Twitter now allows you to launch live audio only programs from Periscope

Twitter has been testing a new audio streaming feature for just a few weeks now via its Periscope platform and the company announced today that this feature is now publicly available to all iOS users of the main Twitter application and from its live broadcast application Periscope. Once updated, go to Twitter's composition screen and press the "Go Live" button to view the standard Live Streaming screen. You will now see a microphone icon to enable or disable the "broadcast audio only" option.

Essentially, it's a way for Twitter to redirect the focus of its live streaming platform to live podcasting and other audio content first. The Periscope platform and Twitter live video has declined in recent years as the popularity of public live streaming shifts away from viral moments and breaking news to focus on professional media and Facebook content. , Twitch and YouTube. Despite the inclusion of a streaming option in the main Twitter application almost two years ago, it's pretty rare to see live broadcasters on the platform these days.

Twitter, however, still sees a great opportunity in live moments, especially around sports matches, rewards, breaking news and other ephemeral events that can be experienced uniquely via social media. In February, the company announced that it would start broadcasting local newscasts during news events, and has more recently begun customizing live event push notifications to encourage more users to listen to news reports. programs that interested them. , as a specific link to the timestamp, to its live platform in order to get users to share more.

So it makes sense that Twitter wants a piece of the podcast, especially given the scale of activity in this sector. This is not to say that most users of this feature will broadcast a live podcast on Twitter or Periscope, or that major media organizations or podcast companies will start using it. This could end up being just the random reverie of daily Twitter users, since most of Periscope have become, after the nail polish of mobile live streaming. But this certainly can not hurt the ability for users to experiment with live media.