Facebook New App 'Rooms': Anonymous Chat, Post; How to Use

Top online social networking site Facebook has launched a new app that allows iOS users interact anonymously.

"Rooms", which was launched Thursday, is an app that allows iOS users to enter classified chat rooms where they can post or talk about a particular topic anonymously much like Omegle and Chatroulette. British newspaper the Telegraph defined a "room" as a chat room that contains photos and posts about a single topic. It added that the main goal of the app is to provide its users the freedom to participate in sensitive topics which they normally would not feel comfortable joining in with their identities out in the open.

Upon creation, the room's "creator" can then invite other iOS users and also edit and customize the colors, photos, and icons that the room has. The report said that some of the rooms that have already been created and that have gained popularity include rooms for "beat-boxing videos, parkour and home-cooked meals."

Also gaining popularity are rooms called "Kicks from Above," and a room on Japanese game Kendama, the USA Today reported.

Product manager Josh Miller was quoted in the USA Today report saying that the new app is somewhat a "throwback" to those days when users who have their own pseudonyms choose to go to chat rooms and forums to discuss topics and things they want share.

Miller was also cited in the report saying that he observed that most people spend more time on their phones and have forgotten that the Internet can also be a place where people who don't know each other can meet and talk.

This new rule allowing users to chat anonymously, the Telegraph reported, may be seen as a "significant change for Facebook," considering how serious the social networking site is when it comes to the identities of its users. One of the company's high officials Chris Cox said that it would be "safer" if users are "more open" about their personal information, as reported by the Telegraph. 

"[I]t's part of what made Facebook special in the first place, by differentiating the service from the rest of the internet where pseudonymity, anonymity or often random names were the social norm," Cox was quoted as saying.

"Rooms," the USA Today said, is the "latest mobile app from Facebook's Creative Labs."

So how does this new app actually works?

According to PC Magazine, people who want to use the new app don't need to connect it with Facebook. All they need is to sign up by providing an email address and username.

"Even though Rooms is operated by Facebook, we do not permit you to connect your Facebook and Rooms accounts," "Rooms"' official website said.

"[T]he information you share on Rooms will never be posted to your Facebook account and the information you share on Facebook will never be posted to your Rooms account," it added.

PC Magazine said citing Miller that users can even change their usernames for every room they enter. 

However, users have been warned that all the posts and information, including usernames, comments, and even photos, they share on "Rooms" are public. 

With "Rooms", users also has the liberty to delete posts they shared just by confirming their accounts.They can also delete their accounts whenever they want to simply by going to Settings. Upon deleting the account, all the data and information the user shared will also be deleted. 

The app is available on the App Store. It is also believed that an Android and desktop version of the app will be released soon.