

Montenegro                  Montenegro

Myanmar                  Myanmar

Namibia                  Namíbia

Nauru                  Nauru

Nepal                  Nepal

Nicaragua                  Nicarágua

Niger                  Níger

Nigeria                  Nigéria

Norway                  Noruega

New Zealand                  Nova Zelândia

Oman                  Omã

Netherlands                  Países Baixos

Palau                  Palau

Panama                  Panamá

Papua New Guinea                  Papua-Nova Guiné

Pakistan                  Paquistão

Paraguay                  Paraguai

Peru                  Peru

Poland                  Polónia

Portugal                  Portugal

Kenya                  Quénia

Kyrgyzstan                  Quirguistão

United Kingdom                  Reino Unido

Central African Republic                  República Centro-Africana

Czech Republic                  República Checa

Republic of Macedonia                  República da Macedónia

Democratic Republic of the Congo          República Democrática do Congo

Republic of the Congo                  República do Congo

Dominican Republic                  República Dominicana

Romania                  Roménia

Rwanda                  Ruanda

Russia                  Rússia

Samoa                  Samoa

San Marino                  San Marino

Saint Lucia                  Santa Lúcia

Saint Kitts and Nevis                  São Cristóvão e Nevis

Sao Tome and Principe                  São Tomé e Príncipe

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines                  São Vicente e Granadinas

Senegal                  Senegal

Sierra Leone                  Serra Leoa

Serbia                  Sérvia

Seychelles                  Seychelles

Singapore                  Singapura

Syria                  Síria

Somalia                  Somália

Sri Lanka                  Sri Lanka

Swaziland                  Suazilândia

Sudan                  Sudão

South Sudan                  Sudão do Sul

Sweden                  Suécia

Switzerland                  Suíça

Suriname                  Suriname

Thailand                  Tailândia

Tajikistan                  Tajiquistão

Tanzania                  Tanzânia

East Timor                  Timor-Leste

Togo                  Togo

Tonga                  Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago                  Trinidad e Tobago

Tunisia                  Tunísia

Turkmenistan                  Turquemenistão

Turkey                  Turquia

Tuvalu                  Tuvalu

Ukraine                  Ucrânia

Uganda                  Uganda

Uruguay                  Uruguai

Uzbekistan                  Uzbequistão

Vanuatu                  Vanuatu

Venezuela                  Venezuela

Vietnam                  Vietname

Zambia                  Zâmbia

Zimbabwe                  Zimbabwe

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