Facebook launches podcasts, live sound service
Facebook on Monday launched podcasts and live sound streams in the U.S. to keep users engaged on its platform and also to compete with emerging rivals.
Facebook said it is allowing public figures with verified accounts to start live sound rooms and invite anyone else to speak. A small number of podcasts will be accessible to persons in the U.S. at first and the business plans to add more down the road.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has appeared on the video streaming software Clubhouse during the past, hosted his own live audio tracks room on his Facebook page the other day.
“Live Audio Rooms and podcasts rolling out in the US is just the start of our audio tracks journey," wrote Fidji Simo, head of the Facebook app, in a blog page post Monday. “Looking ahead, we will work with creators who'll use our sound tools to help expand develop and launch Soundbites - short-form, imaginative audio clips."
But podcasts and live audio tracks are also an outlet for racism, misinformation and extremist material. Live music is specially difficult to moderate, weighed against traditional social media posts.
Facebook, which announced its music plans to push into audio streams in April, says its rules connect with live audio tracks and podcasts and anyone can report offending material.
“Furthermore, our broader integrity and safety work and the various tools we've built for proactively and automatically identifying harmful content are excellent blocks, but we intend to adapt tech and processes as we find out more," the business said in a prepared statement.
The business says that it could also retain live music after it is no more live to enforce its policies, which is done both by human moderators and machine learning.
Source: japantoday.com
