Facebook Returns To Early Days Of The Web With 'Rooms' App
By Edward Cardenas
SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - Facebook launched a new chat feature Thursday which recalls the early days of the Internet when there was boards, chatrooms and forums.
The social network company launched the Rooms app, allows users to return to the early era of the World Wide Web in a modern way by allowing users to create "places for the things you're into, and invite others who are into them too," according to a blog post by Josh Miller, a Facebook product manager.
"A room is a feed of photos, videos, and text – not too different from the one you have on Instagram or Facebook - with a topic determined by whoever created the room," Miller wrote.
Some of the first users created rooms for topics ranging from beat-boxing videos to photos of home- cooked meals. The creator of the room can control the design, add a cover photo and dominant colors, create custom "pinned" messages, customize member permissions, and even set whether or not people can link to your content on the web, according to Facebook.
Additionally, users can have different identities in various rooms as they travel through rooms. Conversations in these rooms are real-time and can be both public and private, USA Today reports.
The app is available on for iOS and Android devices.