Synopsis of the App Meerkat lets you instantly stream live video to your Twitter followers from a mobile phone.
RDN Score
3 out of 5
Platform and Price
Free: Apple and Android
Pros
Quickly and easily produce live video streams from anywhere.
Automatically tweets your live stream to your Twitter followers.
Schedule a live stream for later to build anticipation and notify followers of what's to come.
Easily toggle between front- and rear-facing cameras with a simple tap, making it easy to show yourself and what's in front of you.
No reruns.
Option to save stream content to your camera roll to share in other ways.
Streams are visible on the web for anyone with a Twitter account.
Link to your website and Twitter page at the end of your live stream programming – a big plus for driving traffic and increasing followers.
Cons
Unpolished design and interface will leave you asking if there's more to it.
Broadcasts are not saved in the app. If viewers miss it, there's no opportunity to catch the rerun via Meerkat.
Requires Twitter to sign up.
Take heed: what happens on Meerkat, happens on Twitter. What you say or retweet in Meerkat is mirrored on Twitter with no apparent way to opt out.
Meerkat automatically follows popular Twitter accounts when you sign up. You can easily unfollow them, but some users will be annoyed by this feature.
The interface is a bit confusing and regularly sends you back to Twitter.
Cannot interact with live streams via the web — only in the Meerkat app.
Difficult to search and identify other live streamers you may be interested in watching.
Bottom Line
It's a little awkward. But with a mascot as cute as its name, Meerkat can work for those who only want to share and tune into what's happening in the moment and don't mind the cluttered user experience.
Marisa Moore, MBA, RDN, LD, is based in Atlanta and specializes in culinary nutrition, communications and consulting. She blogs at marisamoore.com. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
