Stream Wars The Meet Group

Today we get to go back in time and hear all about the origins of MeetMe from the app’s co-founder Catherine Cook Connelly. Catherine founded the company in 2005 while she was still in high school (total #girlboss!) Back then it was a website called My Yearbook and, in this interview, we talk all about the creation of that original platform and how it has transformed into the MeetMe app that you know and love today. 

Catherine shares some of the top successes and struggles in those early years of building the platform, and her advice for entrepreneurs. We also talk about the decision to add live streaming to MeetMe, what are some of her favorite live streams to watch, and her own personal experience with live streaming. 

Catherine also shares what she feels has been the best part of creating MeetMe and why live streaming has only made that better. 

If you want to catch one of Catherine’s streams, find her on MeetMe as CatherineC !

*make sure it’s the account with the official MeetMe tag 

Today we’re pulling back the curtain and sharing with you how we at The Meet Group handle an extremely important component of any live streaming platform, and that is content moderation. 

To learn how content moderation works, I interviewed David Brown, VP of Operations at The Meet Group who explains why we moderate content, how we use AI algorithms to help us moderate millions of minutes of live broadcasts every day, what are some of the suspicious behaviors and red flags we’re looking for, and what happens if we find inappropriate content. 

If you’re a streamer on one of our platforms, this conversation is definitely worth listening to, and will help you better understand how our platform works and what we are doing to make it a safe and healthy environment for you to have fun and meet people. 

In this episode Anthony and I discuss whether or not live streaming can be considered a real job. A couple months back we posted about this topic on social media and we got so much feedback we thought we’d record an episode all about it. 

The original idea came from a study that was released in China on January 8th. In the 2018 Live Streaming Profession Report, 73% of the 10,000 people surveyed responded that live streaming is a profession. Nearly 30% of users said that one of their friends or family members is a live streamer. The report also shared demographics, salaries, upsides and downsides of this new career path.

In this episode, Anthony and I break down the findings of the report and compare them with the live streaming industry here in the US and the habits or our broadcasters on The Meet Group platforms. 

Thank you to liwavybby, autumnshantel, madisontmt, exotic_kiki, missmuffintv, fetticonfetti, and everyone else who left us comments about this topic on the MeetMe, Tagged, and Skout Instagram accounts! 



Key findings we discuss from the report: 


Out of the 5,000 broadcasters surveyed, 79% of them were female and 21% male. 68% were 29 years old or younger and out of that, 16% were under the age of 24.
Among full-time streamers the male to female ratio was even more skewed at around 1:5 and 73% of them were 29 years old or younger.
The survey found that 21% of full-time broadcasters and 10% of part-time broadcasters earn over 10,000 RMB ($1,478) per month from streaming (which is more than the average salary in Beijing). 
The report also found that even when it comes to live streaming, education level has a dramatic impact on earnings. 37% of streamers with a master’s degree or higher earned over 10,000 RMB per month, while only 27% of streamers with a bachelor’s degree and 16% of streamers with an associate degree were able to reach that earnings threshold.
About one-fifth of full-time hosts stream more than eight hours a day
Because viewership peaks in the evening, livestreamers often work late at night. The survey found that 44% of hosts stream between 7pm and midnight, and as many as 12% of them frequently stream between midnight and 8am.
80% of all streamers surveyed reported that they stream on holidays, and for full-time streamers that percentage is even higher at 94%.
In order to hone their skills and further their careers, many streamers were found to re-invest a large portion of their earnings each month into developing their talents (for example taking singing or dancing classes), upgrading their equipment (microphones, lighting, props), or improving their appearance. 44% of full-time broadcasters spend over 1,000 RMB ($148) per month on self-improvement and a 9% of them spend more than 5,000 RMB ($740) per month.

Check out our blog post to get the full run down of the report.  

Today I speak with May Youssef, who is part of the Public Relations team for Asia Innovations Group, the parent company of the popular live streaming platform Uplive. 

According to May, Uplive is the biggest Chinese live streaming platform outside of China and is very popular in the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. We discuss the unique features of Uplive, the challenges they face when expanding into new markets all over the world, and the tactics they use to assimilate the app into local cultures. 

There are a growing number of Chinese live streaming platforms attempting to develop outside of Mainland China, and Uplive is certainly one of the forerunners so it was very interesting to hear May’s perspective. 

Note: This interview was pre-recorded and at the time of release May has moved on to a new role and is no longer with AIG.



