Twenty years ago the first video was uploaded onto YouTube on 23rd April 2005 called “Me at the Zoo”. Just 19 seconds long. Jump forward 20 years and now 2.6 million videos are uploaded daily amounting to over 518,000 hours of new content. This means, on average, around 500 hours of video content is uploaded every minute.
Twitter initially began allowing video uploads in 2013 with the launch of the standalone app Vine, which allowed users to share six-second looping videos. Two years later Twitter integrated video uploads directly into the platform.
This was the beginning of video content creation. But the next step was live streaming which has transformed into one of the most popular forms of broadcasting (turbo charged by Covid and lockdowns).
The Birth of Live Streaming
In 1995, the internet company RealNetworks developed the first media player capable of live streaming — RealPlayer. On 5th September, 1995, RealNetworks made history with the world’s first public livestream which was a baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners. Two years later RealNetworks launched RealVideo which seems to have been the first programme to make live streaming a possibility.
But it was politics and not sport that would bring livestreaming to the world. On November 8, 1999, the first-ever presidential webcast was held at George Washington University in Washington DC. It was billed as the first online town hall meeting and President Clinton’s participation made it a big event. It was also maybe the first Q&A using an online chat with viewers able to submit questions online for the President and others to answer.
And then in 2008 YouTube hosted its first ever live event streamed from San Francisco and Tokyo simultaneously and shortly after developed its own live stream technology. Despite YouTube having the power of Google behind it (YouTube launched in 2005 and was bought by Google in 2006) it did not seem to grasp live streaming as a huge opportunity only hosting occasional live streams here and there.
The Rise of Livestreaming
It was Twitch in 2011 that became the name synonymous with live streaming and online broadcasts by tapping into the video game market. Twitch’s success made others realise how big a market live streaming was. By 2013 any YouTube user could stream live. In 2015, Twitter acquired the live streaming application Periscope. And later, in 2016, both Facebook and Instagram presented their live streaming services.
And now every child can stream their Minecraft videos to the world and make money from playing their favourite computer game.
The amount of content that is live-streamed is truly astounding. In the first 3 months of 2025, livestream platforms collectively generated 29.7 billion hours of watch time. YouTube was the number one platform with 15 billion watch hours. TikTok has lept into the number two slot with 8 billion hours of watch time. Twitch is in third place, with 4.847 billion watch hours (16.3% of the total).
Social Media platforms and livestreams.
I want to compare the social media platforms that many use as alternatives to X, Instagram, or Facebook.
GETTR
GETTR, a social media platform known for its pro-free speech stance, offers live streaming capabilities that enable users to broadcast real-time video to their followers. Users can engage with the stream through live comments, likes, and reactions, enhancing interaction and making the platform feel more community-driven. GETTR’s live studio works well and is robust and intuitive.
Gab
Gab, often associated with its emphasis on free speech and limited censorship, also includes livestreaming as part of its platform offerings. Interaction is possible through live chat and comments. The livestreaming is consistently tied to Gab Pro, aligning with their premium-focused model. Therefore a user who would like to livestream regularly would have to pay for Gab pro to remove limitations.
Truth Social
Truth Social, launched by President Trump, has not yet rolled out livestream capability to its users. You can watch live content but individual users are not able to stream their own content.
Parler
Parler had a soft relaunch last year and is expanding but does not have a built-in feature for live streaming within the app itself. You can upload videos to PlayTV but cannot stream live content.
Conclusion
GETTR currently has the most developed live streaming capabilities among these four and, because it has offered this for the longest time, it has continually improved and innovated. Gab’s is limited to paid users. Truth Social and Parler are limited to uploading pre recorded videos but neither offer live streaming.
The post How Livestreaming has Evolved and Which Social Media Platform is the Best appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.