Facebook Now Does Video Chats for Groups Up to 50 People

By kmvq on April 27, 2020
HANOVER, GERMANY – JUNE 12: The Facebook logo is displayed at the 2018 CeBIT technology trade fair on June 12, 2018 in Hanover, Germany. The 2018 CeBIT is running from June 11-15. (Photo by Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)

Well itt’s Zoom vs. Zuck! This past Friday, Facebook announced a new videoconferencing product in what appears to be a bid to take away a chunk of Zoom’s new user base.

Messenger Rooms will let Facebook and Messengers users create free videos calls for groups of up to 50 people–even if they don’t have Facebook accounts. (Messenger video calls had previously been limited to eight people.) Video calls on Messenger Rooms will also have no time limit and will allow people to add silly masks to their faces through the use of filters. Zoom calls, by contrast, are free for up to 100 users for just the first 40 minutes.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said on a livestreamed announcement last week that Messenger Rooms would start rolling out immediately, but won’t be available worldwide for a few more weeks.

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