FACEBOOK'S IN A SHARING MOOD WITH PANDORA, iHEART

As if they remember lugging around a Close 'N Play and a box of 45s to their friends’ houses, Pandora and Facebook have come up with a way to re-create digitally an experience that most people have not thought about since the Nixon administration. And they even got Alexa involved.

With the launch of Portal, users can share music during video chats. The platform works via Alexa and tunes can be played during a conversation between as many as six people.

Here’s how it works. When video chatting, use the touchscreen to search, create, and select stations from a playlist. All participants on the listening session will have access to a “Now Playing” screen to check out what’s currently on deck. Should you play something like the long version of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” or side 3 of Metal Machine Music, friends have the option to pause the music.

iHeart suggests virtual dance parties and touts the availability of stations and playlists. Pandora is targeting the platform to lovers in long-distance relationships, former high school friends away at college and lazy types who drink too much.