Facebook's Clubhouse Rival: A Close Look

Facebook's Exploration of Live Audio: A Potential Clubhouse Competitor

Reports surfaced in February indicating that Facebook is developing a feature to rival Clubhouse. However, specifics regarding the product’s functionality and appearance remained unclear. Recent screenshots of a Facebook audio project, currently in development, suggest a live audio broadcasting experience.

An Extension of Existing Features

This new feature appears to be an expansion of Facebook’s Messenger Rooms, rather than a completely separate application. TechCrunch confirmed the authenticity of the images, characterizing them as examples of the company’s ongoing “exploratory audio efforts.”

Facebook cautioned against interpreting these images as representative of a finalized product. The company emphasized that features under development are subject to significant changes before public release.

Nevertheless, these visuals offer valuable insight into Facebook’s approach to live audio and its potential integration within the existing Facebook platform.

Uncovering the Development Through Code Analysis

Mobile developer and reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi discovered the live audio developments and user interface experiments within the Facebook Android app’s code. Paluzzi routinely analyzes code to identify unreleased products at various stages of development.

Some discovered products are ultimately abandoned, while others eventually become available to the public.

Integrating Live Audio into Messenger Rooms

The shared images reveal a “Live Audio” option within Rooms – Facebook’s video chat competitor, launched last May. Initially, Rooms provided video chat functionality as demand surged during the pandemic.

Now, there's a growing interest in audio-only social experiences, exemplified by Clubhouse. Currently, Messenger Rooms facilitate group video chats. They support up to 50 participants but aren’t designed for large, public broadcasts.

Expanding Room Types

The new images demonstrate an expansion of Rooms, offering three distinct “types”: private video rooms (similar to the current functionality), public audio rooms, and private audio rooms. The private audio room would enable voice chat with a select group, while the “Live Audio” room would facilitate broadcasting to a wider audience.

Live Audio Rooms would be assigned a unique Room Link, allowing speakers to promote them across Facebook – via Messenger, posts, Groups, or other social media platforms.

A Familiar User Interface

The Live Audio Room interface closely resembles Clubhouse. Speakers are prominently displayed at the top with larger profile pictures, while listeners appear below. A “followed by speakers” section precedes the audience list, mirroring Clubhouse’s design.

Accessibility and Room Information

Paluzzi indicates that the development allows anyone on Facebook to join these audio rooms directly from the platform, eliminating the need to switch to Messenger. When not in full-screen mode, the room displays its title, the number of speakers, and the total listener count, providing an indication of its popularity.

Facebook reiterated that the images represent exploratory work and that the backend functionality is not yet operational.

Facebook's Broader Audio Strategy

Despite the disclaimer, the images demonstrate a tangible effort by Facebook to explore live audio. A Facebook spokesperson stated, “We’ve been connecting people through audio and video technologies for many years and are always exploring new ways to improve that experience for people.”

Zuckerberg's Vision for Social Audio

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, has expressed strong interest in audio. He has participated in Clubhouse discussions and recently highlighted the advantages of social audio. He noted that audio formats require less preparation and allow for greater freedom of movement and background consumption.

Zuckerberg also acknowledged Clubhouse’s pioneering role, predicting it would become a significant modality for live audio broadcasting.

Following a Familiar Pattern

Facebook appears to be adopting a strategy similar to its response to Snapchat’s Stories and TikTok’s short-form video format. Rather than launching a new app, Facebook aims to integrate audio functionality directly into its existing platform.

Zuckerberg emphasized the potential of social audio, stating, “Overall, I think that this is going to be a pretty big space…we’re trying to basically build out a bunch of the tools across the spectrum of how people would want to use audio.”