Clubhouse, a social networking app, has gained buzz for letting people gather in audio chat rooms to talk about various topics
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SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook is building an audio chat product that is similar to popular young app Clubhouse, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, as the social network aims to expand into new forms of communication.
Clubhouse, a social networking app, has gained buzz for letting people gather in audio chat rooms to talk about various topics. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, has been interested in audio communication forms, said the people with knowledge of the matter, and he appeared in the Clubhouse app Sunday to chat about augmented and virtual reality.
Facebook executives have ordered employees to create a similar product, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The product is in its earliest stages of development, they said, and the project’s code name could change.
“We’ve been connecting people through audio and video technologies for many years and are always exploring new ways to improve that experience for people,” Emilie Haskell, a Facebook spokeswoman, said. A representative for Clubhouse declined to comment.
Facebook has a history of breaking into new technologies and chasing different mediums that have attracted users, especially if those audiences are young. Zuckerberg bought photo-sharing site Instagram, messaging app WhatsApp and virtual reality company Oculus when all were small startups.
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