Meerkat builds social network around video streaming service

Meerkat plans to create its own social network as a shell for its live video service. The network must ensure that the company can compete with Facebook and Twitter, both of which are also in the process of offering live video streaming.

Meerkat director Ben Rubin unfolded the plans in an interview with Re/code. Meerkat is best known for its live video sharing service with other people, but the service never really became popular; new users arrived, but they did not continue to use the service. According to the CEO, this would be due to stiff competition in the live video market, and Meerkat saw its growth plans thwarted as a result. The hope is to engage more users with a live video social network, Rubin said.

However, Rubin did not let go of many details of the upcoming network. Within three months, the CEO hopes to be able to show more of his plans. The idea of ​​a social network has also been worked on since October and the emphasis is, logically, mainly on video.

Meerkat faces competition from Twitter and Facebook in particular. Both social networking sites have recently added a live video service, eliminating the need for users to use alternative apps when using the social network and want to share live video. That would have made it harder for Meerka. For example, Twitter took over Periscope, while Facebook recently released a similar service with Live Video.