Facebook recently began connecting its Messenger and Instagram chats some time back. In 2018, it had launched the watch together feature that enabled users to set up virtual rooms to check out live streaming. Now, the company has taken the next step by rolling out a feature that allows friends to watch TV shows together.
The Messenger Rooms feature was rolled out by Facebook in April as part of its efforts to provide virtual socializing to users who were in the midst of the Covid-19 led lockdown. With the latest update, Facebook users can sign up on Messenger and get the watch party experience.
In recent months, several service providers have jumped on to this bandwagon in order to create a virtual experience for users, given that social distancing norms had kept socializing to the minimum. While Hulu and Disney Plus already allow watch party option, a few others have also added this feature. However, none of the OTT platforms in India provide it at this point in time.
The challenge for Facebook currently is that unlike the OTT platforms, it has very little by way of content to offer on Watch Together. The company seems to be aware of its disadvantage and is currently offering Community and Dawson’s Creek and could add more in the days ahead.
What’s unique here is that the platform supports creation of videos and watching it virtually from a room with friends. “Watch Together is great for creators, whether you are an artist, DJ, chef or personal trainer, your community can watch and engage with your video in a Messenger video call,” says Nora Micheva, Product Manager at Facebook in a blogpost.
The company also revealed a partnership celebrity fitness trainer and author Melissa Alcantara to create a series of fitness videos that could enable users to virtually work out with their friends and motivate each other towards fitness goals. And, here’s how it works:
- Start a Messenger video call or create a Messenger Room
- Select a video suggested for you
- Alternatively, you could choose from a category – TV & Movies, Watched, or Uploaded
- Search for Melissa Alcantara within the Search bar of the Watch Together feature
- That’s it. You’re set to watch and workout together with your friends
Looks like the day isn’t far when the users would be able to get together and watch their favourite movie online.