Additional Notes: 


What is AIG, the parent company of Uplive 
In 2016, Uplive had 100 M users worldwide
Biggest Chinese live streaming company outside of China 
Popular in the Middle East, Taiwan, HK, Indonesia, and India
Before they launch in any region, they do in-depth cultural research 
Big emphasis on global interaction 
Decentralized system, hire foreigners who understand Chinese, Chinese people in the region, customize the app for the region
The platform includes features such as the global village, international PK, and simultaneous translation to encourage users to interact with other users from around the world. 
Voice translation and chat translation – viewers can write in their own language and it will be automatically translated into the streamer’s language, also have subtitles for viewers to understand what streamer is saying
Launched in India last year, in less than 7 months became top live streaming app in Google Play in India 
Originally focused on high growth, large population regions, now starting to shift focus to Africa, South America, and Europe
Different regions of the world like different content, for example: in India there is a lot of dancing, viewers in the Middle East love talk shows
What is Gifto – taking live streaming virtual gifting model and plugging it in to other platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram 
Also working with offline stores so people can use Gifto to pay for things, easy to transfer to other users 

Learn More: 

Asiainnovations.com

Today’s episode is the last in our Playlist Live series and it’s definitely a fun one that really demonstrates the close friendships that can be developed through live streaming. 

The first interview features Ceanna and Ash, two streamers who met on MeetMe and after discovering that they lived only 40 minutes apart, started meeting offline. Fast forward to a couple months later and the girls have become best friends who share their passion of streaming. Following that are interviews with Gabe and Jakeup, two streamers who are best friends and roommates in real life. 

In my interviews with these four streamers we discuss a variety of topics including whether or not you should have a streamer persona or just be yourself, why you don’t need to be a streamer to be an integral member of the community, why both introverted and extroverted people can make great streamers, and much, much more. 



Additional Notes: 

Ceanna and Ash 


Their friendship is proof that you can truly meet your best friends through the MeetMe app
Playlist was fun because they were able to take online relationships offline 
Bond between streamers because this is a passion they all have in common
It’s easy to get along with each other in real life because when you’re a stream it’s hard to put up a façade, who you are in your stream is generally who you are in real life 
Don’t have to be a streamer to be part of the community, can be a bouncer or a super fan 
One way streamers create a loyal community is by selecting an emoji that their followers can add to their screennames to represent that you’re part of a specific streamer’s community 
These days it’s harder to meet people in real life, so meeting people through streaming is a great option
During your stream it’s very important to diffuse negativity quickly 
Ash and Ceanna feel honored that people who support them over the internet trust them with their issues and life problems, they love to be there for their audience

Instagram: 

@ceanna

@ashlandtwhite



Gabe


Originally started streaming on Live.me, also tried a number of other streaming platforms, but feels that MeetMe has been the longest lasting and most reliable platform to be on
He started live streaming because he felt other types of content were too saturated
What’s great about streaming is you don’t need a talent, just chatting and being yourself is fine too 
Consistency is important, doesn’t have to be with same time but just every day 
Don’t whine if you’re not getting gifted, be gracious and grateful for what you do get and it will keep coming 
He shares his tips for dealing with trolls 
Why streaming is good for introverted people à you know people are there for you, you don’t have to try and fit in 

Instagram @geebzer



Jakeup 


Likes live for the instantaneous interaction 
Got tips from Gabe – helps to have tips training and coaching when you’re first starting out 
Likes to keep people guessing, he takes what other streamers do and he puts his own crazy twist on it
Unlike some of the other streamers we’ve interviewed, Jakeup shared that when streaming he has an alter ego, in real life he’s quiet and reserved
He suggests streamers have rules and guidelines for their broadcasts, but don’t be rude and impulsive when it comes to kicking people out 

Instagram @ohnojakeup 

Today’s episode features Justin Gerhard, co-founder of the YouTube channel “The Queer Network” who shares why they created The Queer Network and the goal of the channel. 

To date, Justin has mainly focused on creating content for Youtube and Instagram so we discuss why he has yet to try live streaming and why the medium might actually be a good fit for him. We also talk about some of the panels he moderated at Playlist and some of his biggest takeaways. 

This interview is part of our series that was recorded at the recent Playlist Live conference. If you’re interested in hearing our other Playlist interviews, definitely go back and check out the past few episodes. 



Additional notes: 


Justin has his own YouTube channel as well as one that he co-founded called The Queer Network
He explains the premise behind that channel and why they chose the word queer instead of using LGBTQ
He is currently focused on creating content for YouTube and Instagram, so I ask him why he hasn’t tried live streaming and what is holding him back? 
He said as a content creator he strives to have separation between online and real life, and has seen other people use streaming like a vlog in the past and that doesn’t interest him
He had never thought of doing a live show before though and that is something that interests him since it would solve the problem he has with news-style videos where the news will be too old by the time the video is out 
We discuss how he deals with trolls and the different types of trolls he faces: Religious/moral beliefs vs. giving feedback vs. blatant hate 
Growing up in the world of social media, how is the young generation dealing with their internet fame? 
The difference between traditional fame and internet celebrities. 
They are closer to their fans and people expect more interaction from internet celebrities than from traditional celebrities

Find him on Instagram at: @justingerhard / @thequeernetwork