A clubhouse competitor from Facebook is coming this summer
- Facebook announced a new batch of products that focus on the audio rather than text, images or video, to help it compete with Clubhouse.
- The products are supposed to be launched within the next few months and start with some cases with a limited group of people.
- Notably, Facebook is launching a rival to the clubhouse social audio app with a feature called Live Audio Rooms, which is available this summer.
- It first rolls out to groups and public figures as a test but makes its way to Messenger as well.
- Users can record and distribute their conversations, and people can charge a fee to access these rooms either through a subscription or a one-time fee.
- To attract people to join, Facebook says it is introducing the Voice Makers Fund to support emerging voice makers.
- All those conversations can also be converted into audio clips, an upcoming feature that allows people to create and share short audio clips along with an algorithmic news feed to promote them.
- The audio clips are included in the news feed, and users can record them via a separate tool within Facebook, which the company describes as an audio studio in your pocket.
- The audio clips seem to include more than just basic audio clips, with the ability to add special effects, text, and other convenient features.
- The company is also working on an audio broadcast feature that allows users to browse, download and listen to the podcast directly from the Facebook application, and users can listen to the audio while the application is open, as well as when it is in the background.
- Notably, Facebook is testing monetization features in all new audio features and plans to integrate tip features, in addition to giving creators the ability to offer paid subscriptions to access rooms.
- Facebook is not the only platform that tests social voice, as Twitter has been testing the Spaces voice feature for several months, while Reddit has previewed its own version of the feature called Reddit Talk.