If you’ve always wanted to audition for X Factor but were too scared to sing in front of a live audience, Facebook might have the perfect solution.
Social Media Today reported that the social network is tinkering with a new feature called “Talent Show,” in which users can post videos of them “auditioning” by singing popular songs. The first person to notice the new feature was coder Jane Manchun Wong, who remarked on Twitter that the feature “feels like a cross between Musical.ly and Fifteen Million Merits from Black Mirror.”
Facebook is working on Talent Show where users can pick a popular song and submit their singing audition for review.
Feels like a cross between Musically and Fifteen Million Merits from Black Mirror
as I previously spotted: https://t.co/jHsYQpEvgo pic.twitter.com/TfC2Og5wlw
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) July 28, 2018
TBH, I have to agree. It’s still unclear who the “judges” are in this talent show scenario, but Social Media Today envisioned a future where all users could upload these audition videos and compete against their friends, having their Facebook friends decide the winner. Having people depend on social media engagement to win anything, even bragging rights, is a little too futuristic-creepy for my tastes. I suppose, however, this is at least marginally more interesting than Musical.ly, which involves lip-syncing rather than, uh, actual talent.
Of course, like everything else on Facebook, the new feature is based off a business deal. Now that Facebook has a partnership with Universal Music Group, they have more of an interest in bringing music to the forefront of their platform. This isn’t the first musical feature Facebook has rolled out, either—they also have Lip Sync Live, which is kind of like their own version of Musical.ly.
Right now, Wong says that the feature isn’t available to everyone, at least just yet. I, for one, think that’s a good thing — I’d rather not have to scroll through 40 singing videos every time I open the app.