Codebreaker

Facebook debuts video chat

John Moe Jul 7, 2011

As expected, the big Facebook announcement yesterday was mostly centered around the video chat feature. It’s already begun rolling out, maybe you have it already. It happens out of the little chat function on the lower right of your Facebook screen. Next to the names of your friends, you’ll see a little camera. First time you click it, you’ll get a prompt for a small software upgrade which FB says takes 10-20 seconds to load. Then your Friend sees that you want to chat and they can choose to take the call. Once connected, it takes up most of your screen, which is a little weird because it means you can’t do anything else. Then again, doing something else would be rude. Video calling has been around for a long time but the fact that this happens right out of the browser could mean much wider adoption. Plus it’s free. It’s all powered by Skype but you don’t need a Skype account.

Another interesting thing coming out of Facebook was that Mark Zuckerberg said the company isn’t really focusing on number of accounts any more. That didn’t stop him from confirming the 750 million number, of course, but he said now that so many people are on Facebook, it’s more about how active they are once they’re on board. That number is rising also, he said.

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