Facebook announced the launch of podcasts and a live audio service

By Sanjay Maurya

News Highlights

To compete with Clubhouse, Facebook is introducing a new service.
The new podcasting and audio streaming service aim to keep customers engaged on its platform while also competing with newcomers.
People in the United States will be able to listen to a limited number of podcasts initially, with the business planning to add more in the future.

Facebook announced the launch of podcasts and a live audio service

Facebook, Inc. is a Menlo Park, California-based international technological company. To compete with Clubhouse, Facebook is introducing a new service. The new podcasting and audio streaming service aim to keep customers engaged on its platform while also competing with newcomers.

According to Facebook, public figures with verified accounts will be able to establish live audio rooms and invite others to speak. People in the United States will be able to listen to a limited number of podcasts initially, with the business planning to add more in the future.

Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has previously featured on the video streaming app Clubhouse, held his live audio room on his Facebook page. In a blog post published 21th June, Fidji Simo, the head of Facebook, said, “Rolling out Live Audio Rooms and podcasts in the US is only the beginning of our audio adventure.”

Looking ahead, we’re collaborating with creators to further develop and publish Soundbites short-form, creative audio clips using our audio tools.”

However, racism, disinformation, and extreme content have all found a home on podcasts and live radio. When compared to social media posts, live audio is more difficult to control.

Facebook’s standards apply to live audio and podcasts, and anybody may report objectionable content, according to the company, which revealed its audio plans in April.

“Our wider integrity and safety efforts, as well as the tools we’ve created for proactively and automatically detecting harmful content, are important building blocks,” the firm said in a prepared statement. “However, as we learn more, we want to make changes to our technology and procedures.”

According to the firm, it may save live audio after it has stopped broadcasting to enforce its regulations, which will be done by both human moderators and machine learning.

Clubhouse, which began at the start of the epidemic and has had significant development over the last year, has piqued Zuckerberg’s interest. He’s been in several conversations on the platform, including one with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Clubhouse, on the other hand, has recently announced a fresh financing round valued at $4 billion, only months after announcing a funding round valued at $3 billion.