Instagram Live is now a Clubhouse competitor, with options to mute and turn off the video

• Facebook is going all-in on social audio, adding Clubhouse-like features to Instagram Live.
• The company says that the feature is rolling out to users now, and will get more enhancements and controls soon.
• Earlier, Facebook announced Live Audio Rooms, with the expected rollout set to happen between June to September 2021.

After bringing Clubhouse-like features to Messenger Rooms, Facebook has now tweaked Instagram Live to help it compete with the audio-only platform that has taken Silicon Valley by storm.

In the reveal, the photo-sharing platform announced tweaks to its Instagram Live feature, allowing users to mute and turn off the video. So, users will now be able to just stream their audio without worrying about preparing themselves to look good during their Instagram Live sessions.

However, Instagram Live is not a proper Clubhouse competitor just yet. The ability to mute and turn off videos is available only to the host – and the host cannot control the audio and video streams of others who join in on the livestream.

It revealed that this new feature is already rolling out to users, but at the time of writing, this was not available in our accounts.

The company notes that it is working on adding more controls to Instagram Live, with the rollout expected to happen soon.

This isn’t Facebook’s first rodeo at replicating Clubhouse features

Facebook’s tweaks to Instagram Live to make it more like Clubhouse isn’t the social giant’s first attempt at replicating Clubhouse features.

Earlier this month, Facebook announced that it is bringing Live Audio Rooms – more or less similar to Clubhouse – to its platform sometime between June to September 2021.

After the initial testing, the company said it will bring this feature to Messenger as well. It said it would allow creators to monetise their streams, too – another feature that Clubhouse announced earlier this month.

Going all-in on social audio

In a conversation with Platformer’s Casey Neistat, Zuckerberg revealed that his company is going to partner with Spotify soon. This partnership will bring the Spotify player to Facebook’s platform, allowing Facebook users to stream music and podcasts without leaving the social network.

Apart from this, the Facebook Stars system – a way to monetize content on the platform – will be enabled for Live Audio Rooms as well. This tipping system will help users generate money from their audio streams.

The list of Clubhouse competitors continues to grow

Social audio could be the next big thing, and companies are leaving no stone unturned to make sure they’re not left behind. The biggest social network of the lot – Facebook – has already made two announcements in this regard – the first one being Live Audio Rooms, and the second being Instagram Live.

Other popular names in the list include LinkedIn, Twitter, collaboration tool Slack, Spotify, and billionaire investor Mark Cuban’s Fireside Chat.

SEE ALSO:

Facebook joins the Clubhouse competitors’ list, announces Live Audio Rooms feature

Twitter ramps up roll out of 'Spaces' to take on Clubhouse

Mark Cuban says he's 'involved' with an upcoming competitor to Clubhouse, the $1 billion invite-only conversation app Silicon Valley can't get enough of