Facebook Cranks Up Its Audio Efforts

The emergence of Clubhouse over the past year or so has lit a fire under Facebook, which continues to ramp up its audio offerings and tools. Live Audio Rooms, which rolled out to public figures and groups in the U.S. in June, are being extended to more public figures and groups globally, as well as creators. The feature debuted on iOS only, but Android users can now create Live Audio Rooms, while desktop users can listen to them. An early version of Facebook’s new Audio destination is being rolled out to all U.S. users 18 and older on Android and iOS. The Audio destination is accessible through the top navigation via Facebook Watch, and it will be the destination for all audio formats, starting out with audio content from creators followed by users, as well as personalized recommendations and content that is popular on Facebook. The social network said the Audio destination will enable people to find audio content from creators they follow, as well as discover new sources and access content they have saved for later. For creators, it presents a new surface for their content to be discovered by both existing and potentially new fans. Facebook explained, “While the destination is still in early days, over time, the experience will become more personalized to your tastes based on creators you follow and audio content you engage with.” The social network has been testing a new Soundbites format with a group of creators since June, and it expanded the test to more creators with the aim of rolling out Soundbites in the U.S. in the coming weeks. Facebook said initial testers included digital creator Molly Burke; actress, disability advocate and lifestyle influencer Lolo Spencer; and comedian and best-selling author Josh Sundquist. The social network detailed changes it has made since introducing podcasts in the U.S. in June, including the rollout of captions on Android, with iOS coming soon. Creators can also share short clips of podcasts in News Feed, and podcasters can add their public RSS feeds directly to pages on desktop and mobile. Facebook said, “Listening is only available in the U.S. for now, but we intend to expand to more markets in the future. We have a lot more to do here, and we are excited to work alongside podcast creators to carry out our long-term vision in offering a holistic experience that brings together new distribution opportunities, discovery, monetization and social connection for podcasts in one place.” Finally, the social network emphasized that as new social audio experiences are rolled out, it is also working to ensure that it has measures in place to identify and act on content that violates its community standards, with tools to proactively and automatically identify harmful content, as well as adapting technology and processes to detect and moderate violating audio content as it learns more. Facebook said, “It’s critical that we get this right, and we have checkpoints in place during our product expansion to ensure that these measures are functioning properly.”

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Facebook Cranks Up Its Audio Efforts

More access to Live Audio Rooms; Audio destination begins rolling out in US

David Cohen

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David Cohen