Crowdfunding just got personal on Kickstarter. On Tuesday, the popular fundraising platform launched a new way for campaigns and creators to communicate and connect with potential backers with the addition of a live-stream feature. Branded as “a new way to share and experience the creative journey as it happens,” Kickstarter Live promises to bring “live video and real-time community engagement” onto the platform.
Kickstarter is the latest in a string of internet companies to jump on the live-streaming platform, joining Facebook Live, Twitter’s Periscope, and others in their use of video content. But with Kickstarter’s unique goal of helping creative businesses and individuals raise money for their various pursuits, live video may prove particularly useful.
Thus far, “a select few creators” who served as Kickstarter Live beta testers have done everything from broadcast cooking shows to host product demos to perform songs to rehearse plays and more, all in order to connect with backers in a more intimate way than ever before. “It’s brought their communities closer together, their creativity into the light, and their projects hundreds of new backers,” Kickstarter said in its announcement.
The live-stream is not a one-way street — rather, viewers can ask questions, chat with those in the video, send selfies, select rewards, and, of course, back the campaign. Ultimately, the crowdfunding platform says, “The key to Kickstarter Live is its intimacy. It brings creators and the people supporting them right into the same room together.”
So if there is one project with which you feel a particular affinity, or if you are looking to start a project yourself and need a way to give it that personal touch, Kickstarter Live might be the solution you have been searching for. You can discover upcoming streams hosted by the Kickstarter community in action at live.kickstarter.com/explore.
