Video chat is being added to Facebook, courtesy of a tie-in with Skype, Mark Zuckerberg has announced. In a timely response to the Google+ launch, the social networking video chat rivals are ready to go head to head.
Skype, who are going through a buyout from Microsoft Corporation, who are major shareholders in Facebook, who now have well over 750 million active users.
Zuckerberg revealed that popularity shall now be judged not by users, but by sharing activity with the networks. This is a clear indication that the market share Facebook holds is seen as under threat due to the Google+ launch. Users who are sharing in groups are much less likely to leave a network, which is why features are key to success.
As Google holds a trump card in the UK with their massive search engine market share, it won’t be long until the Bing search facility features much more social networking functionality, including a possible deal to display Facebook updates and feeds within the browser. This is the next step we see Google taking with Google+ social tools being integrated with Chrome.
Surprisingly, the Facebook Skype link up only provides the facility for 1 to 1 chat, whereas the Google Hangout video chat allows up to 10.
Zuckerberg mentioned in the announcement that Google+’s creation was a ‘vindication of Facebook’s vision for the social web’. Expect a fierce rivalry to blossom in the next 12 months….
