Comedian JB Smoove ‘hearts’ Periscope

The actor-comedian-writer, who stopped by Digiday one recent afternoon, said he’s amazed by the direct connection he can build with his fans on the platform. “I pull my phone out, turn that Periscope on, and you know what? I’m hanging with people — in real time. I get my little hearts … floating on the screen, comments here and there. I love it,” he said.

Celebrities, and especially comedians, have embraced Periscope since the live streaming platform launched last March. Kevin Hart is one of the most popular users with more than 809,000 followers (and 15 million hearts). Smoove, meanwhile, has 5,000 followers and 110,000 hearts.

Smoove and other users are not paid by Periscope to use the platform. That might change as Periscope looks to compete with Facebook, which is shelling cash to get more celebrities and media companies to produce Facebook Live content.

Meanwhile, Smoove is happy to engage his most ardent fans on social media.

“The people who follow you on social media are not the people who follow you on network TV,” he said, indicating how his social audience is naturally more engaged than those who passively watch his shows on TV. “It’s two different types of people.”

Watch other excerpts from the interview here.