Skip to main content

Live broadcast of a puddle becomes global Internet hit

A puddle in the north of England became an Internet star on Wednesday after around half a million people, including Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, hit live-streaming app Periscope to watch it.

No, it wasn’t doing anything. It was just being puddle-like. Sort of wet. In a small pool. Like a puddle.

Recommended Videos

The broadcast lasted six hours, in which time the body of water, apparently oblivious to the global interest it was gathering, remained exactly the same. But the lack of action didn’t stop hordes of people visiting the live feed, which at its peak attracted some 20,000 viewers.

Newcastle office worker Richard Rippon had the idea to broadcast the puddle on Periscope after spotting it from his desk.

With people like Twitter’s Jack Dorsey alerting others to the puddle’s existence, more and more people headed to Periscope (which Twitter happens to own) to find out what all the fuss was about. It seemed many were enjoying watching people’s attempts to cross the water, which was blocking a well-used pathway in the city.

Keen to become a part of this momentous event, some jokers made their way to the puddle with various props in hand. One person crossed it on an air mattress, while another used a surfboard. Someone else turned up with a “Wet Floor” sign, plopping it slap in the middle of the water. And the madness didn’t end there. Before the day was out, bottles of the now-famous puddle water started turning up on eBay, with more than 12 listings posted by folks hoping to make a fast buck out of the muddy liquid. One reads, “Own your piece of the world’s most famous puddle. Extremely rare. You cannot drink this water, it’s for decorative purposes only. It would look beautiful displayed on your mantelpiece.” 

Even after Periscope’s puddle-based extravaganza ended last night, the phenomenon continued to spread its watery tentacles throughout the Web, with a number of “highlights” videos – one of which we’ve embedded above – showing up on YouTube.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
How to deactivate your Instagram account (or delete it)
A person holding a phone with the Instagram app open on it.

Oh, social media. Sometimes it’s just too much, folks.

If you’re finding yourself in a position where shutting down your Instagram account for a period of time sounds good, the people at Meta have made it pretty simple to deactivate it. It’s also quite easy to completely delete your Instagram, although we wouldn’t recommend this latter option if you plan on returning to the platform at a later date.

Read more
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Incogni: Recover your privacy and remove personal information from the internet
Incogni remove your personal data from brokers and more

Everything you do while online is tracked digitally. Often connected to your email address or an issued IP, trackers can easily identify financial details, sensitive information like your social security number, demographics, contact details, like a phone number or address, and much more. In many ways, this information is tied to a digital profile and then collated, recorded, and shared via data brokers. There are many ways this information can be scooped up and just as many ways, this information can be shared and connected back to you and your family. The unfortunate reality is that, for most of us, we no longer have any true privacy.

The problem is exacerbated even more if you regularly use social media, share content or images online, or engage in discussions on places like Reddit or community boards. It's also scary to think about because even though we know this information is being collected, we don't necessarily know how much is available, who has it, or even what that digital profile looks like.

Read more