Introduction
The other day, I tried hosting a discussion on Twitter Spaces.
Furthermore, I've tried talking while live-streaming on YouTube Live a few times.
Both were courageous and nerve-wracking experiences for me, but I think they were invaluable.
This time, I'd like to write about what I learned from these experiences and how I plan to use them in the future.
chance
The reason I decided to try this "speaking for myself" thing was because I joined a Twitter space belonging to someone I know.
I found it very enjoyable to listen to close friends talking about their favorite topics, and it made me want to try it myself.
Joining a Twitter space is very easy.
When someone you know has opened a space, it's clearly displayed at the bottom of the Twitter screen, so I think many people have probably participated in one before.
You can listen to it casually, just like listening to the radio.
The ease of hosting a space, requiring only a smartphone, is also a major draw.
Originally distributed on YouTube etc.Casual Linguistics RadioI liked the channel "[channel name]" and I wanted to do a radio show like that myself.
What made this channel unique was that the two speakers talked about linguistics, a relatively unfamiliar field, in an enjoyable way, even if they went off on tangents along the way.
Even if the topic is niche, I believe that by talking about something you enjoy, you can convey something to the listener.
For some reason, that's what prompted me to decide to try live streaming.
conclusion
As of the time of writing this article, I have done one Twitter Space broadcast and multiple YouTube Live broadcasts.
In conclusion, I found YouTube Live to be the easiest to use.
Advantages and disadvantages of Twitter Spaces
Strong Points
The biggest advantage of Twitter Spaces is its ease of use.
With just a smartphone, you can freely create a space and establish a chat room.
I think this ease of use is a strong point.
Also, if you're mutually following someone, they'll immediately know that a space has been opened when they launch the Twitter app.
These features can also be useful for attracting people.
Another advantage is that it facilitates dialogue.
By granting participants speaker privileges, the host can facilitate real-time dialogue rather than one-sided speeches.
Participants can easily request to speak by sending a speaker request to the host.
The fact that everyone can see a list of participants is also one of the factors that helps everyone feel more at ease.
Disadvantages
The downside is that it's difficult to communicate through conversation.
As anyone who has participated in a video conference knows, there is a slight lag in communication.
While there are few problems in a presentation format like one-to-many, I found it a bit cumbersome when the format was primarily dialogue-based.
Furthermore, having multiple speakers can be stressful because the background noise makes it difficult to hear the audio.
Advantages and disadvantages of YouTube Live
Strong Points
One of the biggest advantages of YouTube Live is that it allows you to broadcast video.
It's not that we absolutely have to show something, but I think being able to share a visual element with the viewers is a significant advantage.
Another advantage, compared to Twitter Spaces, is that it's easier to communicate with each other via chat.
You can also post text on Twitter Spaces, but it will appear as a tweet and scroll away, making it difficult for others to follow the flow of messages.
With YouTube Live, the logs are accumulated in a simple chat format, which I found made it easy for everyone to follow what was being said.
Additionally, you can save completed broadcasts as archives.
The chat history is saved, which is great because I can check what we talked about later.
Later on, YouTube's standard feature allows you to display automatic subtitles, so you can check the content of the video even in places where you can't play the sound.
While the subtitles aren't perfect, I feel they're accurate enough to understand almost everything being said.
Another advantage of live streaming is that it eliminates the effort required to create the video itself.
The downside is that if things get messy, they'll remain in the commentary, but if you can overlook that as part of the commentary's charm, then it shouldn't be a problem.
Disadvantages
One drawback is that, generally, only the streamer can use the speaker.
Unless you're physically near the streamer, you can't interrupt and comment from another device (probably).
However, since viewers can easily express their opinions in writing, I don't see this as a major drawback.
The time and effort required for setting up equipment and streaming is a drawback.
However, once you've set it up, it's not that much trouble, and since you can do more with it than with Twitter Spaces, I don't think this is a major drawback.
Another disadvantage is that you won't know who's participating unless they speak up.
Since a list of participants isn't displayed, it's impossible to know who is listening.
Since the viewers' privacy is protected, this might be an advantage for people who don't want others to know they're listening.
I think the effort required to announce the live stream is a slight drawback.
Twitter Spaces lets you see immediately if someone you follow has opened one.
However, YouTube Live won't be noticed unless you announce that you're going to be streaming.
Unless you have a huge following, I think you'll get very few participants if you start something unexpectedly.
I felt that it would be necessary to announce the live stream at least three times: in advance, on the day of the event, and just before it.
In conclusion
When I tried it myself, I found it to be very enjoyable.
Basically, I just talk about things I enjoy talking about, so sometimes I feel like I'm the main character.
I realized that if I express myself too much, I'll end up getting carried away with myself, like a boss who talks endlessly at a drinking party, so I need to keep myself in check.
I think it's a valuable platform for people with the same hobbies to have relaxed, two-way communication, so I plan to continue using it in the future.