Facebook Rooms, the new app for group video calls up to 50 people

Facebook Rooms is Facebook's new app for making video calls up to 50 people. Here's how it works and when it will be available

Facebook Rooms, the Menlo Park company's new video calling platform, has arrived. The new service was announced last year and with a live presentation that took place on Friday evening, Mark Zuckerberg announced the arrival next week of Facebook Rooms, even if only for the test phase. What is it? A platform that allows you to make video calls up to 50 people, even without having to be registered with Facebook.

With Facebook Rooms, the company Menlo Park goes to compete with the various Skype, Hangouts Meet and especially Zoom in this period have experienced a boom in users. Facebook Rooms is in effect a platform for video conferencing, with the ability for each user to create many rooms within a single video call. There can be a room dedicated to sports, one reserved for people who are members of an association and yet a room for lovers of reading. Each video call created on Facebook Rooms can be shared in a Facebook event, in a group or on your own page. But that's not all: Facebook has announced that you can create video calls on Facebook Rooms from Instagram, WhatsApp and Portal (the smart speaker of the company from Menlo Park).

During the live broadcast Zuckerberg also focused on the aspect of privacy. Facebook has been accused many times of not taking care of users' privacy too much and the Cambridge Analytica scandal has increased people's skepticism even more. For this reason Facebook Rooms was born with quite clear rules for privacy: the administrator of the video call can immediately kick out people who do not respect the netiquette and who show unseemly content. In short, Facebook wants to avoid all the problems suffered by Zoom because of Zoombombing.

What is it and how does Facebook Rooms work

Facebook Rooms is the new platform for group video calls created by the company of Menlo Park. What are the differences from the video calls you can make on Facebook Messenger? Many. Facebook Rooms takes a bit 'the philosophy that led to the success Zoom: to access a video call you do not have to be registered with Facebook, but just receive an invitation link from the administrator. The limit of participants for each video call is fifty people.

What is the peculiarity of Facebook Rooms? As the name suggests, users can create themed rooms within each video call where they can discuss their favorite topics. Facebook wants to create a platform where people compare and talk, taking the social network to the next level. Although you don't have to be a Facebook member to use Rooms, the two platforms are integrated. Users can share the Facebook Rooms link on their profiles, groups, pages or events to get friends and acquaintances to join group video calls. In addition, it will be possible to create Facebook Rooms also from Instagram, Portal and WhatsApp (an update has already arrived on the beta version with the implementation to start video calls on Rooms).

Facebook Rooms, privacy first

Facebook has learned in part from its own mistakes, but also from those of its main competitors. It's no coincidence, in fact, that Mark Zuckerberg has focused a lot on the aspect of privacy.

Facebook Rooms allows you to make video calls with people who are not part of your circle: Facebook ensures that they will not have access to your personal information. The privacy and security of the rooms will also be ensured by the fact that administrators will be able to immediately kick out users who don't comply with the rules or show unsuitable content.

As for the Facebook Rooms invitation links, they will be changed every time a user is kicked out, so as to ensure peace of mind.

When Facebook Rooms arrives

The beta version of Facebook Rooms will be released next week and users will be able to download the app from the Google Play Store and App Store to test it. The web-app for desktop access will also be available.