There was an explosion in New York City and seconds later I was watching it live on Periscope

I was on Twitter nine minutes ago when someone posted an image of a smoking building, fire trucks, and a message about a crazy explosion. Three minutes later I was watching a Periscope feed from live on the ground. I learned that this was potentially a building which had collapsed. The broadcaster, Andrew Steinthal, got within a hundred feet or so before police arrived and asked everyone to disperse. Steinthal faced the camera, said how scary the whole thing had been, then signed off from his first Periscope reporting.

I don't know if I feel more informed than I would if I had waited for a formal news crew to arrive, report out what was happening, and then pass that information back to me. But I know that the ability to jump live into...

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There was an explosion in New York City and seconds later I was watching it live on Periscope