With new platforms like Clubhouse seemingly revitalizing the appeal of older connection channels, audio social remains to still be relevant despite an increased preference and shift towards video-based interactions. As big social media players continue to reinvent the wheel, even the older social tools can be made to discover new engagement opportunities.
It’s no coincidence then that Facebook recently announced an expansion of its audio social plans. Live audio rooms will now be made globally available to public figures, while the ‘Watch’ tab will be given a dedicated space that aids users in connecting with all of the platform’s various audio options.
On the topic of the expansion of audio functionality, Facebook launched phase 1 of its audio social initiative back in April of this year. This was in direct response to a Clubhouse feature that allowed public figures to use audio rooms. The recent expansion to its audio rooms looks to further improve on the option’s notable advantages.
Facebook explains:
“From today, all verified public figures and creators will have the ability to host Live Audio Rooms. We’ve seen it become a great tool for lightweight connection and conversion among various types of communities.”
The expansion brings with it a couple of display updates as well, with Live Audio Rooms appearing on top of the News Feed of creator followers. The audio room prompt is stated to appear even above Stories and will also be accessible via feed post.
Laying Out The Layout
Since it’s more of a direct response to what Clubhouse has, the playback format is, as you would expect, very Clubhouse-esque. Speakers and the audience (listeners) will be shown in separate sections, while reactions will float up the screen upon selection, featuring small interactive elements similar to the Stories reaction animations when viewing personal Stories.
The new expansion looks to further increase the scope of Facebook audio broadcasts, allowing more people to tune in, but at the same time limiting live audio room creaton to public figures and verified accounts; at least for now. In a way, the apparent “Bottleneck” will help better manage and regulate crowding, avoiding too much congestion and improving user-access to specific and relevant rooms. This way, Facebook looks to avoid what now plagues Clubhouse.
In keeping the format confined to high-profile creators, Facebook helps to ensure optimal take up of the option, serving as both a learning experience and as an improvement to the overall quality of all the platform’s audio content.
In that regard, Facebook also looks to improve audio discovery with the addition of its ‘Audio Hub’. This is the “dedicated space” within the Watch tab mentioned earlier. It highlights Spaces, podcasts, audio creators, and more.
It’s worth noting that Facebook will also allow groups to host live audio rooms hoping that optimal take-up of the option leads to higher interest, better interaction, and overall improved user experience through engagement and discovery. Again, limiting the feature to specific accounts and account types helps alleviate certain problems often associated with unregulated access.
The Wrap
Facebook is currently testing Live Audio Rooms on Android and desktop, while also testing out its response to Clubhouse’s ‘Clips’ option that it calls ‘Soundbites’. Think of them mainly as Stories except that these are limited to just audio clips.
Overall, it seems that the adoption of a ‘Fallback’ towards audio social is evident across several popular social media platforms — Facebook, Clubhouse, and Twitter to name a few. Perhaps partially due to the pandemic, it would seem that audio-connectivity remains a relevant communications channel and now, a viable novel tool for various engagement activities.
Ultimately, it most likely all boils down to the rudimentary traits of the mind. As people, we are naturally inclined to seek companionship, hence the connotation of being ‘social’. Audio social relies on the principles of acoustics and how certain auditory elements can affect behavior. What that spells for the future of audio in relation to social media is quite a mystery, but for the most part we can surmise that it looks bright.
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