Meta has informed its partners that it is pulling back on having podcasts hosted on its Facebook platform.
According to a note to partners that was first seen by Bloomberg, the company said that no new podcasts or soundbites will be added starting this week and all available podcasts will be scraped off the platform altogether by 3 June 2022.
“We’re constantly evaluating the features we offer so that we can focus on the most meaningful experiences,” a Meta spokesperson said.
According to Adweek, Facebook’s Live Audio Rooms will be integrated into Facebook Live so that creators can opt to go live with audio only or audio and video from a single destination. Facebook also added in the note that it will not be sending out notifications to users but will leave it to the publishers to notify them however they wish.
Facebook launched Live Audio Rooms last year in June and it was available to verified public figures and content creators, according to TechCrunch.
At the moment the company will be focusing on pushing other initiatives like its online shop in line with the metaverse. The first physical store will be opened in California on 9 May 2022. The company will be selling headsets and glasses that will help people “connect” to the metaverse.
Other additions to Facebook’s platform include NFTs and a rumoured digital currency dubbed “Zuck Bucks”. According to reports, the giant tech company will be running a pilot test for its own digital currency which is “unlikely to be cryptocurrency” this month.
Facebook began rolling out its revamped Audio destination last October, and other features were unveiled for podcasts on its platform, including captions, the ability for creators to share short clips on Feed, and enabling podcasters to add their public RSS feeds directly to pages on desktop and mobile, according to Adweek.
By Zintle Nkohla
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