Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will roll out new and secure features across its social media apps to keep up with the times.
The new features announced will apply to Messenger, Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. This unprecedented time of a global lock down has shifted consumer behaviors drastically.
The outcome of the new normal will be physical distancing. Schools may implement more learn-from-home approach. Companies, whether big or small, are now seeing the value of work-from-home setups.
Online platforms that are enabling these connections made from the confines of one’s home are adapting. The main focus point of all new app features is security, and this sudden shift of focus is brought about by Zoom’s security issues.
More powerful video call features
Facebook is rolling out Messenger Rooms. Here, up to 50 users can simultaneously join a video call chat room. WhatsApp, on the other hand, has increased its video call participants capacity from four to eight. Soon, WhatsApp and Instagram will also have a ‘Rooms’ feature to accommodate more participants.
Messenger Rooms will hold up to 50 people with no time limit so you can drop in and spend time with friends, family and people who share your interests. You can discover Rooms from your Facebook friends, Groups and Events at the top of News Feed. pic.twitter.com/Fmx2VPjmMX
— Meta (@Meta) April 24, 2020
The new Rooms are not encrypted end-to-end, but Mark Zuckerberg promises that these rooms shall not be listened to. No data shall be phished from these rooms, and the content remain within the circle of participants. He said over the announcement,
“A lot of the time that I’ve spent on this over the last few weeks as we’ve been building this out and getting ready to ship has been on privacy, security, integrity reviews, and how do we make sure that a lot of the use cases that that have been problematic around Zoom are not going to be things that are replicated here.”
Additionally, Facebook shall be stringent in its control of illicit usage of the rooms. It will not tolerate any pornographic or illegal usage of the new features rolled out. Users may report any suspicious activities for a quick response from Facebook. Room moderators will also be able to kick any unruly participants in any of the video calls.
Live features with built-in fundraising capabilities
Mark Zuckerberg also announced that Facebook is bringing back its ‘Live With’ feature that enables several users to simultaneously broadcast in one channel. This update will be available for public broadcasts or exclusive broadcasts within groups and Facebook pages.
To add more incentive for live streaming, Facebook has enabled the ‘donate button’. The same feature will be available for IGTV live broadcasters. These Live and Rooms features are already available in select countries. Rollout for all markets will be done in the succeeding weeks.
Image courtesy of @Facebook/ Twitter