Facebook Launches Hotline: A New Live Q&A Platform

Facebook’s NPE Team, the company’s internal research and development division, has initiated public beta testing of its newest project, Hotline. This web application blends elements of Instagram Live and Clubhouse, enabling creators to engage with audiences through both text and audio-based questions.

How Hotline Works

Unlike Clubhouse, Hotline allows creators the option of activating their cameras during live sessions, offering a more visually engaging experience. Real estate investor Nick Huber was the first public user, hosting a livestream at 10 AM PT (1 PM ET) focused on industrial real estate investment as a supplemental income source.

Hotline is spearheaded by Eric Hazzard, who previously founded tbh, a Q&A application acquired by Facebook. tbh achieved significant growth, reaching 2.5 million daily active users within nine weeks.

Interface and Key Features

The Hotline user interface shares similarities with Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces, and other audio-focused social networks, particularly on mobile devices. A dedicated speaker section displays the host, either through a profile icon or live video feed.

• Listeners are positioned below (or to the side on desktop).
• Questions are submitted via text and can be upvoted or downvoted by the audience.
• Creators can select questions to answer and invite listeners to join the “stage” for conversation.

Currently, guests on stage participate via audio only, though a video toggle exists in the settings but is not yet active. Users can express reactions using emoji, including clapping hands, fire, heart, laughter, surprise, and thumbs up.

Differences from Existing Platforms

Several distinctions set Hotline apart from competitors like Clubhouse. Initial access requires signing in with a Twitter account and verifying identity via SMS. Furthermore, Hotline events are recorded automatically.

Clubhouse often prioritizes informal, unrecorded discussions, fostering a sense of open communication. Hotline, however, provides hosts with both mp3 and mp4 recordings after each session, facilitating content repurposing for platforms like YouTube, TikTok, or podcasting.

Hosts maintain complete control, with the ability to remove inappropriate questions or participants. Facebook employees will initially moderate events to ensure adherence to Community Standards, Terms of Service, Data Policy, and the NPE Team’s Supplemental Terms.

NPE Team’s Broader Experimentation

Hotline represents one of several applications developed by Facebook’s NPE Team to explore new concepts in audio and video creation. Other projects include Super (a video-based creator app similar to Cameo), CatchUp (an audio-only calling app, now discontinued), Venue (a Twitter-like companion for live events), Collab, and BARS (TikTok-esque video apps focused on collaborative music and rap).

The primary objective of these projects isn’t necessarily to launch standalone apps, but rather to gather insights that can inform the development of existing Facebook products, such as Messenger Rooms or Facebook Live.

Facebook’s Statement and Future Plans

According to a Facebook spokesperson, “With Hotline, we’re hoping to understand how interactive, live multimedia Q&As can help people learn from experts in areas like professional skills, just as it helps those experts build their businesses.”

In addition to Hotline, Facebook is also developing a direct competitor to Clubhouse within the Messenger Rooms experience. The company aims to provide diverse avenues for live, interactive communication and knowledge sharing.

Hotline currently offers free access with no audience size limitations, though these parameters may evolve as the experiment progresses.