Ustream is an easy to use social live streaming web application. Founded in 2007 Ustream is a San Francisco based company with more than 250 employees in Los Angeles, Budapest, Tokyo, and Seoul. It was originally created for Marines to connect with their families, it is now used for many different purposes and is supported by advertising revenue and sponsors. The basic and free account allows access to broadcast either a low or moderate quality live stream from a web camera, watch videos, follow friends, and create channels. It's easy to share on twitter, facebook, ustream, and embed videos. During a broadcast the basic account features a chat tool and option to take live polls. There is also a setting to record only video or audio. Ustream has a mobile application that is as easy to use as the desktop version. However the broadcast video quality depends on the phone and internet access. Ustream offers professional plans that can cost up to 1,000 dollars for advertisement free broadcasting, HD broadcasting unlimited video storage, and 5,000 viewer hours. This can be very expensive for journalists or a network. The web application even features an unlisted enterprise fee that provides custom branding, HD broadcasting at 1080p, and API access. The basic free user account I think is helpful for local citizen journalists that want to report from the field and get information to users online. Ustream is aimed and sponsored by several tech businesses like Tech Crunch, Dell, and Sony. The application has also been used to record live from music festivals like outside lands and has been used for Martha Stewart Living, St. Monica Catholic Community, and various other webinar type events. To stream and broadcast live is still one of the most innovative features of the internet. The ability to connect people in real time from different places in the world has been a real breakthrough in communications and politics. Ustream says its trusted by more than 170,000 broadcasters from around the world. I tested the application inside the Annenberg lobby and thought it worked out pretty well. Ustream would be interesting to use when reporting to get live footage of an event, protest, or conference. Users can create various channels for different streaming subjects, and build followers to watch ongoing episodes. It's an interesting way to connect and analyze events as they happen. I found very few friends from my social networks and when trailing the program I got the sense that there's not a growing number of users on Ustream. Some of the channels I thought were interesting and worth following are Nasa HD TV, ISS stream, and Explore All, some of those channes streamed live satellites from space. This type of tool that is able to connect people and subjects in different times is very relative to the communications. Some of the most popular music videos and streams had viewership in the range of 8,000 to 35,000. It would be helpful if Ustream were used at more government meetings, or city councils to get more people civically involved.
By Stephanie Monte