Facebook dropped Podcasts after just a year, and the social network warned podcasters that it would shut down its audio content service starting June 3. Starting in early May, Facebook will prevent streamers from adding more Podcasts to its audio platform as part of a cleanup. Its audio center, which was launched in June 2021, will be taken offline, along with the short audio service Soundbites.
According to Bloomberg, a note sent to audio partners informed of the changes will initially stop adding new content to the platform, but starting June 3, podcast-related features will be removed.
“We’re constantly evaluating the features we offer so we can focus on the experiences that make the most sense,” said a Meta spokesperson, a comment that actually corroborates earlier reports of Facebook’s loss of interest in Podcasts.
A spokesperson could not provide a specific date for shutting down these audio content services, saying only that they would shut down “in the next few weeks.” But Facebook said in the note that the shutdown of podcasts and Soundbites will not be announced directly to the public, but instead will be up to podcast publishers to decide how to tell their users.
Facebook initially announced the Audio Push feature in April 2021, before rolling it out to users starting the following June. While the shutdown directly affects some of Facebook’s plans for audio content, others will continue to operate, such as Live Audio Rooms, which function like Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces, and will appear live on and be rolled out to Facebook Live, allowing users to swipe video There is also an audio-only option.