How to follow people and create groups on Periscope

How to find and follow people on Periscope

To search for specific accounts and follow them

1. Go to the People Tab.
2. Tap the search icon in the top left on iOS, and in the bottom right on Android.
3. Enter the username of the account you're looking for in the search bar.
4. Tap the plus icon to follow.

If you created your Periscope account with your Twitter account, you will see a list of people that you are Following on Twitter but haven’t followed yet on Periscope. We don’t automatically import any of your Twitter followers or those you are following.

What does it mean to follow someone?

Following people on Periscope is the best way to create a stream that’s personalized based on your taste. It also means you’re choosing to follow their activity on Periscope and are allowing them to interact with you. If you follow someone:

• Their broadcasts will appear in your Watch Tab.
• They can invite you to watch other broadcasters’ public broadcasts.
• They can chat in your limited chat.
• If your push notifications are on and the account isn’t muted, you’ll be notified of their public broadcasts.
• If they’re following you back, you can invite each other to private broadcasts.

When you'll receive push notifications

Push notifications help you stay up-to-date on recent Periscope activity. They are turned off by default, but you can choose to receive a push notification when:

• Someone you follow goes LIVE.
• Someone you follow on Twitter goes LIVE.
• Someone shares a broadcast with you.
• A broadcast is suggested to you .
• Someone follows you.
• Someone adds you to a group.

You can learn how to manage your push notifications.

How to block and unblock 

When you block someone on Periscope, they will not be able to follow you or view any of your broadcasts while they are logged in. You also won’t be able to follow or see their broadcasts.

To block on iOS or Android

1. Tap the account you want to block.
2. On their profile, tap the gear icon in the top left on iOS or the menu icon on Android.
3. Tap Block User.

To unblock on iOS or Android

1. Tap Blocked in your Profile to view the list of accounts you have blocked.
2. Select the account you want to unblock by clicking into their profile.
3. Tap Blocked, then select Unblock User.

To block on web 

1. Select a username from the web home page or while watching a broadcast to go to that account’s web profile.
2. Once on their web profile, hover over the gear icon next to the Follow button and select Block @username.

To unblock on web

1. Navigate to the profile you want to unblock.
2. Once on their web profile, hover over the gear icon next to the Follow button and select Unblock @username.

You can also block someone from their comments in a broadcast on iOS or Android

1. Tap the comment of the account you want to block.
2. Tap View Profile.
3. On their profile, tap the gear icon in the top left on iOS or the menu icon on Android.
4. Tap Block User.

As a broadcaster, you can block someone through their comments on iOS and Android. Simply select the account that you'd like to block and tap Block.

As a viewer you have the option of reporting an account’s comments as Abuse, Spam, Sexually Inappropriate, or Other Reason if you no longer wish to see their comments in a specific broadcast. You can learn more about comment moderation.

Groups and how to create them

Groups allow you to share the moments and experiences that matter to you with a selected group of people, friends, family, or community members.

Creating a group

1. Go to the People Tab and navigate to your profile.
2. Scroll down and select Groups.
3. Select the plus icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
4. Add a Group Name and Add Members, then tap Done.
5. Select Create in the upper right corner of the screen.

Removing members from a group

1. Go to the People Tab and navigate to your profile.
2. Scroll down and select Groups.
3. Select the group you are looking to modify.
4. Scroll down to the group member you want to remove, swipe left, and tap Remove.

Broadcasting to a group

From the groups page

1. Tap Groups.
2. Select the group you would like to broadcast to.
3. Tap Broadcast to Group.

From the Go LIVE page

1. Tap Public to change audience.
2. Select a Group under Choose who you want to see your broadcast.
3. Select Go LIVE.

Closed groups

Closed groups allow the creator of a group to be the sole administrator, meaning that only the administrator will be able to add or remove members and change the group title. To create a closed group or close a group after creating it, turn on the closed group setting from the management screen. If a group is closed, you will see this next to the group title.

Group invites

Group invites allow you to choose which groups you join. To receive group invites, you can turn off the Auto-accept Group Invites setting in your profile. Once you have opted out of automatically joining groups, you will not see any notifications until you accept the group invite.

Managing group notifications

To manage group notifications

1. Go to your Periscope profile.
2. Select Groups.
3. Go to a group and turn notifications on or off.