So if you like to keep up to date with what’s cracking in the world of technology you would be keeping a close eye on the South by Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas. You would, then, have heard about ‘Meerkat’, the breakout app that has people very excited.

I’m going to catch you up to speed with the basics, taken here from Huffington Post, and then we’ll get a bit nitty-gritty:

Meerkat is a new video app for iOS that allows anyone to launch a live stream using their iPhone or iPad…

Start a video stream from Meerkat and the app will automatically tweet a link to it, allowing anyone to click it and watch from their laptop, phone or tablet.

Make sense? Good. Now the app already has around 150 000 users, impressive considering it was launched just a few weeks back, and 20% of those are spending over two hours a day watching live video feeds. Those numbers stack up pretty well against other time-consuming apps. This from Mashable:

…a serious chunk of Meerkat users spend more time on Rubin’s app on any given day than the average Facebook user spent checking their News Feed throughout 2014.

When people start comparing you to Facebook you know you’re on to something good. So other than fulfilling your weird fantasies of having strangers watch you dance around the house what actual benefit does this app provide? A few examples of uses, taken again from Mashable:

…it’s also proving popular for real estate professionals looking to conduct virtual open houses for listings on the market.

…reporters showcased just how much live-streaming video could add to that by sharing footage of the tense demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri…

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk went one step further, and used Meerkat to broadcast an impromptu performance to his fans.

Pretty cool, although we all know that one in a hundred streams will be something worth watching, the rest will be some weird combination of Chat Roulette and FaceTime.

[sources:mashable&mashable&huffingtonpost]