Zuck’s Folly: Facebook Shuts Down Podcast Platform After Less Than a Year

Mark Zuckerberg has suffered a humiliating defeat as social media giant Facebook is shutting down its podcast platform less than a year after it launched.

The Verge reports that Facebook is shutting down its podcast platform less than a year since it launched as part of rethinking its audio products. Podcast creators on the platform will be locked out of uploading new shows to the service this week and the platform will shut entirely on June 3.

Facebook is also shutting down the site’s Soundbites and Audio hubs and integrating its Clubhouse audio chatroom clone app Live Audio Rooms into its Facebook Live suite. a Facebook spokesperson said that the change aimed to “simplify” the company’s audio product range.

“After a year of learning and iterating on audio-first experiences, we’ve decided to simplify our suite of audio tools on Facebook,” said the spokesperson. “We’re constantly evaluating the features we offer so we can focus on the most meaningful experiences.”

This news is not particularly surprising given the lack of growth that Facebook’s audio features have seen in recent years. Established players like Amazon have been making headway in the audio market for some time, purchasing podcast networks while audio apps such as Clubhouse saw tremendous initial growth during the pandemic.

Facebook’s attempt to copy yet another feature from another platform, as it has done with Instagram, Snapchat, and many others, has not appeared to work out for the company this time around.

Read more at the Verge here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com