Broadcast Channels feature coming to Facebook and Messenger

Meta, the parent company of the popular social media platform Facebook,  has recently announced that they are adding a feature called Broadcast Channels to Facebook and Messenger. According to Meta, broadcast channels are a public messaging tool that Facebook page admins and public figures can use to engage with all their followers in one unified space. 

As per the official announcement by Meta, Facebook page admins can use this new feature to share polls with their followers, as well as share exclusive photos or videos, and even add 'voice notes' to followers. Anyone who follows or has favourited a Facebook page can join these broadcast channels to stay updated with that page's latest news and announcements, including being able to communicate with page admins directly. 

The broadcast channels feature is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

How to use the broadcast channels feature

Once this new feature is released, if you are a manager or admin of a Facebook page, you can start a channel directly from your page. After the first message on a new broadcast channel is sent by a page admin, followers will receive a one-time notification to join the channel. 

According to Meta, only the creator of a broadcast channel can send messages to that particular channel. However, members who have joined that channel can react to the sent messages and respond to community votes.

After a follower has joined a broadcast channel, Facebook will automatically send notifications to that person every time the channel posts a message or shares an image or video. Like regular notifications on Facebook and Messenger, this notification can also be turned off by tapping the 'mute' icon on the top right corner of the channel thread.

After you have joined a broadcast channel, the feature will be available alongside the chats in Messenger. As per Meta, while the feature has not been released to regular users yet, companies such as Netflix and WWE have been given prior access to this feature and have already launched their own broadcast channels.