Facebook launches Messenger Rooms, group calls for up to 50 people withօut time limit

As a part of its effort to address the social paradigms emerging from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Facebook today announced new features heading to Messenger, Portal, Facebook Live, Instagram, and Facebook Dating that aim to make it easier to connect with close friends, followers, and significant others, Venturebeat.com reports.

Perhaps the most notable is Messenger Rooms, which creates joinable group video calls on Facebook and Facebook Messenger. Hosts can invite anyone to join — even if they don’t have a Facebook account — and rooms will soon hold up to 50 users without a time limit.

The account-free nature of Messenger Rooms would appear to be a direct response to Zoom, which has exploded to 300 million daily active users during the pandemic. Other video chat platforms like Skype have followed in Zoom’s footsteps, dropping account sign-up requirements and expanding the number of supported users.

Starting today in some countries and in the rest of the world in the coming weeks (including the U.S.), users can start and share rooms via Facebook through the News Feed, Groups, and Events sections. On Facebook, people will see rooms created by friends or communities that are open to them, and when they’re invited to a room, they’ll be able to join from their phone or computer without having to download anything.