Social audio is a subclass of social media that designates social media platforms that use audio as their primary channel of communication. This can include text messages, podcasts, tools for recording and editing audio in addition to virtual audio rooms. Still in an evolutionary state, different companies that develop social audio products are still trying to figure out what works for their users, and what doesn't. [1] [2] [3]
In March 2020, Alpha Exploration Co. launched a social audio application called Clubhouse on the iOS platform. The app has led to the emergence of a new social media segment known as social audio. Soon realizing the potential of this segment, a handful of companies came out with their social audio solutions as standalone products or as an expansion to their current products. Clubhouse being the pioneer in this segment, all competitors eventually adapted its features to their products. [4] [5]
In October 2020, Betty Labs launched their social audio app Locker Room for iOS. [6]
In November 2020, Twitter announced that it would develop a social audio feature on its platform. [7]
In December 2020, Telegram introduced the social audio feature Voice Chats in its app. [8] In the month, Twitter began beta testing its social audio feature known as Spaces with iOS users on their platform. [9]
In February 2021, Facebook announced plans to add social audio functionality to its app. [10] [11]
In March 2021, Twitter has started beta testing Spaces with Android users on their platform. [12] In that month, The Telegram released Voice Chat 2.0. [13] [14] On March 26, 2021, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield was in a Clubhouse session moderated by PressClub when he announced that Slack would soon roll out a social audio feature. [15] [16] Late that month, Spotify purchased Betty Labs and announced its intention to rename the Locker Room app. [17] On March 31, 2021, Discord introduced its social audio feature called Stage Channels. [18] [19]
In April 2021, The Facebook NPE team launched a social audio product called Hotline in closed beta, requiring a Twitter account to login. [20] In the month, Reddit announced a social audio feature called Reddit Talk for their subreddit communities. [21] [22]
On May 3, 2021, Twitter Spaces released globally. [23] [24] On May 9, 2021, Clubhouse has launched a beta version of the Android app for users in the US, with worldwide access scheduled for a later date. Later, on May 21, 2021, Clubhouse became available worldwide for Android users. [25] [26]
On June 16, 2021, Spotify released its social audio app Spotify Greenroom on Android (early access) and iOS. [27] On June 21, 2021, Facebook has released its social audio feature known as Live Audio Rooms to users based in the United States. The company said it would deploy the feature globally in the coming months. [28] On June 30, 2021, Slack started rolling out its social audio solution named Slack Huddles for paid customers. [29] [30]
On July 21, 2021, Clubhouse app released its first gold build. [31] [32]
Sound Branch
In 2016, Sean Gilligan launched the social audio application Sound Branch. The app supports various platforms, including the web, iOS, Android, Alexa, and Google Assistant, making it accessible for users worldwide. Sound Branch allows users to create and share short audio clips, fostering community interaction through voice. It is available globally at soundbranch.com and for private sites at soundbran.ch.
Sound Branch aims to revolutionize social audio by integrating voice technology into everyday communication, making it easier for users to connect and share experiences through sound.
Telegram Voice Chats
In December 2020, Telegram introduced the social audio feature Voice Chats in its app. Later, In March 2021, Telegram released Voice Chat 2.0. [33] [34] It allows unlimited participants and conversation recording. [35] [36]
Discord Stages
On March 31, 2021, Discord introduced its social audio feature called Stage Channels. [37] [38]
Facebook Live Audio Rooms and Podcasts
In April 2021, The Facebook NPE team launched a product called Hotline in closed beta, requiring a Twitter account to login. It offers a room where only some people can speak while others listen. Also, speakers can turn on video. [39]
On June 21, 2021, Facebook has released its social audio feature known as Live Audio Rooms and Podcasts to users based in the United States. The company said it would deploy the feature globally in the coming months. It enables users to participate in the rooms with a maximum of 51 people (1 host and 50 speakers) onstage and an unlimited number of listeners. Also, provide access to a podcast library for its users. [40] [41]
Reddit Talk
In April 2021, Reddit announced a social audio feature called Reddit Talk for their subreddit communities. [42] [43]
Twitter Spaces
On May 3, 2021, Twitter added a social audio feature named Spaces to its platform. [44] [45] It allows users to engage in rooms with a maximum of 13 people (1 host, 2 co-hosts, and 10 speakers) onstage and an unlimited number of listeners. [46] [47]
Spaces is much further ahead in development than Clubhouse, with integration into the Twitter API that enables app integration. [48] In July 2021, Twitter announced a 'Voice Transformer' feature that would work in Spaces to change your voice. [49] Twitter also poached Clubhouse's exclusive NFL deal with 20 official NFL Spaces scheduled for the 2021-22 season. [50]
Spotify Greenroom
On June 16, 2021, Spotify released its social audio app Spotify Greenroom . Greenroom has built-in recording and integrates into both Spotify and Anchor.fm. This integration allows podcasters to record rooms and upload directly to podcast for distribution. It also notifies Spotify listeners when a verified artist is live in Greenroom.
