Hang with Joel using the Hang w/ app

I\’ve been using online video and streaming technologies for a very long time. My first YouTube video dates back to 2006 and I was live-streaming The Joel Comm Show on Ustream since Spring 2008.

It\’s no surprise that video on Vine and Instagram have taken off like crazy. Video is here to stay.

I was recently introduced to a new video streaming app available for iPhone and Android devices. It\’s called Hang w/ (as in
\”hang with\”).

The app is free to download and use, and it allows you to stream live video in short segments from your phone to your followers. It also is able to stream the video live through Facebook, so people on your page can view as well. With the built-in chat functionality, viewers can interact with the broadcaster.

One of the interesting features of Hang w/ is that you can broadcast for 3 minutes, 6 minutes or 9 minutes. As a broadcaster, you simply click to start your broadcast, a 5-second countdown begins, and then you are live! A countdown clock shows you how much time you have left and the app also tells you how many viewers you have currently.

Once complete, your videos can be titled and archived for later replay.

Hashtags, push alerts and several other features are included in the app and more features are on the way.

Hang w/ is also becoming increasingly popular with celebrities. Fifty Cent, Tommy Chong, Paula Abdul, Timbaland and Larry the Cable Guy are just a few of the celebs who broadcast live Hang w/ streams from time to time.

As you might expect, Hang w/ allows you to follow others and invite others to follow you.

I like Hang w/, I\’ve started using it and I\’ve got some big plans to use it going forward.

Since Hang w/ posts to Facebook, I was able to grab one of my posts and place it below. You can see what a 3-minute Hang w/ session looks like.

I believe some of the most interesting live streams will take place at live events. As I write this, I\’m preparing for a week in Las Vegas for New Media Expo and the Consumer Electronics Show.

If you want to see what happens on the show floor and be alerted to up-to-the-minute interviews with celebrities that I encounter while at these events, you\’ll want to follow me on Hang w/!

To get started, follow these steps:

1) Download Hang w/ for your device

2) Launch the app and set it up. It\’s easy!

3) Search for \”joelcomm\” and click the /w to follow me.

You will get a notification to your device when I start a Hang w/ stream. Just jump in and be sure to write something in the chat stream to let me know you are hanging.

If you get signed up, please leave a comment below with your Hang w/ user name.