Facebook quietly launched a test phase for a new conferencing app, Hotline, a new attempt by the social media giant to keep up with the trendy live audio niche. In fact, Hotline is inspired in particular by Clubhouse, the conversations application launched a year ago that has grown very quickly thanks to the pandemic, although it is only accessible by invitation and on Apple-branded mobile devices for now.
The new service of Facebook emphasizes the ability to ask questions in writing, which is not possible in the Clubhouse. In this way, speakers can choose who to invite “to the stage” to speak at the conference. “With Hotline, we hope to understand how live Q&A and multimedia sessions can help people learn from experts. It also helps experts to develop their business ”, detailed Facebook.
Unlike Clubhouse, there will be the option to enable video and conferences will be recorded. The organizer will receive a digital copy.
The app is thus building a more professional and calibrated image, less spontaneous and hazy than the rising star of social media, who has made large-scale intimacy its creed.
The experiment is being carried out by a Facebook research and development group led by Erik Hazzard, who joined Facebook when the California group bought its question-and-answer app “tbh.”
“We are experimenting with multimedia products like CatchUp, Venue, Collab and BARS and it is encouraging to see how these formats help people connect with each other and form communities,” added Emilie Haskell, Facebook’s Communications Officer.
Testing on the CatchUp audio calling app ended last year. Venue is another question-and-answer product, while the recently released collaborative music apps Collab and BARS are more like TikTok, whose short and lightweight formats continue to inspire other platforms.
Under the influence of the Zoom video conferencing service and then Clubhouse, Facebook has already multiplied and extended the functionalities of live video and audio, on the web and Instagram. The Californian group is also developing a Clubhouse rival within the “lounges” of Messenger.
–
