Facebook is rolling out a suite of new products to expand its capabilities in video chat. The company today announced Messenger Rooms, a tool for starting virtual hangouts with up to 50 people and allowing friends to drop in on you whenever they like. It’s also doubling the capacity of video calls on WhatsApp from four people to eight, adding video calls to Facebook Dating, and adding new live-streaming features to both Facebook and Instagram.
With Messenger Rooms, Facebook users can host group calls of up to 50 people that anyone can join. Instead of inviting people individually, Facebook users can post links in their News Feed or in Groups or event pages. And unlike Messenger’s existing video chat features, participants don’t need to have the Messenger app or even a Facebook account to join a room. When a room is created, anyone can join via their browser, though hosts can opt to “lock” rooms to new guests to prevent party crashers.
The rapid growth of alternative social products has always been cause for concern at the famously paranoid Facebook, which devotes significant resources to monitoring emerging social products and then acquiring the companies behind them or copying their features. While we are still in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s already clear that consumer behavior is changing to cope with it and that Facebook’s existing product lineup has not met demand.
Messenger Rooms will have “immersive 360-degree backgrounds that transport you to beautiful and iconic spaces, from the beach to a luxe apartment on the water,” along with “14 new camera filters that offer ambient lighting to brighten your space and your face.” Facebook also notes that there are no time limits for video chat sessions, which can be scheduled in advance.
Messenger Rooms is starting to roll out now, and will be live in the US “in the coming weeks.”
The update comes as Facebook says it’s seen a massive surge in calling across its chat apps, with more than 700 million people making calls on Messenger and WhatsApp every day. And on WhatsApp, Facebook is also increasing the number of people who can join a call, doubling it from four to eight. That update is launching next week.
