Facebook moves into Clubhouse and Twitter territory with new audio functions
- The California-based social network will launch audio rooms and a new podcast feature
- The company’s strategy includes letting creators make money
Facebook Inc is moving more aggressively into audio products, trying to compete with rivals such as Twitter Inc and popular upstart Clubhouse.
The social network on Monday is building a series of new audio-focused products, including virtual rooms where users can host live discussions, and a feature called “soundbites” that lets users post short audio snippets to their feed like they would a photo or video, according to Fidji Simo, head of the Menlo Park, California-based company’s main service.
Facebook will also create a podcasting feature so users can download and listen to podcasts directly from the main app, which will give the company a chance to compete with existing players like Apple Inc. Recode reported earlier on Facebook’s plans.
“We have seen a massive rise of audio experiences” during the pandemic, Simo said, including an increase in voice calls and audio messages on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, which spurred the company to build the new products.
Audio has become an important format with many people stuck at home due to the pandemic. Clubhouse, which lets users host live audio discussions, has been a big hit in Silicon Valley, and just raised money at a US$4 billion valuation after Twitter tried to buy the startup for around the same price, Bloomberg News reported. “Clubhouse has done something phenomenal,” Simo said. “I’ve been working at Facebook for 10 years so I know how hard it is to create a new social format.”
Twitter is also pushing aggressively into audio. It has a Clubhouse competitor, called Twitter Spaces, which exists within its app, and launched an equivalent to Facebook’s soundbites product called voice tweets last summer. Microsoft Corp’s LinkedIn and Slack Technologies Inc are also working on audio rooms competitors.