Live video content is no longer a medium for cable or satellite TV; as smartphones improve and internet bandwidth becomes cheaper and faster, social media and video hosting platforms have turned the medium from a novelty to one of the fastest-growing content mediums.
Live streaming has become one of the most popular forms of content on social media, with Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and TikTok encouraging creators to live stream and reward them with additional traffic.
Social media sites want users to live stream because of its interactive and real-time content; it drives longer time on site, which is great for data mining and, of course, ad serving.
While the incentive for social media platforms is evident, there still needs to be a benefit for content creators and consumers of content or live streams would not have grown in popularity, and there are several reasons for that,
Real-time engagement.
One of the most significant advantages of live streaming is that it allows for real-time engagement between the content creator and the audience. This creates a more personal and interactive experience for viewers, who can ask questions, give feedback, and even participate in the stream.
Sense of community.
Live streaming can also create a sense of community among viewers. When people watch a live stream together, they are all experiencing the same thing simultaneously. This can create a sense of shared connection and belonging.
Urgency.
Live streams create a sense of urgency, as viewers know that the content is only available for a limited time. This can make people more likely to tune in and watch.
Authenticity.
Live streams are often seen as more authentic than pre-recorded content. This is because viewers know that they are getting a real-time look at the content creator and their surroundings.
Cost-effectiveness.
Live streaming is a relatively inexpensive way to create content; you could rock up to talk about one or two planned topics, invite guests or chat directly with your audience. This makes it a good option for businesses and individuals with limited budgets while it can also create unique experiences that viewers stick around for or encourage them to tune in regularly.
Going Live with Nostr
Nostr, the protocol has primarily been used to create social media applications that offer a unique take on censorship resistance and, for the most part, focused on short-form text in the form of Twitter-like clients and long-form text content in the form of blogging clients.
As clients and the protocol mature, along with infrastructure improvements, nostr looks to expand beyond its first phase of social media. As the network grows, it attracts new content creators and users who want to do more than post text, links, and images.
In a bid to attract another niche of social media users, a natural next step was the support for live-streaming content. The merging of NIP-53 into the nostr protocol has laid the foundation for live streaming as it offers the ability to create unique events that clients can recognise to read and display live streams.
Like any custom nostr event, relays and clients have to opt in and support these events, and the first to support NIP-53 so is snort social.
{
"kind": 30311,
"tags": [
["d", "<unique identifier>"],
["title", "<name of the event>"],
["summary", "<description>"],
["image", "<preview image url>"],
["t", "hashtag"]
["streaming", "<url>"],
["recording", "<url>"], // used to place the edited video once the activity is over
["starts", "<unix timestamp in seconds>"],
["ends", "<unix timestamp in seconds>"],
["status", "<planned, live, ended>"],
["current_participants", "<number>"],
["total_participants", "<number>"],
["p", "91cf9..4e5ca", "wss://provider1.com/", "Host", "<proof>"],
["p", "14aeb..8dad4", "wss://provider2.com/nostr", "Speaker"],
["p", "612ae..e610f", "ws://provider3.com/ws", "Participant"],
["relays", "wss://one.com", "wss://two.com", ...]
],
"content": "",
...other fields
}Event for Nostr live Stream
Why Live Stream on Nostr?
Nostr live stream clients will offer you all the features you’re used to; you can search for streams, share them in your nostr feed, comment in the live chat and donate to streamers using Bitcoin.
If you’re keen to check it out, Zap Stream would be the best place to start streaming exclusively on Nostr as part of a simulcast across your various streaming platforms.
Zap Stream features include:
- Start live stream via Zap Stream or Cloudflare
- Watch other live streams
- Chat via nostr
- Custom emojis
- Zap streamers in real time
- Zap chat participants in real time
- Create stream goals
- Emoji Reactions
- Responsive
- Check out Nostr live streams: zap.stream or nostrnests.com
Do your own research.
If you want to try out nostr live events or learn more about them, we recommend checking out the following resources to kickstart your research.
Are you on Nostr?
If you are a Nostr user and want to hang out and chat with us or follow our content on your preferred Nostr front end, feel free to add us using our PubKey below and send us a Zap if you’ve got sats to spare.
npub10mxnle348mzv2dnj0ylgz3zu9gceenc29x9fr4m6mnars66j7vxsnkn8mj
The Bitcoin Manual’s Nostr Pubkey
Please give us your notes.
If you have used Nostr, which client do you prefer and why? Are there any clients that you think deserve mention? Let us know in the comments down below.
