HUGE! Facebook and Skype Join Forces (Again) to Make the World Even Smaller
By: Hillel Fuld
As technology continues to evolve and advance, one of the inevitable consequences is that we begin taking things for granted. As Louis CK puts it so elegantly in his famous video Everything is Amazing and Nobody’s Happy, “How quickly the world owes us something we only knew existed ten seconds ago”. In fact, if you have not seen that video, it might be the all time funniest and most accurate depiction of our generation and how we view technology. Watch it here.
So we might take the internet for granted, or browsers, cellphones, cars, planes, or digital photography, but then there are some things that never cease to amaze. I might be alone on this issue, but there are some modern inventions that no matter how often I use them, I am always impressed and find myself amazed that such an ability even exists.
One such technology is VoIP and video calling. The ability to call anyone anywhere in the world for free and even see them in real time in HD quality, truly astounds me. I use Skype every day, countless times throughout the day and putting aside the chat aspect, and its occasional bugs, I think Skype and the entire VoIP industry have truly created a revolution in communication.
The same goes for social media led by the king, Facebook. I think by now, we have all heard some of the amazing events that have transpired thanks to the social Web. Things like the famous picture on the Hudson, the Iran revolution, or just regular people who have used the platform to create and facilitate major change. Facebook and social media, I have said on many occasions, bring down the barriers that our society puts up.
Whether they are geographical barriers of two people not being able to communicate in real time due to their location, or social barriers such as consumers not being able to communicate directly with a brand, or fans not having the tools to interact with their favorite celebrity or athlete. social media makes it all possible.
So when Skype and Facebook announced a partnership recently, I knew this was going to be big. Except, that was only the beginning. Skype and Facebook just announced the ability to call your Facebook friends like you would your Skype contacts. That is huge.
Yes, there are the few Facebook haters out there but let’s be honest, everyone is on Facebook nowadays. While Skype does have almost as many users as Facebook does, something tells me, and this is without the research to back it up, that Facebook users spend more time on the site than Skype users spend in the application.
Take a look at the somewhat corny video below and excuse me while I go link my Skype to Facebook.
