Social networking giant Facebook has officially launched its new group video calling app Messenger Room, enabling free video calls with up to 50 people with no time limit.
“Messenger Room is now available to everyone in the US, Canada and Mexico, and will be available to everyone globally in the next week! Rooms have no time limits, can host up to 50 people, and you can create them for free across Messenger, Facebook, and soon Instagram and WhatsApp as well”, said Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
The option to create a room will be available from the dedicated Messenger app; however, users in the US can directly do so from the main Facebook application.
The announcement by the world's most popular social networking site led to a flurry of reactions on Twitter: while several users were excited with the new app, others accused Facebook of stealing stories from Snapchat and trends from Twitter.
Another netizens said that it is “less significant”, pointing at the data collection of millions of users personal data and breach scandals that Facebook has been involved in since 2018.
Facebook launched its stories feature back in 2017 when Snapchat’s popularity was soaring due to the unique aspect that allows photos, videos, and animations that disappear after 24 hours. Snapchat Stories were introduced in 2013.
The social media giant also launched its trending topic section, on the lines of Twitter. This feature personalises trending topics based on one's location and social behaviour (posts and pages you've liked), as well as what's popular in general.