Compete With Clubhouse, Here's Facebook's New Globally Expanded Audio Feature Set!

JAKARTA - Facebook seems to be investing in audio features, because the social media has just launched the Audio tab. Where the tab will be the center of the podcast feature, Live Audio Rooms and short audio.

So, users don't have to search anymore where the three features above are located, because Facebook makes it easy for users to find them in one place. However, this Audio tab has just rolled out to all Facebook users in the United States (US), and across iOS as well as Android devices. This feature can be accessed in the Watch tab.

The company says the Audio tab will help content creators find their shows, while Facebook users can find audio content from their favorite creators, discover new ones, and access content they've saved for later.

According to The Verge, Tuesday, October 12, when it launches, the Audio tab will show content from creators you've followed, and will include a set of personalized recommendations as well as other audio suggestions popular on Facebook.

In addition to the Audio tab, the company also announced the expansion of the Live Audio Rooms feature. The Clubhouse rivals have become more widely available to global users, and Facebook is also starting to launch a new product called Soundbites, a kind of TikTok for audio that offers short audio clips.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described Soundbites as similar to Instagram's Reels, but only for audio. Facebook says the product is still in the early stages of development, but has so far been successful among content creators who use it. It will be available to more users in the coming weeks.

Furthermore, Facebook is finally getting into the podcast arena, but listening to podcasts on Facebook is still limited to viewers in the US. Likely, they have plans to expand their podcast offering to more markets in the future. As part of a long-term vision of offering a holistic experience that brings together new distribution, discovery, monetization and social connection opportunities for podcasts, in one place.