Facebook Gives Up on Podcasts – What Went Wrong?

After one year of getting into the platform, Facebook leaves the podcast game. As early as this week, the social media giant will no longer allow users to add podcasts.

According to Bloomberg, Facebook will delete all podcasts starting June 3. Facebook notified its partners, and it entails the erasures of podcasts on the mentioned date.

The social media giant informed its partners that it would not notify users that it would shut down the podcast service. Facebook will leave the partners the decision and strategies of alerting the listeners.

If you can still recall, Facebook started getting in the podcast trend in June 2021. A time when the hype for social audio platforms is at its peak. The live audio app Clubhouse stirred the podcast craze back then.

Facebook correctly identified the challenge with podcast discovery, but for some reason it didn’t take hold on their platform.

We know that user-generated podcast rec’s will work – it works for books, restaurants, movies, etc.

And importantly, it’s working on Goodpods! 🔥 https://t.co/MfUZM0z59o

— Goodpods (@GoodpodsHQ) May 5, 2022

Facebook launched its podcast service while the market was fresh. Moreover, Spotify was shelling out bucks to pay Joe Rogan at that same time. In May 2020, the music giant wanted him to move to their platform. While in December 2020, Amazon also acquired Wondery, a podcast platform.

Metaverse and its role

Although Facebook already confirmed the date of the podcasts’ shutdown, Audio Rooms will be integrated into Facebook Live. However, it will only have two options – to go live with audio only or with video and audio.

A Facebook logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Meanwhile, Meta hasn’t released an official statement about the shutdown. Although a Meta spokesperson said, “We’re constantly evaluating the features we offer so we can focus on the most meaningful experiences.”

After a total rebrand in October last year, Facebook became a significant accessory of its parent company Meta. Facebook tries to keep up with the trend while Meta focuses on excelling at metaverse.

One of the common reasons for the podcast shutdown is that Facebook is trying to lean more on working towards the metaverse. This reason likely will set aside the focus on audio and producing podcasts. In addition, it is also evident that Facebook’s parent company Meta is leaning more toward video formats than audio.

Meta has just launched Reels, a short video clip platform also available on Instagram. And Meta seems to be promoting it more inside the app.