- Skype-powered integration of video chat within the Facebook platform.
- Facebook video calling is available through chat tab and within each person’s profile.
- Video chat is extraordinarily easy, no download necessary and available in less than 30 seconds . Even my Mema can use it.
- Group Chat: This text chat feature allows you to chat with multiple people at once without utilizing the full ‘groups’ feature.
- Users will have an easier time with the chat feature’s design and the ability to find friends online easily.
- Trends: 4 billion things are shared each day.
The announcement left many in the industry, myself included, underwhelmed. Cool? Yeah. Awesome? Debatable. Groundbreaking? Definitely not.
Gmail has video chat too so what’s the big deal? Google Hangouts also offers the video chat feature and even allows people to chat with more than one person at a time. Facebook did stress that they have set up the infrastructure to handle more complex applications. Perhaps in the future we’ll see a music sharing/cloud music component or the ability to watch movies with your friends all within Facebook. Time will tell.
Interesting day in Social Media / Networking. I like what is coming and feel it was only a matter of time before it did come. Though, my one fear is that I feel part of the reason Facebook became so popular, and why it over-took myspace, was its ease of use. The home page was not cluttered. Those who were not computer people, especially older people, were able to use Facebook with ease. I think some of that will be lost, though, the pros do outweigh the cons.