Facebook is investing in audio content: The tech company plans to announce its “social audio” strategy today. Some of the plans have already been leaked. Here’s what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning for his networks.
Facebook is planning a push into audio content. As Peter Kafka reports at Recode, the company plans to announce the planned innovations today.
The plans in detail
Under the name “Social Audio,” Facebook is planning “a series of products,” according to the Recode report. These are to extend primarily to the areas of podcasts and live audio content.
Among other things, a pure audio version of the Zoom alternative Rooms is planned. This will be a version of video conferencing, but without video. Kafka describes it as very likely that this innovation will be available immediately.
All other products are not yet in beta, according to Kafka, and could be released in the coming weeks and months in late spring and summer 2021.
Clubhouse also makes an appearance in social audio
Today’s announcement is expected to include a Clubhouse clone, of course. Currently, however, it’s too early to tell whether Facebook’s massive scale can dethrone Clubhouse.
The voice messages that are widespread in many messengers are also planned for Facebook. In the future, users will no longer be able to send these only on WhatsApp and Instagram, but will be able to post them directly in their news feeds. Facebook is thus developing into a full-fledged audio platform.
Facebook wants to cooperate with Spotify
Of course, Facebook’s audio offensive can’t be without podcasts. To this end, the social network is collaborating with audio leader Spotify. A podcast discovery product is to be developed.
However, it is also not yet clear whether this is a pure link that forwards users to Spotify, or whether Facebook and Spotify are working together on a standalone product.
When asked by Recode, Facebook is still cagey about the plans: “We’ve been connecting people through audio and video technologies for many years, and we’re always looking for new ways to improve that experience for people.”
