Messenger Rooms, Facebook's competitor to Zoom, can support up to 50 people in one videocall. The new application, which we had mentioned that it would be released at some point, is currently available in the US, Mexico and Canada.
"It will be available to everyone worldwide next week," says Mr Mark Zuckerberg in one suspension on his Facebook profile.
Zuckerberg also mentioned some of the differences between Messenger Rooms and existing video calling options.
Messenger and WhatsApp "are already the most popular video calling services in the world", but with limitations. WhatsApp has just added the ability to make eight-person calls, but sometimes you may want to add more.
Meanwhile, "for large groups, most video services are designed for work, not social interaction." The new Messenger Rooms service can support up to 50 people without time limits.
Zoom, on the other hand, supports up to 100 participants with the free one packet, but is limited to 40 minutes unless you buy more time.
Messenger Rooms lets you invite friends with a link, even if they do not have a Facebook account. You also have the option of making private calls, of course. Facebook lets you display your sessions on your Facebook feed for anyone (or those you allow from your privacy settings) who wants to join.
This could theoretically make the calls more like a spontaneous social gathering rather than a meeting you need to schedule.
Messenger Rooms is currently available on Messenger and Facebook, on desktops and on mobile phones. The largest social network states that you will soon be able to create Rooms from Instagram and WhatsApp.
To create a Messenger Room, look for the camcorder icon with the plus sign.
Mention that in a meeting room, everyone sees (for public Rooms) under your name who called you.
Facebook also allows you to set a meeting timeout, which allows you to use the service for business meetings as well. In Messenger, Rooms are private. Only those you have called with a link can enter.
