Continuing its long and storied history of lifting designs and features from competitors, Facebook today announced an upcoming change to Messenger that simultaneously feels both long overdue and rushed in response to the pandemic.
Say hello to Messenger Rooms, a tile-view video chat experience that will delay to 50 participants.
Importantly, consistent with an emailed handout, you are doing not need a Facebook account to hitch a Messenger Room. Of course, your friends that do not have Facebook accounts likely do not have them for a reason, but we understand what Zuckerberg and Co. are going for here.
You can start and share rooms on Facebook through News Feed, Groups, and Events, so it is easy for people to drop in.
Soon we’ll add ways to make rooms from Instagram Direct, WhatsApp, and Portal, too.
Also, of note, you do not get to download anything to hitch a Messenger Room.
We’re sure nobody will zoom, er, excuse us, Facebook bomb any of those calls.
As to once you are going to be ready to use this exciting new feature within the world of videoconferencing? Soon, probably.
Consistent with the handout, « Messenger Rooms is rolling call at some countries in the week and can expand to the remainder of the planet in the coming weeks.
