Facebook Messenger tests its own IRC, or at least a public room system very similar

A little over a decade ago, one of the most popular methods of meeting new people was entering IRC chats. This communication protocol was all plain text, or images without emoji, all imagination, but based allow users more wisely own chat rooms got large communities were formed long before the advent of social networks.

Now Facebook seems to want to make your Messenger is the spiritual heir to the IRC, as this week began testing the possibility of creating a thematic channels called ‘Rooms’ in its application. No, we do not talk about groups to chat with certain contacts, but thematic rooms where anyone can enter although we do not know.

“Before, to enter a group needed to add or to be invited to it , that’s how these groups grew,” said Stan Chudnovsky, product manager for Facebook Messenger. “We’ve been talking to our users, and their constant feedback was that why we could not have themed groups that we could just find.”

So far this new functionality has begun to be tested in Australia and Canada , although it is expected that if the local experiment goes well, the functionality soon begin to expand to other countries to end with a global launch.

This will be the ‘IRC’ of Facebook

In the Rooms or rooms of Facebook we will be able to publicly share links on the subject of the question, and the administrator will have tools to expel the users whose behavior is not correct. In addition to the public rooms, you can also create private rooms that can not be found by the search.

Anyone can create one of these rooms based on a topic or their interests through the mobile Messenger application. They also may invite and approve new members , share the link of the room to give visibility, configure notifications even change our name or an alias.

Two years ago Facebook already created an application called private messaging Rooms, but this time believe they will have more luck. The Chudnovsky himself has said that the big difference is that Messenger is already being used by more than 1,000 million users. The rooms will have a limit of 250 users, so they expect that in big events we can see even several rooms revolving around the same theme.

Those who already combed gray hair and some are part of that generation that entered IRC chats and Hispanic Terra sure that this new feature and its characteristics take us a nostalgic smile. The IRC chats still exist, but that does not mean that the idea of implementing some of its foundations in an application of mass messaging and nearby is good.

In fact, if just taking shape and people use it , other social networks like Twitter should worry . It is quite common that when we are watching a series, television show or event we go to the microblogging social network to discuss it with anonymous people, so giving us a way to do the same worse with better systems to interact Facebook could be part of That audience. We will have to see when and how it arrives.