Greenroom can currently accommodate up to 1000 people in a room. [51]
Slack Huddles
On June 30, 2021, Slack started rolling out its social audio solution named Slack Huddles for paid customers. It can take up to 50 participants at a time. [52] [53]
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing immediate transmission of messages over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and triggers a transmission to the recipient(s), who are all connected on a common network. It differs from email in that conversations over instant messaging happen in real-time. Most modern IM applications use push technology and also add other features such as emojis, file transfer, chatbots, voice over IP, or video chat capabilities.
The landscape for instant messaging involves cross-platform instant messaging clients that can handle one or multiple protocols. Clients that use the same protocol can typically federate and talk to one another. The following table compares general and technical information for cross-platform instant messaging clients in active development, each of which have their own article that provide further information.
Spotify is a Swedish audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 615 million monthly active users, including 239 million paying subscribers, as of March 2024. Spotify is listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American depositary receipts.
WhatsApp is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers. The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client.
Messenger, also known as Facebook Messenger, is an American proprietary instant messaging app and platform developed by Meta Platforms. Originally developed as Facebook Chat in 2008, the company revamped its messaging service in 2010, released standalone iOS and Android apps in 2011, and released standalone Facebook Portal hardware for Messenger calling in 2018. In April 2015, Facebook launched a dedicated website interface, Messenger.com, and separated the messaging functionality from the main Facebook app, allowing users to use the web interface or download one of the standalone apps. In April 2020, Facebook released a Messenger desktop app for Windows and macOS.
Slack is a cloud-based team communication platform developed by Slack Technologies, which has been owned by Salesforce since 2020. Slack has freemium and paid subscriptions. Slack's primary userbase is businesses, and has functionalities primarily for businesses.
Telegram Messenger, commonly known as Telegram, is a cloud-based, cross-platform, encrypted instant messaging (IM) service. It was originally launched for iOS on 14 August 2013 and Android in October 2013. It allows users to exchange messages, share media and files, and hold private and group voice or video calls as well as public livestreams. It is available for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and web browsers. Telegram also offers end-to-end encryption in voice and video calls, and in optional private chats, which Telegram calls Secret Chats.
Matrix is an open standard and communication protocol for real-time communication. It aims to make real-time communication work seamlessly between different service providers, in the way that standard Simple Mail Transfer Protocol email currently does for store-and-forward email service, by allowing users with accounts at one communications service provider to communicate with users of a different service provider via online chat, voice over IP, and videotelephony. It therefore serves a similar purpose to protocols like XMPP, but is not based on any existing communication protocol.
Discord is an instant messaging and VoIP social platform which allows communication through voice calls, video calls, text messaging, and media and files. Communication can be private or take place in virtual communities called "servers". A server is a collection of persistent chat rooms and voice channels which can be accessed via invite links. Discord runs on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Linux, and in web browsers. As of 2024, the service has about 150 million monthly active users and 19 million weekly active servers. It is primarily used by gamers, although the share of users interested in other topics is growing. As of March 2024, Discord is the 30th most visited website in the world with 22.98% of its traffic coming from the United States.
Google Spaces was a mobile app for group discussions and messaging developed by Google. The app was intended to compete with Slack as a content sharing platform where users can create a "space", invite their friends for discussion, and share videos, images, text, and other media. Google services such as the web browser Chrome, search engine Google Search, and video sharing platform YouTube were built into the app to allow users to source content from them. Google Spaces launched on May 16, 2016, available on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS operating systems. The app was discontinued on April 17, 2017. The Spaces brand name was revived for a feature in Google Chat, formerly named Rooms.
This page is a timeline of social media. Major launches, milestones, and other major events are included.
Microsoft Teams is a team collaboration application developed by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft 365 family of products, offering workspace chat and video conferencing, file storage, and proprietary and third-party application integration.
Google Chat is a communication service developed by Google. Initially designed for teams and business environments, it has since been made available for general consumers. It provides direct messaging, group conversations, and spaces, which allow users to create and assign tasks and share files in a central place in addition to chatting. It can be accessed through its own website and app or through the Gmail website and app.
Shortcut Software is an American software company that develops project management software for software development teams. Until September 2021 it was known as Clubhouse Software.
Comparison of user features of messaging platforms refers to a comparison of all the various user features of various electronic instant messaging platforms. This includes a wide variety of resources; it includes standalone apps, platforms within websites, computer software, and various internal functions available on specific devices, such as iMessage for iPhones.
Clubhouse is a social audio app for iOS and Android.
Spotify Live, formerly Spotify Greenroom, was a social audio app by Spotify, that allowed users to host or participate in live-audio virtual environments called "room" for conversations. Each room had a maximum capacity of 1000 people. The app was available on Android and iOS, competing with Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse in the social media segment. It was shut down on April 30, 2023.
On October 4, 2021, at 15:39 UTC, the social network Facebook and its subsidiaries, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Mapillary, and Oculus, became globally unavailable for a period of six to seven hours. The outage also prevented anyone trying to use "Log in with Facebook" from accessing third-party sites. It lasted for 7 hours and 11 minutes.
Beeper is an instant messaging service that enables using a variety of chat services and protocols all from the same application. Originally developed by Beeper Inc, it was acquired by Automattic in April 2024.