The feature is called Rooms and, according to Tech Crunch, references to it have been found in Messenger’s source code which sounds complicated but we kind of get it.
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Facebook’s previous attempt at public chat, an app called Rooms, allowed for similar functionality but was shut down in 2015 due to its low user base.
This is not the first time that Facebook has planned to introduce a chatroom function.
The service showcased the good and bad sides of open chat rooms – especially as you didn’t need to sign up with your real name – but it wasn’t an app many wanted to download separately.
In 2014, Facebook launched a “messgeboard” app, also called Rooms, created to reignite the online chatroom of the early internet.
Facebook Messenger has built a new feature which includes “Rooms” which enables a public group chat about different subjects and events. Once you hit the share option for a link or whatever else you’re sharing through Android’s system share, you’ll see the contacts / conversations from Facebook Messenger, along with those from Google’s Hangouts app, for example.
The description reads, “Rooms are for public conversations about topics and interests”.
Is Facebook’s shuttered stand-alone Rooms application coming back to life as part of Messenger?
Some of the screenshots show how one can join a public room, chat with friends as well as strangers using the standard Messenger interface, how to manage a Room, and the ability to share the Room so that other people can join in.
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Facebook remained tight-lipped about the new feature, only saying that it ocassionally runs “small tests”.
