Messenger Rooms lets you and 49 friends spend lockdown together

Sick of getting Zoombombed? Facebook on Thursday started rolling out its video conferencing competitor dubbed Messenger Rooms.

Located within Messenger, Rooms probably doesn’t feel as corporate as Cisco WebEx, Zoom, Google Meet or even Skype for that matter, but it does allow up to 50 participants.

There’s also no time limit, which means you and your 49 buddies or teleconferencing-fatigued colleagues can spend all weekend moaning about your boss or this pandemic together.

Interestingly, you also don’t need a Facebook account to join a Messenger Rooms video chat. The creator of the call can send out guest links, which active Facebook avoiders can use to reluctantly join.

Creators can also lock rooms, so no one can Roombomb your chats.

Of course, the fact that Facebook Messenger is used by more than a billion people already gives Rooms a competitive advantage.

The feature is rolling out to users across the world from Friday. But if you haven’t yet received the update, WhatsApp now also has conferencing functionalities albeit only for eight people.

Feature image: Facebook