The following entry is a response to Benedicta Chan’s blog post “Facebook + Skype = Video Calling on Facebook Chat”.
Facebook and Skype are partnering up to provide users with free video calling on Facebook Chat. Benedicta Chan, who wrote a blog about the topic, is attracted to the concept and feels that it would be successful because of its convenience for Facebook users.
While I do agree that it does provide an easier way to video call friends without having to use another application, I am still skeptical about the success of this addition to Facebook. Facebook is a social networking utility, but it is primarily used for communicating with people through commenting and wall posts. Facebook does this well, and I consider it one of its core competencies. The other social networking features Facebook offers are not used as much. I recognize that even Facebook Chat, which has been around for a few years, is not used as a first choice for instant messaging. I myself find it unreliable and users still use instant messaging applications like MSN for a more stable service. Integrating video calling into a web browser may lead to the same effect, where it does offer little beyond a novelty. Therefore, I don’t really know if adding video calling to Facebook will enjoy popularity as users may still be loyal to separate and dedicated applications that can perform the function better.
Source: Benedicta Chan’s Blog
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