Social Media Showdown: Facebook Announces Skype Video Chat Feature

Updated Sariscos 2 Tallied Votes 565 Views Share

Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg announced today that there are going to be a few changes to Facebook. The big story is that Facebook has teamed up with Skype to deliver video chat so that you can talk to your friends through Facebook. This is no surprise considering the partnerships Facebook has forged within the past 5 years. If you recall, Microsoft bought a small stake in Facebook for $240 million in 2007. This past May, Microsoft acquired Skype for $8.5 billion. You would imagine that Microsoft would utilize one of their largest assets to help power one of their best investments.

Interestingly enough, these past few weeks have become a Social Media showdown. First, the announcement of MySpace being purchased for $35 million (possibly less) by Specific Media and Golden Gate Capital, which was an expensive loss for News Corp. After Justin Timberlake successfully brought “Sexy Back,” he’s going to try to bring MySpace back utilizing the power of the music section. MySpace was originally purchased by News Corp. for $580 million. News Corp was hoping to take a $480 billion loss, but unfortunately, that too is a steep price to pay for a dying social media champion.

We then had the private launch of Google+, which everyone, wants to get their hands on. Google+ looks almost exactly the same as Facebook. From a distance, I can’t tell the difference. It has that feel that we’ve all come to know and love. The big deal about Google+ is that you can video conference with up to 10 different people at a time. Also included is the ability to divide your friends into groups by simply clicking and dragging them in as if they were a file on a desktop.

Today, Mark Zuckerberg stole the stage and made his own big announcement. Not only will you be able to video chat on Facebook, but the chat itself is going to be totally revamped allowing you to access the people you talk with easier. Alongside with that, you’ll be able to create group chats instantly without having to create a group. Essentially, communicating on Facebook will be more intuitive as well as entertaining. Video chat will probably become one of the most important features on Facebook in coming years. Facebook currently has 750 million members.

As far as the bottom line is concerned, there are no plans to make money off the video chat feature. This will be a concern in the future because it will be very expensive for them to support all the bandwidth and overhead costs associated with all the streaming video pouring in and out of the site. Nonetheless, the amount of content being contributed to Facebook has doubled since last year and the experts at Facebook claim that it will double again by next year. We’ll see how long this video feature lasts before it too becomes monetized.

You can read more about the new Facebook features on The Facebook Blog: https://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=10150223135777131

webdesigns12 0 Light Poster

The new chat feature will show up on Facebook as a "call" button at the top of every user's profile page. By clicking that button, Facebook users can talk to each other over webcams.

dzen 1 Newbie Poster

would it be possible to intercept these calls on facebook by third parties or by facebook itself ?

Sariscos 80 Junior Poster Team Colleague

Dzen,
The call feature is going to be powered by Skype. It will be Skype to Skype connections, which are fully encrypted. I don't even think the NSA or CIA could tap into it.

dzen 1 Newbie Poster

Sariscos,
thanks for the answer. but what about Microsoft ? I mean, could Microsoft make some changes in Skype technology for example in encryption policy and techniques and make it possible to intercept traffic even between two nodes ? just thinking...

stunning boy -4 Junior Poster in Training

well this is gonna be a social war google plus is adding more features in it, such as video chat, live streaming, e mail messaging and it kept a diversified friends and family circle as well

netvani -3 Junior Poster in Training

Hmmm. I'm wondering how it will work well in Facebook. I mean Skype is really a great communication tool as well as Facebook which is a great social media. But then I am excited to use that video chat feature. It is more convenient for users.

Sariscos 80 Junior Poster Team Colleague

UPDATE: Facebook video chat works really well!

Goddard 0 Newbie Poster

Dzen,
The call feature is going to be powered by Skype. It will be Skype to Skype connections, which are fully encrypted. I don't even think the NSA or CIA could tap into it.

With their budget I think they probably could if they wanted to.

sufalamtech 0 Newbie Poster

Facebook announces Skype video calling integration, Group Chat ... Facebook's default setting for the new Video Chat feature. 6 Jul 2011 – Mark Zuckerberg reveals Facebook's new Skype video chat feature on the social networking site.

Dancing Bear 07 0 Newbie Poster

I think this is fantastic.. At the moment software I use on my website , I pay a yearly fee.. If this comes about.. it may put a lot of software companies out of business. because I will certainly use this new feature. Google+ because of the fact it has so many fewer members, it seems a lot safer than Facebook..I wonder if you are going to be able make the chat sessions private? considering some have hundreds of friends subscribed to them. Surely they will!

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