Video conferencing has become essential for many people stuck at home during the coronavirus. Facebook has launched Messenger Rooms to completely bomb the popularity of Zoom in the midst of the pandemic. This new feature allows anyone with a Facebook account to create a video meeting and invite their friends to join.
Zoom has become widely popular, with 300 million people now participating in meetings on its platform. However, Zoom is a user-friendly app, initially, users just needed to click a single link to join a meeting. Facebook has the capability to reach a much broader audience.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a live-streamed announcement on Friday that the ability to connect over live video has “emerged as especially important during this pandemic.” Beyond video conferencing for work, he said, “there are even more social uses of this, just for people to stay connected.”
Hosts can also create a link to invite the peoples to join the Messenger Room. These links are less secure because Facebook will not have a password to join. And if the hosts remove someone, the room automatically locks. Users can also report a room for violating Facebook rules.
People without Facebook accounts can join a room with their Web Browser. Facebook said it will collect some information on them, including what browser and device they are using. Facebook rolls out the Messenger room worldwide over the next few weeks.
