Facebook testing new ‘Host Chat’ feature as it tries to compete with Google Hangout
Facebook has built a new feature codenamed ‘Host Chat’ that lets people set up chat rooms that their friends can join without an invitation, according to a TechCruch source.
The option to ‘Host Chat’ will sit alongside the buttons for ‘Update Status’ and ‘Add Photos/Video’.
When clicked, it will open a chat room that the host can name and add specific friends to the conversation. However, it will be public meaning any of the host’s friends, invited or not, can join if they like the sound of the discussion.
According to those close to the project, the chat room will be similar in design to the traditional one-on-one Facebook chat window, although speculation suggests it will be bigger to allow for a faster pace of conversation.
There may also be an option to allow friends of friends to join so a room could grow virally.
It comes as Facebook continues to try and offer new features to compete with other social networks. Host Chat is similar to Google Hangout but takes it one step forward by offering “spontaneity and distribution” says Josh Constine, who first broke the news.
It would also encourage people to stay on the Facebook site longer, as with the current chat system users, more often than not, pop in and out of direct messages.
Thus far, Facebook has only confirmed it is testing the feature with a small group of users.
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