Video calls have become an important way to stay in touch with friends and family during this time of isolation and everyone from Zoom, to Microsoft, to Google wants a piece. Today Facebook threw its hat into the ring by announcing Messenger Rooms, bringing massive improvements to its chat app‘s video capabilities — including the ability to support up to 50 participants at once.
How to Group Chat on Facebook Messenger
If you don’t already have the app, Facebook Messenger is available for download on iOS, Android, and you can download it for Windows 10 or use it in a web browser from Facebook.
How to use Facebook Messenger Rooms
Below you’ll discover how to use Facebook Messenger Chat Rooms via your phone:
- Download and open the Facebook Messenger app (or make sure it’s updated)
- Create a Facebook profile or log into your account
- Head to the Chats page and select the Create Room button
- Set the activity and privacy settings for the Room
- Proceed to the Invite page and choose who can join
CREATE A NEW GROUP
If you’ve already created groups, you can reuse them in future chats. Here’s how to set up groups in Messenger.
- Open Messenger and tap the new chat icon
- Tap Create a New Group.
- Select people from your friend list to add them to the group.
- Tap Next.
- Give the group a name. (You can change it later.)
- Tap Create.
- You are automatically an admin for any group you create and you can control who is allowed in. If you’d like to require approval from you or another admin, tap the group name at the top, then tap Member Requests, and toggle on Admin Approval.
REMOVE MEMBERS OF A GROUP
At any time, you can remove people from the group chat.
- Open the group in the Messenger app.
- Tap the group name at the top, then tap Members.
- Select the friend you want to remove.
- Tap Remove From Group.
HOW TO ADD MORE PEOPLE TO THE GROUP
You can add people to a group manually through your contacts or by sending a share link that anyone can use.
- Open the group you want to edit.
- Tap ADD PEOPLE.
- Select one or more Facebook friends.
- Tap ADD at the top-right.
HOW TO LEAVE A FACEBOOK MESSENGER GROUP
If you no longer want to be part of a group you started or were invited to, you can leave.
- Open the group you want to leave.
- Tap the group name.
- Scroll down and tap Leave Group.
- Tap Leave Group to confirm. If you’re leaving a group you created, you can set a new admin. If you don’t, the first person you invited who is still in the group will become the admin.
On Messenger Rooms, users can have video calls with up to 50 people. There’s also an option to share screens but this feature is restricted to Messenger’s desktop app. You can also tap on each participant’s icon and view their Facebook profile or chat with them. There’s however no option to chat within the group video call on Messenger Rooms. It instead opens up the chat to the Messenger app. Messenger Rooms has begun to roll out to some countries already, and it’s planning to hit the rest of the world — including the US — over the next few weeks.
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