Messenger Rooms: Facebook’s New Video Calls Let 50 People Drop in

5 May, 2020 — James Brandon

Just recently, Facebook Inc. has introduced and incorporated an exciting video calling feature within the Messenger and Facebook app. The feature, which is known as Messenger Rooms, allows up to 50 people to join and chat simultaneously in a group video chat. The new feature works similarly to Skype, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams video conferencing apps.

Amid the current Coronavirus pandemic, there is a call for social distancing from the World Health Organization (WHO), and a majority of people are now staying at home. To facilitate socializing during the Coronavirus period, Facebook developed Messenger Rooms to allow families and friends to keep in touch easily. Organizations and learning institutions can also utilize the feature to facilitate corporate meetings and online lectures, respectively.

Messenger Rooms work when a user creates a virtual “room” from the Facebook Messenger app and invites or accepts other people to join the “room.” People can join a room from their Facebook news feed, groups, or event pages. The “rooms” do not have time restrictions and can remain online for hours until the host decides to close the “room.”

People that receive the invite to join a “room” can join in at any time and can also leave the room whenever they want. The host can also remove a participant from the “room” whenever they feel like.

Messenger Rooms is now available worldwide on the Facebook Messenger app and will slowly be incorporated into the Facebook app in due course. Some regions, however, have started getting the Messenger Rooms update on the Facebook app.

To start a Messenger Room on the Messenger app:

• Update your Messenger app to the latest available version

• Launch the app by tapping on its icon

• Tap the People tab on the bottom right of the landing page

• On the page that appears, tap the “Create a room” button that appears as the first option on the page.

• The room will be created automatically, and you will be asked to share your link. You can share the link on your Facebook news feed, groups, and pages.