Talking over the internet seems to be the hot new thing globally, as Facebook has introduced its own version of this- The Facebook Audio Room.
In a new blog post by the head of Facebook App, Fidji Simo, unveiled Facebook Audio Rooms, a new feature that allows up to 50 people at a time to speak in a room inside the Facebook App. This change comes after the increasing popularity of similar features on Twitter and Clubhouse. The social media giant also announced its new podcasting platform, Facebook Podcasts.
Facebook Audio Room
Right now, the Facebook Audio Room feature is only available to certain groups and public figures in the United States of America. There are currently no limits to the number of listeners that can be present in a Facebook Audio Room.
Speakers will have the ability to create public audio spaces for their friends and followers to join and listen in to. The speaker will also have the ability to invite up to 50 speakers at a time to speak in the audio space.
Facebook seems to differ from its competitors with similar features because it offers listeners a chance to be in the “front row” of all listeners by paying the Facebook Audio Room’s currency, Stars. Stars will be purchasable via Star Packs available on the Facebook App. “Front Row” listeners are said to have a higher chance of being spoken to by the speakers, as they will be more visible than the rest of the pack.
For Facebook groups, the power to create Audio Rooms will be able to be decided upon by moderators. It can be limited to just the administrators, or it can be free for all group members.
NGOs and Charitable organizations will have the ability to solicit direct donations to their causes through the feature. The feature will be visible to everyone on their Facebook Home Screens and will soon be available for the general public to use.
Facebook has partnered with tons of different speakers for the Facebook Audio Rooms, including but not limited to the following categories.
- Grammy-nominated electronic music artist TOKiMONSTA.
- American football quarterback Russell Wilson.
- Organizer, producer, independent journalist, and scholar-activist Rosa Clemente.
- Social entrepreneur Amanda Nguyen.
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Facebook Podcasts
Facebook also announced that their new Podcast feature is coming to the app, where users will be able to listen to some of their favourite podcasts while on the Facebook App.
Various podcasts have been slated to feature in Facebook’s first set of podcasts, including- “Joe Budden of The Joe Budden Podcast; “Jess Hilarious” of Carefully Reckless from The Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartRadio; Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin, and Jac Vanek of the LadyGang; and Nicaila Matthews Okome of “Side Hustle Pro“.
Facebook is always placing its feet at the door of every emerging new concept or feature. Facebook Audio Rooms and Facebook Podcasts are two that absolutely belong to that classification. But, as always, Facebook is also completely nonchalant about the whole thing and didn’t acknowledge that somebody did something before them, again.
Still, if they have introduced a feature like Podcasts that people absolutely adore, then they have to be commended for the initiative. Let us see how the public reacts to these major additions to the Facebook App.