Live Video Feed

            I could tell immediately that nineteen year old San Diego resident who goes by the name Justin Wizard is obviously comfortable on camera when we begin video chatting. With a few thousand followers on Twitch, a website that is primarily used to live stream video games, and a thousand subscribers on Youtube, he is familiar with the Internet video world. “It’s great to be able to share experiences with your friends and even make new friends with people around the world,” he says, mentioning the various destinations, like Australia, where his Internet friends reside. 

            “Going live” is becoming possible through more and more large media outlets every day. Now, anyone can record and watch live video from almost any social media outlet: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, even Tumblr. Live video already has appealed to the instant gratification in all of us and we can instantly see the benefits to using the technology. We can be a part of someone’s life at any given moment, allowing a greater connection with those around you. It has also, as blogger Darren Rowse explains, provided instant feedback and sales for small businesses and entrepreneurs. According to eMarketer, digital video advertising spending grew 46% within the last year and is projected to grow to $13.4 billion in 2018. Businesses are dedicating larger amounts of money and effort into video advertising, striving for a more personal and overt connection with consumers.

            But on these sites anyone, not just businesses, can have access to earning money also. Justin Wizard says that when he streams himself playing video games on Twitch, watchers can donate money to him and is encouraged to do so. “They can also pay for a subscription every month, like $5, to watch a person stream,” he elaborates. Twitch seems to have the ability for watchers to directly pay the person streaming. Users on other social media outlets, like Youtube and Facebook live, can also earn money but it a more indirect fashion through the site itself. Google Ad Sense pays the Youtuber an amount in relation to the number of views they get on a certain video. In other words, more views equal more money.

            However, the longer “going live” is popular, the more people are taking malicious advantage of it. A month ago, four Chicago teens were arrested for abducting and torturing a man. They filmed the whole affair through Facebook live. Three men in Uppsala, Sweden were arrested a week ago on suspicion of raping a woman. They too filmed the assault on Facebook Live. There are many institutions put in place already that help large social media platforms to censor and clean the information being put on the web. According to Adrian Chen from Wired.com, “a large amount of content moderation takes place overseas,” specifically in the Philippines. There, companies from Microsoft to Facebook, hire thousands of moderators to sift through the data online to delete “pornography, gore, minors, sexual solicitation, sexual body parts, and racism.” But live video has proven to be extremely difficult in censoring. “I’ve seen that it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to take down a live feed on Twitch,” says Justin Wizard, shaking his head. It seems to be an abhorrent length of video that is now released to the world. As we know, no matter how hard we try, once something is put on the Internet, it stays on the Internet. “There’s also a scarier privacy issue at hand,” Justin continues seriously, “It is very possibly to find the IP address or location of someone who is live streaming. Many times I have seen assholes send the police to their location as a ‘joke’ saying that the filmer was doing something terrible.” He says that it happens on Twitch, but it is a possibility on other sites as well. Although this may be a horrible “joke,” giving a stranger your location can lead to much more dangerous consequences.

            All in all, this new wave of connection through the Internet can bring many aspects of progression and positivity. But it also seems that we have to be careful what we show to the world and find better ways to recognize the crimes, take care of them accordingly, and delete the posts. Justin Wizard leaves with the last key point: “As with all things, the best thing to do is to educate yourself and know what you’re getting into.”