Facebook tries a different way to chat with Rooms app

Facebook's next communication advancement harkens back to the Internet's earliest days.
Facebook's new Rooms app harkens back to the way the Internet used to be. Facebook
The company's new Rooms app, unveiled Thursday, will allow people to chat in groups. Users can sign in to the app with an email address or use a pseudonym, and they don't need a Facebook account to join. Users can post photos, movies and text, and they can even change the company's iconic "like button" to say whatever they want. Facebook expects users will create Rooms based on various themes, such as snowboarding pictures, great classical music, or a love of the animated television show "My Little Pony."
Rooms is just the latest example of Facebook's continued focus on refining how users send messages to one another. Facebook already has apps called Messenger, WhatsApp and Slingshot, which help users send messages to one another or groups. Its photo-sharing app Instagram allows largely anonymous users to share photos and have conversations. And Facebook already has software for group message boards through its website. Most of the features in Rooms already exist throughout Facebook's website and other apps.
But Facebook believes this chat app has a place in that already busy lineup. Rooms allows anonymous postings, for instance. It also was designed for mobile devices -- a departure from cramming Facebook's website features into a small program that fits on a screen nestled in the palm of your hand.