Messenger rooms seen on a desktop.
Facebook
Facebook’s new video-conferencing service debuted in the U.S., Mexico and Canada on Thursday, with the rest of the world set to get the new feature next week. With the coronavirus pandemic forcing the bulk of social interaction online, Facebook is hoping Messenger Rooms—which lets users video chat with up to 50 people for free and with no time limit—will directly challenge the dominance of Zoom and Houseparty for video calls.
Only Facebook users have the ability to create rooms, but those without accounts can join existing rooms without downloading a separate app or program.
Here’s how to use Messenger Rooms.
On both desktop and mobile, users who are logged into Facebook will see a Rooms section below the status bar.
Click Create to start your own room or click Join to add yourself to a friend’s video call.
You’ll be able to set a purpose for your room or choose one of Facebook’s examples, such as “Happy Hour” or “Here All Day.”
Users can control whether the room is public or private in the Who is Invited section.
Choosing to invite all your friends means everyone can see your room at the top of their homepage and join. Clicking the Invite Specific Friends button lets users choose which friends can see the room. An active public room for a graduation party, for example, lets friends or invitees pop in and out as they please by opening Facebook and clicking Join.
If you click Invite Specific Friends, the bottom right corner of the window has a Skip button that lets users forgo inviting anyone at all. Instead, users ar ..
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