As most of you know, Pope Francis will spend the next several days visiting the United States. Pope Francis will be visiting President Obama and Congress in Washington DC, then the United Nations in New York City. He will then hold mass in Philadelphia, PA. Social media will capture it all.
Thanks to new social medium Periscope, you can catch Pope Francis’ first trip to the US as it unfolds. The White House is helping broadcast this historic occasion to Periscope users live. This Periscope footage began yesterday. It started from the very beginning, as Pope Francis’ plane touched down at Joint Base Andrews airfield in Maryland. The footage isn’t exactly a close-up, but what do you expect? You can see the plane landing. You can see Pope Francis stepping on US soil for the first time. You can hear the cheers and screams of the fans. You can see President Obama, Vice President Biden, their families and other dignitaries greet him on the tarmac. They’re at least 10,000 Periscope users hoping to catch a glance of this historic occasion. This video will remain on Periscope until 4pm ET today. This Periscope was produced by the White House. Will the UN have Periscope ready when Pope Francis visits their headquarters?
Periscope isn’t the only social media outlet getting in on this moment. You Tube has footage of Pope Francis’ arrival. Facebook talks about it a lot. Pope Francis is the first social media Pope. Social media was in it’s infancy when Pope John Paul died. It grew up when Pope Benedict reigned. During this visit, Pope Francis’ visit will be captured by social media. What does Pope Francis and social media have in common? Lots! In the days to come, you‘ll probably see social media be used to capture every step of this historic occasion. Will you be between New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC in the coming days? ?Will you be taking your smartphone with you?