Facebook is now focusing on audio-based chats and launching Facebook Audio Rooms and Podcast services in the United States today.
Facebook Live Audio Rooms
Facebook Live Audio Rooms can be expected to be the biggest rival in the Clubhouse. This feature allows users to listen to the Room as they do in Clubhouses, and the Digital Rooms allow live chat with listeners. It also offers the ability to raise funds through the Live Audio Room.
A chat room can accommodate up to 50 speakers and an unlimited number of listeners at a time. The icons of the listeners are shown at the bottom and the icons of the speakers are shown at the top in large glowing circles. It also has a digital feature that allows the speaker to raise his or her hand to grab attention. The design of the interface (UI) is very similar to the UI of Clubhouse and Twitter Space.
Facebook Podcasts
Facebook has launched its own podcast platform with the Facebook Live Audio Room feature. Like any other podcast service, it allows users to record their content and post it on Facebook so that listeners can find it. Facebook claims that the content of all Podcasters is checked through its servers to ensure that the content it publishes does not violate any community guidelines.
Podcasts can be played through Facebook Snow Audio Player, and this player also has the ability to play Podcasts in the background even when the screen is off. The Podcast feature will be available for Facebook Pages.
Although there is no official word on when Facebook Audio Rooms and Podcast will be available to the general public, Facebook is currently working to make these features available to iOS users in the United States. There is no official date for the release of these features to Android users yet, but it is expected that these features will be available to iOS and Android users worldwide in the next few days.