So Periscope comes along and it’s super cool.  We all have visions of reaching an audience in an exciting new way and connecting with new friends, being entertained and seeing the world like we’ve never seen it before.  We download the app, we start to follow some scopers, we tell our friends and we start scoping……..and then they show up.  The scope chatters who tune in and, well…. make it interesting.  Just to clarify for the purposes of this survival guide for scopers, the scopers are the people broadcasting, and the chatters are the folks tuning in to watch and “chat” (type comments to the scoper and each other).

Doug and Ally checking out Sock Cop and Cathy Hackl on Periscope

Scoping can be stressful, it can lead to post traumatic scope disorder, and it’s largely the fault of these 13 types of scope chatters (and here’s a clue – we’re all guilty of being at least one if not several of these at some point).  So without further adieu I bring you:

the 13 types of chatters – a survival guide

1. The First Comment Chatter – the first comment chatter is quick on the draw and that’s their M.O. – when they see a scope notification they pounce and furiously start typing to get their comment in before the others start scrolling.
2. The Chatty Cathy – the Chatty Cathy is usually just so excited to be on a scope – their exuberance is often activated by a simple acknowledgement of the Chatty Cathy.  If you say hi back to a Chatty Cathy the flood gates will open and they Won’t.  Stop.  Commenting.  Relatively harmless because they are generally extremely happy people, but they can still make you a little crazy.
3. The Troll – yes this is obvious.  Not new to social media by any stretch, the troll will usually ask a female scoper to see her boobs, or like my troll yesterday they may just stop by to tell you that they “just crapped their pants”.  Trolls are not cool, but luckily there is a relatively easy remedy for handling trolls and that is to simply block them.
4. The Topic Trumper – the topic trumper loves the opportunity to show off their vast reservoir of knowledge by jumping into your room to spill the beans on the tip you are about to reveal.  While this may allow the topic trumper a fleeting moment of self validation, it usually doesn’t make them look so good to the other viewers/chatters.
5. The Drop In Chatter – the drop in chatter is extremely busy.  They have a ton going on and they are probably busy with multiple million dollar generating projects or maybe they just have 5 kids but they still find the time to drop in and say hello even if they can only stay for a minute.  The drop in chatter can actually be a welcome guest, but habitual drop ins can lead to being classified as a scope hopper.
6. The Scope Hopper – the scope hopper is a mysterious character.  Also known as “ghosting”, they like to hop around from one scope to the next, sometimes staying just long enough to make a hit and run comment.  They may genuinely want to just see what is going on around Periscope or their motives may be more sinister – they may just want to be seen or make the scoper think they are interested in their scopes when they really aren’t.  This can lead to the scope hop of shame.  6a. The Scope Hop Of Shame – just a footnote to the the scope hopper, this happens when two hoppers by coincidence hop into two consecutive scopes at the same time and discover that they are both indeed scope hopping.  The best thing to do in this case if you are one of the busted hoppers is to form an alliance with the other hopper and swear this unfortunate incident to secrecy.
7. The Social Butterfly – the social butterfly loves to say hi to everybody in your room.  Actually a welcome chatter, the social butterfly brings all the chatters together and fosters a sense of community in your scope.  The only danger is when the social butterfly moves into the more serious and dangerous category of being a side chatter.
8. The Side Chatter – the side chatter will recognize a friend in the scope and start an entire unrelated side conversation that sometimes goes way too long.  This can be very disruptive to the flow of comments that are actually on topic, can badly confuse the scoper, and might actually squeeze relevant comments off the screen too quickly for the scoper to respond.  This is a borderline double troll result that can sink your scope and in extreme cases may even be a premeditated conspiracy to destroy your scope.
9. The Off-Topic Chatter – this chatter will come into your chat entitled “3 tips for sharing scopes on YouTube” and notice that you’re from New York and tell you about a restaurant they ate at in New York…. because they once lived in New Jersey about 90 minutes from…. New York so they didn’t get to New York too…. often but one time when they went they did go to said restaurant…. are you a Giant fan?
10. The Attention Seeker – this chatter usually gets stressed when the room is very crowded and will repeatedly use 30 emojis and/or ALL CAPS in their comments to get noticed.  You may need to acknowledge the attention seeker to quiet them temporarily.
11. The Slightly Awkward Chatter – this chatter isn’t quite a troll but makes comments that make everyone feel just slightly uncomfortable – just not enough to warrant a block.  No one has found an adequate solution yet for these people.
12. The Lurker – the lurker never comments.  They kind of just sit in the corner and stare and their presence can be a bit unsettling.  Don’t let them bother you.
13. The Interrupter – very often a scope begins with welcomes and introductions and even a little bit of chatting which is great.  Hearts and engagement throughout are the hallmarks of a successful scope.  But at some point the scoper might have some valuable information they want to get across.  The interrupter doesn’t understand that.  Just when the room goes quiet and the scoper gets on a roll the interrupter will ask a question that may have already been covered or they are jumping ahead.  This is very stressful for the other chatters in the room and if left unchecked can extend a scope to unbearable lengths causing a chatter exodus.  You can give the interrupter one free pass if you like, but it’s best just to ask them to DM you on twitter afterwards.

So there you have it!  Be aware of these chatters, learn to recognize them and keep this survival guide close and you should be okay!  Feel free to add to this list if there are any I’ve missed…

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