Facebook to launch several social audio products to take on Clubhouse
Social media giant Facebook is set to unveil a slew of social audio products, including an audio-chat app competitor to Clubhouse, and a drive into podcast discovery and distribution.
Sources close to the matter stated that these plans include an audio version of Facebook's Rooms, a video-conferencing product, which debuted a year ago. The audio-only product will allow groups of individuals to listen to and communicate with speakers on a virtual platform.
Facebook will also launch a product that enables users to record short voice messages and upload them to their newsfeeds. It is also planning to introduce a podcast discovery service that will be linked to Spotify.
Reportedly, the social networking site has begun public testing a new app called Hotline wherein creators can talk and take live questions from spectators. The Q&A product integrates text, audio, and video elements, just in time when social media sites are exploring new live audio features.
Facebook was found experimenting with a live audio room offering in Messenger Rooms, while Twitter has been experimenting with its audio feature Spaces.
In another major development, Clubhouse recently revealed a new funding round that valued the firm at USD 4 billion, a few months after proclaiming a funding round that valued it at USD 1 billion, sources cited.
It is worth noting that analysts speculated that Clubhouse, which enables real-time chats in front of audiences of up to 5,000 individuals, might struggle to reclaim the hype it created in 2020 and earlier this year when most of the world was locked down and searching for distractions.
Facebook’s garnered a strong audience in as audio space as did with the ‘Stories’ feature that was popularized by Snapchat, although its Zoom competitor, Rooms, never caught on. Likewise, with several audio products, the company is looking to capitalize on the newly found audience.
The details regarding the launch date for Facebook’s new apps are still unknown, sources claimed.
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