Facebook has announced a couple new audio-based experiences. They will release over the next few months and be limited to select users at launch. The social network is clearly attempting to further compete with social audio app Clubhouse, by announcing these new upgrades to its platform.
The first new feature is called Live Audio Rooms. It will be available to everyone by this summer, but it’s rolling out first to groups and public figures as a test. Eventually, it will come to Messenger. The idea is you can use Live Audio Rooms to host audio discussions and even record and distribute your conversations. Facebook said you will be able to charge for access to your rooms through either a subscription or one-time fee. It is also introducing an Audio Creator Fund to “support emerging audio creators”.
As an extension of Live Audio Rooms, Facebook is allowing you to take your conversations and turn them into Soundbites, another new audio feature that lets you easily create and share short-form clips. There will even be a TikTok-like feed to help promote Soundbites. Facebook described Soundbites as “creative audio clips for capturing anecdotes, jokes, moments of inspiration, poems, and many other things we haven’t yet imagined”. It plans to test Soundbites over the next few months with select creators.
Soundbites will be accessible in the news feed, and you will be able to record them in a separate tool within Facebook, which has been dubbed a “sound studio in your pocket.”
