Facebook Messenger Adds "Livechilling" Feature

"Livechilling" is a kind of real-time video group chat that is meant to closely resemble being with a group of friends in person. The group video chat format shot to prominence last month when the app Houseparty climbed to 1.2 million daily users in no time. The format allows instant gratification - no time spent waiting for likes or replies. Housparty's meteoric success did not go unnoticed, and now Facebook wants in on the action. The social media giant released a new feature on its Messenger app that allows a split-screen group chat, and even allows the chat participants to wear the selfie masks that have come to be identified with Snapchat.

Stephane Taine, Facebook Messenger product manager, asserted that group video chat is the most widely requested feature in user groups, so the launch will likely up Facebook's video chat game. The way the app works, if the number of participants is six or less, a split-screen format is automatically generated. If the number of participants rises beyond six, the app automatically detects the dominant speaker at a given point in time and displays that person most prominently. A group chat can include up to 50 participants, and the participants can all talk, wear selfie masks and send stickers, emoji, text, and GIFs.

The feature was recently rolled out globally on iOS, Android and even on the web. Chinese messaging app WeChat has featured group video chat for about a year, but Facebook is the first of the major non-Asian app to include this feature. It continues Facebook's success with scoring over competitors such as Facetime and Google Duo. The selfie-masks are powered by MSQRD, a Belarus-based company that Facebook acquired this year.

Facebook has once again shown the qualities that make it a favorite of users, investors and employees alike. For one, Facebook was extremely quick to recognize a new trend in the way consumers use messaging and swung its technology troops into action. In addition, it again successfully demonstrated its ability to use acquisitions to lend an edge to its product capabilities. What's more, it has brought to market a key new product feature ahead of competitors.