Facebook’s Clubhouse clone is now live in the US

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Facebook has become the latest social platform to copy Clubhouse with its popular audio chat rooms. Live Audio Rooms is what the company is calling its competitor. The company has announced that it is rolling out the new feature to some prominent US-based public figures and groups starting today, according to a new report from The Verge.

Live Audio Rooms are a way for certain people to host large chats that can be listened to by anybody. Similar to Clubhouse, Live Audio Rooms allow Facebook users to create and host chat rooms to chat with themselves or others to an audience of interested listeners. Unlike Clubhouse, there’s no limit to the number of listeners that can join a Live Audio Room.

Facebook is building off of its existing platform to boost the success of Live Audio Rooms. The new rooms have several features, like notifications to friends when you join a room and “raise your hand” buttons to request to join the conversation.

One of the coolest features coming with Facebook’s Live Audio Rooms is the built-in charity function. Room hosts can set up their Live Audio Room with a specific charity in mind, allowing listeners to donate directly from the room.

As of right now, the feature is limited to a few prominent individuals, including singers, athletes, and certain media figures. Live Audio Rooms are also available to certain groups, where admins and moderators will have control over who can host a room.

This is interesting timing, considering Facebook is also planning on rolling out Facebook Podcasts this week. It looks like the company is still determined to add every feature it possibly can to the platform. Here’s to continuing the tradition of Facebook copying everything that gathers any sort of popularity.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Facebook is testing ads inside of Oculus VR headsets proving everything is truly terrible
• For the love of all that is holy, don’t let Facebook live on your wrist
• Clubhouse has finally released worldwide for Android users, but you’ll still need an invite
• Discord’s new Stage Channels feature is a lot like Clubhouse