With the growth of Clubhouse, several other social networks have started a race to launch their own audio chat tools to compete with the new threat, and one of them is Facebook's Hotline. Yes, it's Zuckerberg's network solution, a project inspired by Clubhouse, which even had its first leaked images. Today the NPE team (New Product Experimentation) has announced the public beta of this tool. It will be called Hotline and it’s not quite Clubhouse.
To open the tests, a demonstration of use was carried out, in which the Facebook development team had the participation of the investor. Nick Huber. In this first presentation, it was possible to see how the platform works, which is a mix of a question and answer system using audio, video and audience participation.
Mix of formats
Apparently, Facebook wants to make Hotline a feature that offers something different from Clubhouse, although it cannot hide the similarities. This is because visually, both are very similar. The Hotline platform is divided as follows: at the top (or left in the browser) is the host of the room, who can appear only with audio or video, below (or to the left) are the listeners who are divided between those who are asking questions and those who are just watching.
Image of a room at Hotline (Disclosure/Hotline)
Now the differences between the two resources begin. The idea is that Hotline should function more like a means for content creators, similar to a radio show format. Participants who are asking questions can send their questions via text, while others can raise or lower the question. The host, in turn, can choose who will answer and, if necessary, call the person who asked to the “stage” and start a conversation.
In this system, it appears that only one person can interact with the host at a time. At the moment, the participant can only use audio, but there is an icon to release the camera that, in this current testing phase, does not yet work. Finally, questioners and viewers can react to the conversation with emojis and the host can record the conversation in audio or video format to make it available later.
What's coming next
The Hotline platform is being developed with the help of Eric Hazzard, the developer of a question-and-answer app for teens that was acquired by Facebook. For now, the website The beta is only available in the US and you can log in via Twitter. There is no audience limit at this stage, but you can only queue up to join a room or start your own.
According to the portal Tech Crunch, Zuckerberg's forays into Clubhouse-like formats aren't likely to stop there. Facebook Messenger is expected to gain an audio chat feature similar to its rival app soon.
Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. The Verge