Facebook announces video calling: Not quite Chatroulette, not quite Skype either

By | July 6, 2011, 10:27am PDT

Summary: Facebook is bringing video calling to its 700 million users, with a helping hand from Skype. How “awesome” do you think this news is?

And there was an entire generation of people hoping Facebook would announce a “dislike” button.

I’m disappointed, to say the least.

But as we all suspected, Facebook is bringing out Skype video calling for the masses to the world’s largest social networking site.

As announced just a moment ago on the Skype Twitter account, the two companies are coming together to bring something “awesome” to the 750 million users that use the social networking site.

And this is what you will see.

It’s necessary to install a small plug-in to get it started. So, it’s not quite Skype as many of us hoped.

And as you can see, Mr. Perlow and I are talking via video in the Facebook window.

The video calling section of Facebook has just gone live.

Interestingly enough, for many have forgotten, Skype was bought by Microsoft for $8.5 billion. Microsoft already has quite a stake in Facebook after the two partnered on social search — primarily the introduction of the Bing search engine in Facebook.

So, does that mean that Microsoft is increasing its stake in Facebook, with its Skype integration?

Probably. Maybe. I’ll make an educated bet and say that they are.

So what does this mean for the vast majority of younger people who use the social networking site?

Not actually that much. It will be interesting to see the trends move away from the desktop client version of Skype to the Facebook version.

But many find that they either like having their social networks and contacts collide, and others don’t. This could be the one major pitfall.

But let’s hope that it doesn’t turn out to be a Chatroulette 2.0. After seeing my fiftieth penis, I must admit — I got a little bored.

There’s already an odd disparity between the two platforms. Both Facebook and Skype have open chat protocols — so you can take your contacts to any instant messenger client, and now both have video calling capabilities.

But considering so many find that Facebook Chat is slow, buggy and often it simply doesn’t work, many will still resort to Skype for their instant messaging — as well as free voice and video calls.

I suspect at least for the college student perspective, Skype has been given a boost with Facebook’s announcement today.

It won’t kill off Skype for the desktop; it will merely enhance it. It’s just another entry point for the masses to take advantage of.

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Zack Whittaker, a criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, Canterbury, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

Disclosure

Zack Whittaker

I worked briefly with Microsoft UK in 2006 but no longer have any connection with the company. Regardless, I remain impartial and unbiased in my views.

I don't hold any stock or shares, investments or industrial secrets in any company, but have signed confidentiality agreements with a number of UK and U.S. organisations, whose names I am not at liberty to disclose.

I was involved with Kent Union, the University of Kent's student union, undertaking voluntary, non-salaried, elected positions between early 2009 and mid-2010.

No other company, body, government department, non-governmental organisation or third sector organisation employs me or pays me a salary in any capacity whatsoever.

As a freelance journalist, whenever expenses are given and taken by a company that is not CBS Interactive, these will be disclosed in each relevant post to ensure transparency.

I currently work with a UK law enforcement unit, but this is an entirely separate position which bears no connection to other work.

(Updated: 23rd October 2011)

Biography

Zack Whittaker

Zack Whittaker, criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, UK, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

After studying criminology at university, though still in his early-20's, he has already had a series unconventional work and voluntary positions. He has worked with researchers studying neurological illnesses like Tourette's syndrome (which he suffers from), has given lectures on the nature of disabilities in the public community, and occasionally ends up speaking on television and radio discussing the events of the day.

He first had academic work published at the age of 22, then still an undergraduate, and has been cited by a wide range of publications: from the Huffington Post, Business Insider, AllThingsDigital, The Atlantic Wire and CBS News.

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pamnichols
gavinwray1 27th Dec
Duncan, Oklahoma is the county seat of Stephens County with a population of close to 23,000. http://www.duncanhouses.com/

An appetizer is basically a drink or food that is served to stimulate the appetite before a meal. http://www.easyappetizers.ca/


Edmonton is located in Alberta, Canada, in the northern part of the Saskatchewan river, where the river divides the city. It is the 2nd biggest metropolis in Alberta. http://www.edmontonflights.com
So... it's like Google+ Hangouts, but way, way worse.

Great!
@Droid101 Actually, it's not too bad, y'know.
0 Votes
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way, way better then Google
Will Pharaoh 6th Jul
@Droid101
just saying.
And the big winner is Microsoft in all this. The potential number of skype users just went up.
0 Votes
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More awsome then Facetime
Will Pharaoh 6th Jul
as this isn't hardware dependent.
0 Votes
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The bar has been raised
facebook@... 6th Jul
Better than facetime, better than asterisk, better than Google Hangout, it sets a new bar that only enterprise apps like Telepresence and Lync surpass.
Doesn't work on linux plain ... so atleast for me it is of no use...
The real kicker is if they can actually integrate it into the Skype client. That is, let me be able to call a FB contact from my Skype client or vice versa. Essentially, just turn it into a browser based Skype client.
So... it's like Google+ Hangouts, but way, way worse.
asp net development
Facebook video calling has higher quality video and audio. It also requires fewer systems resources and it's currently more stable maybe because it uses Skype. Facebook will continue to evolve to meet the demands of it's users, maybe someday they will be able to install spy camera video to spy on people hacking into your account. Facebook has been good to me, I found apartments for rent through Facebook ads when I moved out. There was also this app on Facebook in which you learn the meanings of names which I took pleasure in playing. Facebook has changed the life of people, so whatever their future plans are, I hope it's for the better.
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pamnichols
gavinwray1 27th Dec
Duncan, Oklahoma is the county seat of Stephens County with a population of close to 23,000. http://www.duncanhouses.com/

An appetizer is basically a drink or food that is served to stimulate the appetite before a meal. http://www.easyappetizers.ca/


Edmonton is located in Alberta, Canada, in the northern part of the Saskatchewan river, where the river divides the city. It is the 2nd biggest metropolis in Alberta. http://www.edmontonflights.com
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have bookmarked to check out new stuff you post. how to make your penis larger

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