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11 Jul 2011 By AmyBradney-George

Skype In Facebook: The Future Of Social Media

10 Jul

The Latest Developments For Facebook Has Seen Skype Develop Video Chat Features For The Social Media Network. Here We Look At The Pros And Cons Of Skype In Facebook.

Online social media sites keep evolving and the future looks bright, especially for the end users who get to pick and choose services. This is an industry that is attracting the biggest of the big guys, the ones with the deepest pockets.

Case in point: Microsoft just paid $8.5 billion to acquire the popular communication service Skype. Not to be outdone, Google has introduced their Google+ system and Facebook has also wrapped up a partnership with Skype, described by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, as "awesome."

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Industry analysis from tech writers like Sharon Gaudin, in a Computerworld report, details some of the infighting between these tech giants. Gaudin argues that Facebook's annoucement is a response that also points out "to the market that Facebook has at least a 749 million user lead over Google +" and is not going to step aside for Google.

However, Google+ has a feature called "Hangouts" that supports online group conference calls, which enables the social network to raise the stakes to a new level. With these things in mind it seems like social media and interactivity are about to be stepped up a notch for all the big players.

What is Skype and How Does it Work?

Skype is a software program that connects users over the internet so that they can type, talk or use video to communicate. There is no charge for tranmitting or receiving with other Skype users anywhere in the world.

The technology utilizes VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) in transmitting voices as digital signals over existing connections fast enough to allow two people to have real time conversations. VoIP uses data packets to transmit everything including sound, music, graphics, text, video, and photos.

The transfer of information takes mere seconds for completion. A Skype sender must have a Skype receiver on the other end in order to have the ability to unscramble the data packets, without which the message cannot be received.

In another interesting article, PC Magazine's Mark Hachman writes, "The Skype-Facebook integration is relatively simple and the new video calling feature allows users to click on a video icon within Facebook's chat window." The goal is simplicity that allows Facebook users even more opportunities to communicate with their friends.

If a user does not have Skype already, they can download it and be up and running in seconds. With both Microsoft and Facebook investing in Skype technology, it is clear that this kind of software will continue to play a big role in online communications and networking.