Facebook has released new features on Messenger and Instagram which it hopes will rival Zoom‘s dominance of teleconferencing.
Messenger Room, the latest feature announced by the social media giant on Friday, is a tool for starting virtual hangouts with room enough for 50 people. Facebook is also increasing the capacity of video calls on WhatsApp from four people to eight while adding video calls to Facebook Dating, and new live streaming features to both Facebook and Instagram.
Apart from an expanded capacity, Messenger Room also has no time limit so users can drop in and spend time with friends, family, and people who share their interests.
“Video presence isn’t a new area for us,” he said. “But it’s an area that we want to go deeper in, and it fits the overall theme, which is that we’re shifting more resources in the company to focus on private communication and private social platforms, rather than just the traditional broader ones. So this is a good mix: we’re building tools into Facebook and Instagram that are helping people find smaller groups of people to then go have more intimate connections with, and be able to have private sessions with.”
Virtual conferencing and video calls have grown and become the ‘normal’ way people stay in touch with friends, family, and business in the last three months. Zoom and a few other platforms have grown popular on the back of growing demand from government institutions, companies, and individuals.
Following its new-found popularity, Zoom Video Communications announced on Thursday that it surpassed 300 million daily active users, representing a 2,900 percent increase from December 2019 when the company had 10 million daily active users. The company’s popularity has also seen Zoom become the toast of many investors. On Friday, the share price rose by 7 percent to $181.50. Zoom stock is up more than 400 percent since pricing its initial public offering at $36 in April 2019.
Microsoft Teams another virtual conferencing has also seen a surge in usage. In April the company reported said meetings Teams service hit a new daily record of 2.7 billion meeting minutes in one day. That marks a significant increase of 200 percent from 900 million in mid-March.
That figure includes just meetings in Teams. The company’s newly released Work Trend Index report showed the meaning behind the numbers and how the desire to connect online is changing the way people work, live, and much more.
Facebook is looking to tap into the changing dynamics with its latest features. Messenger Room is rolling out to some users on Friday with a smaller unit and will expand to the rest of the world in the coming weeks.
The company said there are now over 800 million daily active users across Facebook and Instagram Live. It is bringing live videos to desktop and adding a feature that lets users save live videos to IGTV. On the Facebook app, the company is bringing back Live With and has made it easier to donate and raise money directly in Live.
“You’ll also be able to mark Facebook Events as online only and broadcast live to your guests,” Facebook said on Twitter. “We’re also exploring ways for Pages to charge for Live events. You can now livestream games on the @FacebookGaming app on Google Play, and soon you’ll be able to set up gaming tournaments.”
Source: Businessdayng