Facebook is pulling out of its podcasts platforms and plans to remove them completely from the social-media service starting June 3, barely a year after its launch. The social media giant is also going to discontinue its short-form audio feature Soundbites, and its Audio hub in the coming weeks. Facebook podcast is being discontinued as the company is ‘re-evaluating’ its audio offerings in the rapidly changing world of technology.
The company plans to integrate its Live Audio Rooms feature (which is its Clubhouse clone), into its Facebook Live Experience. Facebook believes that this integration will enable a more streamlined experience so that users will have the option to go live with audio only, video only, or with audio and video.
An email sent to podcasters on Facebook says that the existing podcasts will remain available and new episodes will continue to publish until June 3. “After a year of learning and iterating on audio-first experiences, we have decided to simplify our suite of audio tools on Facebook”, a spokesperson from Meta said. “We’re integrating Live Audio Rooms into Facebook Live and we will discontinue our other audio products. We’re constantly evaluating the features we offer so we can focus on the most meaningful experiences”.
Facebook had announced in April 2021, a suite of new audio products, including new support features for podcasts and its Clubhouse live audio competitor. This clearly indicated that the company was taking the threat from other audio platforms seriously. Now barely a year after the company began venturing into podcasting and audio features, Facebook is moving on from it.
According to recent reports, Facebook’s parent company Meta is now prioritizing short-video projects above most other initiatives – most likely due to the increasing competition from popular short-form video app TikTok. This is clearly evident in the email that Facebook sent to users informing them about shutting down podcasts, as it encourages them to start using Reels. The company is now also exploring other opportunities with podcast partners, such as Metaverse and ecommerce.
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It’s surprising to see Facebook shut down its podcast service so soon. It seemed like they were trying to carve out a niche in the audio space, but I guess the competition is just too tough. It’ll be interesting to see how they pivot from here!