Facebook’s upcoming Clubhouse competitor could appear as a Messenger Rooms feature, according to reverse app engineer Alessandro Paluzzi.
Clubhouse has gained immense popularity over the last few months. Amid the popularity and buzz around the app, news broke last month that Facebook was working on a clone of the audio chat app for its own platform.
Paluzzi shared photos of what the feature could look like on Twitter after finding the experimental feature in the Facebook app’s code.
#Facebook keeps working on Audio rooms 👀
ℹ️ You will be able to choose between two types of audio rooms: Live Audio or (Private) Audio.
ℹ️ Live Audio rooms can be listened by anyone on Facebook. pic.twitter.com/4QUPIeW3hm— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) March 20, 2021
The new images show an expansion of Messenger Rooms, where users will be able to have an audio conversation in a similar way to Clubhouse.
The current version of the feature indicates that users will be able to choose between two different types of audio rooms. Users will be able to choose a ‘Live Audio’ option which opens up an audio-only room to listeners. The other option opens up a private audio room with friends.
Facebook has confirmed to TechCrunch that these images do in fact display the social media giant’s “exploratory audio efforts.” However, the company has emphasized that these images don’t depict a live product at this time.
It’s no surprise that Facebook is working on a clone for Clubhouse, as the social media giant has a history of chasing new products. The company acquired WhatsApp, Instagram and Oculus while they were all still fairly new.
Even within these products, Facebook has implemented copies of other social media platforms. Facebook launched Stories for Instagram in 2016 amid the rise of Snapchat. More recently, it rolled out its TikTok-like feature called Reels for Instagram.
Considering Clubhouse’s continuous increase in popularity, it’ll be interesting to see if Facebook will be able to compete with it in time.
Source: Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a), TechCrunch
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