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.
Facebook steals what they don't buy.
— Ross Simmonds (@TheCoolestCool) May 14, 2020
They stole stories from Snapchat. They stole trends from Twitter. They stole live from Periscope/Meerkat. And now they're stealing video rooms from Zoom.
There's a lesson here https://t.co/Qt1BwmTOzw
Nice just got access to the new @messenger rooms features, both on Web & iOS. Too bad it's 1:24am over here so can't try it with anyone 😅 pic.twitter.com/MoD53ljK8s
— Tristan Tran (@tristanbbq) May 14, 2020
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.
These are the least significant things they steal.
— Matt Beall (@mattbeall) May 14, 2020
Yep. Imagine how bad it would have been if General Motors stole cars from Ford! Companies should never make something some other company made first.
— Jeff Walden (@jswalden) May 14, 2020
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.
