Facebook announced previously that they will be bringing a new video chat feature that would let you have a video call with friends and loved ones. Now they have officially rolled it out initially to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and then globally over the next few days. While you’re probably using Zoom or Google Meets or some other enterprise service for your business and work needs, but Facebook is hoping that you’re still looking for something for your personal video chatting needs.
Basically, what Messenger Rooms does is to let you video chat with friends or even random people, starting a video conversation either from the main Facebook app or the Messenger app. Later on, you will also be able to start Messenger Rooms on Instagram and WhatsApp as well. Unlike some of the free apps out there, there is no time limit for these conversations so if you want to talk all night, you can do so.
You can let up to 50 people join in on the video chat and you can also set limits on who can or cannot join in on the call. You can also remove people at any time, if you’re the one who started the call. You can also make it public so any random friend can drop by to chat with you and whoever is in on the call already. You can even invite people who don’t have a Facebook account. If you’re on the main Facebook app, you can start a Meeting Room from the News Feed, Groups, and Events.
You can set labels on your room like “hanging out” or “happy hour” if you’re doing a virtual drink session. You don’t need to schedule time for your video chat since this is supposedly a more casual and laidback app compared to other video conferencing tools. Since this is Facebook we’re talking about, you might still want to be a bit more careful even though they assure users that their privacy and security controls are in place.
Facebook says they will continue to add more features in the coming months but for now, go on and video chat with 50 people max (that should be enough right?). Update your Facebook or Messenger app to the latest version to see if it’s rolling out to you already.
