LiveMe is an amazing community and a great place to connect with other people. But, from mysterious robots to secret watchdog groups, here are 11 things you probably didn’t know about in Liveme:
Your live stream does NOT show how many people are actually watching you
“Wow! I have 91 people watching the broadcast!” Sorry, but actually no. This figure tells you how many people entered the broadcast (real users and robots). This number doesn’t drop when the person leaves like other streaming apps.
Why is Liveme doing this? Probably because for new broadcasters, seeing those views go up is exciting and reassuring. You are more likely to continue using the app if you feel like your broadcasts are attracting attention.
Don’t let that fact discourage you from broadcasting. Everyone who joins Liveme starts with a dead stream full of robots. Just focus on making the best stream you can and eventually more people will join.
Most broadcasts are not actually reposts
“LM-465464651 shared the broadcast” It’s nice to get reposted on your broadcast, but many viewers don’t actually share it (eg on Twitter, Facebook or email).
Simply clicking the Share button and Copy Link is logged as a completed action.
A large number of views of your broadcast are not real people
“I like Liveme more than other live streaming apps because I get more viewers on my broadcast.” I hear new broadcasters say this often. Then I watch them get upset that they have 40 “spectators” but nobody talks to them. This is because most (or all) of these viewers are robots. And when they talk in chat, it’s confusing and weird.
Admin locks are limited and temporary
Hosts can appoint viewers as administrators on their broadcast. Administrators can “mute” other viewers that are causing problems. But this block only keeps viewers from commenting in the chat, they can still watch the broadcast. In addition, the administrator can “delete” the viewer temporarily, for the duration of the broadcast. When a broadcaster blocks viewers, they are permanently disconnected from the broadcast.
Certain characters in usernames are only visible on Apple devices
If you have certain characters in your username, users with Android devices may not see those characters. For example, “✯Username♛” might appear as just “Username” in a chat on an Android device.
Liveme once deleted 600,000 accounts
Previously, the minimum age required to use the app was thirteen years old. Unfortunately, Liveme has become popular with young children, which has led to the community attracting sexual predators. In response to news of app abuse, Liveme removed 600k underage user accounts over a 60-day period.
Security guards watch it
Liveme launched the Safety Advocates Program, which engages all users to help the community monitor inappropriate behavior. In return, users with the highest number of confirmed complaints about violators are rewarded in the form of coins to their account. Reports of misconduct by these defenders are brought to the forefront for Liveme viewing and action.
Sheepdog Bloodhound is “a group of volunteers from around the world who monitor Liveme in an attempt to report and prevent child exploitation.” They actively seek out viewers and broadcasters who engage in inappropriate activities and report them to the authorities.
Your chat comments may be censored
The broadcaster you think is ignoring your chat comments may not see them. Liveme’s censorship list has a long, long list of words. Of course, there are not only all common curse words, but also many everyday words. Using any of these words will make your comment invisible to everyone on the air except you. Some users have also reported that using question marks (?) and exclamation marks (!) causes their comments to be censored. I hope this bug will eventually be fixed.
There is a username guide
… which practically no one adheres to. In accordance with Community Policy, “The name you use must be the name your friends call you in everyday life and that will appear on your traditional identification (for example, passport, driver’s license, birth certificate, other government issued identity card, etc.)”. It goes on to say, “If the name you use on a day-to-day basis is not listed as your username, please change it immediately.”
You may be prohibited from broadcasting copyrighted material
Liveme does not prevent broadcasters from playing copyrighted music as they do on other streaming platforms. But if you stream movies/screenings, you may be blocked. Just ask that poor Star Wars fan who lost her account for showing video clips.