Facebook, known for copying its ideas from competitors, is building a voice chat product similar to the popular Clubhouse app, according to a report from The New York Times, where the social network aims to expand into new forms of communication.
Clubhouse, a social networking app, has gained a sensation by allowing people to gather in voice chat rooms to talk about different topics.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, seems to be interested in voice communication.
The news comes just five days after Zuckerberg joined Clubhouse and participated in a room to talk about the future of augmented and virtual reality.
His presence via the app was shocking, given that it is a new social network, so the fact that Facebook may now be reproducing Clubhouse is no surprise.
Facebook executives have ordered employees to create a similar product, but it is still in its early stages of development, and the code name of the project may change.
"We've been connecting people through audio and video technologies for many years, and we've always explored new ways to improve that experience for people," said Emilie Haskell, a Facebook spokeswoman.
Facebook has a history of breaking into new technologies and chasing various media that have attracted users, especially if these audiences are young.
Facebook bought the photo-sharing platform Instagram, WhatsApp and virtual reality company Oculus when they were all small startups.
Facebook is known to be ready to clone its competitors, with Instagram in 2016 copying the feature of the featured stories from rival Snapchat.
Last year, Instagram premiered Reels, a techtalk-like video product.
When Zoom became popular last year, it created Facebook Rooms, a hangout service.
This year, Facebook is working on a rival product for the popular news service Substack.
Facebook has been involved in developing experimental applications through the new product experience team, working on podcasts, travel apps, music apps and more.
Clubhouse has gained momentum among Silicon Valley's elite as an invitation-only iPhone app, and the app is still in beta, meaning it is still in the testing phase before the wide release.
After registering at Clubhouse, users can create custom rooms for different topics, and instead of video or text messages, clubhouse's preferred medium is voice chat.
The app has flourished in the midst of the epidemic as people have sought ways to communicate while remaining isolated, and the app tops app store rankings in countries such as Germany, Italy, Japan and Turkey.
Dozens of celebrities appeared through the app, joined various discussions and used the service to promote their projects.
Others are trying to compete with the app, with Twitter testing a product called Spaces that offers a similar voice chat function.
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