Here's How To Use Facebook's Free Video Call Messenger Rooms With Instagram

Facebook is bringing its new Messenger Rooms chat feature to Instagram. As usage has increased in recent months, the tech giant rolled out a number of video features for its parent platform back in April. Now, its Zoom-inspired update, which can host up to 50 people on one video call, is the latest to make the cross-platform integration to the 'Gram. Here’s how to use Facebook Messenger Rooms on Instagram through the platform's Direct Message feature.

As of May 21, Instagram users looking to swap out their Zoom happy hours and conference calls for a competitive option can find the new Messenger Rooms on Instagram, demonstrating another way parent company Facebook is trying to provide more feature integration across its different platforms. To access Facebook's new free videoconferencing platform, people on IG can head to their Direct Message Inbox to video chat with up to 50 individuals (compared to Instagram's limit of six) and try out a handful of extra perks like backgrounds that adapt to your surroundings, lighting features, filters, and no time limits.

To get started and start a call, you'll first need to make sure your IG account is connected to a Facebook profile, which you'll need to create if you don't have one. However, you don't need a Facebook or Instagram account if someone else invites you to join their "room" or video call. From there, you'll want to head to Instagram's DM, where you'll see a video chat button at the top of the screen if the feature is available on your device. If you tap that icon, you'll see the option to create a Room and add the people you want to invite from your followers or, if your friend isn't on either of these platforms, you can send them a link to the Room.

After that, you'll see the option to "Join Room," where you'll be taken to the Facebook Messenger app.

Keep in mind that most of the action is still happening on Facebook and its Messenger app and this new feature is separate from Instagram's own video call feature. In this case, Instagram's DM is merely a portal to get to Rooms.

However, considering Facebook is testing a version of Rooms in the beta version of WhatsApp, and the company's emphasis on cross-product integration, it wouldn't be surprising if the tech company eventually introduces a comprehensive Zoom-like videoconferencing feature that users can access across all three platforms.