Facebook’s Audio hub for podcasts, live chats and more is now live
The Clubhouse-style audio rooms are now available to all verified public figures and creators.
Facebook has been making a big push into audio over the past several months. Now, it's bringing those features together. Users can access an Audio hub in Facebook's mobile app, from which they can access podcasts, live audio rooms and short clips.
The company has been quietly rolling out the hub on iOS and Android, as TechCrunch notes. All US users aged 18 and older should see the option in the Watch tab as of today.
Facebook initially launched live audio rooms, its Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces competitor, in July. It says that all verified public figures and creators can now host live audio rooms, not just those in the US. All Facebook groups will be able to run audio discussions too. The company is testing the option to create audio rooms on Android (it was an iOS-only feature until now) and you'll be able to listen to the conversations on desktop.
Live Audio Rooms testing for Android and desktop: We’re also testing the ability to create a Live Audio Room from Android, and the ability to listen from desktop.
— Alexandru Voica (alexvoica.eth) 💀 (@alexvoica) October 11, 2021
The short-form Soundbites audio clip feature is still in beta, though Facebook plans to roll it out more broadly in the US over the next several weeks. In addition, the company has been working on measures, such as tech that automatically flags harmful content, to detect and take action on audio that violates the Community Standards. Given Facebook's history as a breeding ground for misinformation, that'll be an important issue to address as the company pushes further into audio.
