science

Live streaming

Live streaming is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Live streaming rather than just read about it. In short: Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as streaming, the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non-live broadcast forms of streamed media such as video-on-demand, vlogs and video-sharing platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.

Key takeaways

Live streaming belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Live streaming to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Live streaming from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as streaming, the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non-live broadcast forms of streamed media such as video-on-demand, vlogs and video-sharing platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. Livestreaming services encompass a wide variety of topics, including social media, video games, professional sports, and lifecasting. Platforms such as Facebook Live, Periscope, Kuaishou, Douyu, bilibili, YouTube, and 17 include the streaming of scheduled promotions and celebrity events as well as streaming between users, as in videotelephony. Livestreaming sites such as Twitch and Kick have become popular outlets for watching people play video games, such as in esports, Let's Play-style gaming, or speedrunning. Live coverage of sporting events is a common application. Chat rooms are a key feature in livestreaming, allowing viewers to interact with the broadcaster (streamer) and join ongoing conversations. These rooms often include emojis and emotes as additional communication tools.

Social media

In the field of social media, the term live media refers to new media that use streaming technologies to create and share live multimedia content among people, companies, and organizations. Social media marketer Bryan Kramer describes livestreaming as an inexpensive "key marketing and communications tool that helps brands reach their online audience." Users can follow their friends' live video "shares" as well as "shares" related to specific content or items. Live media can be shared through any Internet website or application; thus, when people browse a specific website, they may find live media streams relevant to them. Live media can include coverage of various events such as concerts or live news coverage viewed using a web browser or apps such as Snapchat. James Harden and Trolli promoted an upcoming NBA All-Star Game through Snapchat. Many of LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner's performance art were livestreamed, such as a stream of Shia LaBeouf in a theater viewing all his movies. However, live stream commerce today enables sellers to showcase products through streamers, mimicking in-store sales tactics to encourage customer purchases. Chinese live stream-based retailing has contributed significantly to the country’s e-commerce sector, with reports estimating revenues in the tens of billions of pounds. The McKinsey report also demonstrates that live stream commerce is expanding in China, the sales from live stream commerce were expected to achieve $423 billion by 2022,. It is expected the US live streaming industry will grow from $17 billion in 2022 to $55 billion by 2026.

Facebook Watch Facebook introduced a video streaming service, Facebook Watch to select individuals in August 2017, and to the public in January 2018. Facebook watch is a video-on-demand service that allows users to share content live. It allows people to upload videos that cover a wide array of topics including original comedy, drama, and news programming. Facebook Live allows Facebook users to include their own "reactions" when someone is broadcasting. One of the reasons that Facebook Watch is so successful is because the content is recommended to users based on algorithms that determine what the user would most like to watch.

YouTube Live YouTube was purchased by Google in 2006, and the pair subsequently announced their livestreaming app. Like Periscope, users can comment during the broadcast. Unlike Periscope, livestreams on YouTube can be saved and any user can access them through the app. YouTube head of product for consumers, Manuel Bronstein, stated that live streaming gives creators the opportunity to "actually create a more intimate connection with their fans."

Kick Kick (also known as Kick.com) is a live video streaming service supported by online betting Stake.com along with streaming personality Trainwreckstv. Launched in 2022 as an Amazon-owned Twitch alternative, Kick emerged after Stake.com and other gambling sites were restricted on Twitch. Kick offers a 95% revenue share to streamers and 5% to the platform. Although Kick is not officially linked to Stake.com co-founders, records show they are the main shareholders of the company owning the streaming site. Notable streamers like Hikaru Nakamura and Nickmercs, formerly popular on Twitch, joined Kick, contributing to its average of 235,000 live streams per day as of June 2023.

Lifestreaming Lifestreaming, also known as lifecasting, is the practice of continuously broadcasting various aspects of one's daily life to an online audience. This modern phenomenon allows people to share even mundane events in real-time, giving viewers an intimate look into someone's routine. Justin Kan, an entrepreneur and internet personality, is often credited with bringing this concept to the mainstream. He founded Justin.tv, a website initially focused solely on broadcasting his own life 24/7. This lifecasting platform eventually evolved, serving as the foundation for a new style of online sharing and paving the way for more diverse content. In its early days, Justin.tv was an experimental space where Kan himself was the main focus, capturing everything from his workdays to social interactions. This format marked an early example of real-time personal broadcasting using emerging internet technologies. Kan's innovation in this area led to the popularization of lifestreaming, which has since evolved to include various forms of content and millions of users worldwide. Today, the influence of the original concept can be seen across multiple platforms and in different variations, extending beyond individual lifecasting to live broadcasts of events, gaming, and more.

Twitch Twitch is a livestreaming video platform owned by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon. Introduced in June 2011 as a spin-off of the general-interest streaming platform, Justin.tv, the site primarily focuses on video game livestreaming, including broadcasts of eSports competitions, in addition to music broadcasts, creative content, and more recently, "in real life" streams. Content on the site can be viewed either live or via video on demand.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Live streaming

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Live streaming claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Live streaming before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Live streaming ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Live streaming

In research: Live streaming appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Live streaming in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Live streaming is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Internet broadcasting, Livestreaming, New media, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Live streaming outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Live streaming in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Live streaming means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Live streaming out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Live streaming in simple terms?

Why does Live streaming matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Live streaming?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Live streaming.