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As the 2016 presidential race comes into view, social media app-of-the-moment Meerkat offers American candidates a promising but perhaps risky way to reach out to the masses.
The online video streaming service, which was launched last month, allows users to broadcast footage live from their smartphone with the touch of a button.
And now anyone within slingshot distance of a political campaign appears to be interested in the app that could change how people follow and report the upcoming presidential race.
The White House made its Meerkat debut on Friday, with spokesman Josh Earnest sitting for a live-streamed interview with MSNBC's Kasie Hunt.
"A little early morning history," Earnest quipped on the stream. "We'll see how this goes."
So will everyone on the 2016 campaign trail.
Prospective Republican frontrunner Jeb Bush "meerkatted" his speech on Thursday before Georgia's state legislature.
And four days earlier, Republican Senator Rand Paul - whose campaigns are known for their social media savvy - used the service to film a speaker at the SXSW event in Austin, Texas.
Meerkat integrates with Twitter, allowing users of the messaging platform to launch live video streams by sending a link for their followers to use or share.
It is hardly the first live streaming app, but it has captured the zeitgeist in Washington's political and media microcosm and taken off with younger users outside the capital.
Last week, Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, posted a call to arms - or perhaps a warning - to potential candidates.
"Every minute - literally every minute - of every day of the campaign will be available live to anyone who wants it, no matter where they are," Pfeiffer wrote, saying Meerkat will "change the 2016 election for every campaign, reporter and voter".
That is also where potential risks could lurk. Back in September 2012 - early days in the social media technology arc - Republican nominee Mitt Romney told donors "there are 47 per cent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what" because they are "dependent upon government".
The candid moment, at a private fundraiser in Florida, was secretly recorded on a smartphone and the video went viral, damaging Romney's campaign less than two months before Election Day.
"This year's '47 Per cent Moment' will be on live video," Pfeiffer predicted.


Meerkat app could shape presidential campaign by letting users share video

Meerkat lets users share live video. Photo: The Washington Post

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As the 2016 presidential race comes into view, social media app-of-the-moment Meerkat offers American candidates a promising but perhaps risky way to reach out to the masses.
