Periscope Can Help You Celebrate SCOTUS Victory

Like millions of other Americans, I am in a celebratory mood today because the Supreme Court made history by ruling five to four that the Constitution protects the rights of same-sex couples to marry in every single state from Maine to Hawaii. For the many people who have been waiting decades for the court to get with the times and advocate in favor of love and all that is good about life, this ruling should have never even been deemed necessary — no one should have ever had the power to keep two people who are in love and committed to each other from getting married in the first place. But I'm going to take a "glass is half full" approach today and say this: 2015 is the perfect year in which to legalize gay marriage in every state because the amazing forms of technology at our disposal only make it more possible for people to see just how much happiness this decision is bringing to others across the nation. You can watch SCOTUS decision celebrations on Periscope and feel the love.

If you want to join in the celebration but are stuck in your office or live in a city that is acting like this is the fall of the Roman Empire, get thee to Periscope immediately. It is a live-streaming app owned by Twitter that, very simply, allows you to view videos in real time, or as close to real-time as possible — though, as Mashable reported, that isn't always the case. Some popular videos, and I assume most SCOTUS coverage is going to fall under that banner today, are delayed by a few seconds to ensure the streams don't get overloaded. But, hey, what you're getting is still far more current than anything you'll watch on YouTube.

The social networking app is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPad Touch and can be downloaded for free in iTunes. Once you've downloaded the app, you can connect with people you follow on Twitter to see whether they have uploaded video clips. You are then given the option of viewing a map of the world that clearly shows you the number of vids that are streaming in each country, or of viewing the videos in a list format — which is way more helpful if your intention is to find specific SCOTUS videos.

But that's also a little like finding a needle in a haystack.

The most efficient way to use Periscope to stream videos is search Twitter for #Periscope and #SCOTUS or #gaymarriage. Simple, right? You'll be amazed at the number of options that pop up.

Here are just a few examples:

From there, you can sit back and watch love (and history) unfold before your eyes.