{"id":9246,"date":"2011-07-06T17:35:40","date_gmt":"2011-07-06T22:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/?p=9246"},"modified":"2023-12-24T07:49:45","modified_gmt":"2023-12-24T13:49:45","slug":"give-me-group-videochat-or-give-me-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/2011\/07\/give-me-group-videochat-or-give-me-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Give me group video chat or give me death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Facebook just unveiled their new video chatting service using Skype integration. There\u2019s little doubt that, despite them being in bed together for a while now, video chatting wasn\u2019t ready for primetime. Google+ changed things and likely forced their hands. That\u2019s mainly conjecture, but here we have it, you can now video chat on Facebook, but would you want to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first problem you come across with Facebook\u2019s video chat is the need to download a plugin (sorry, Chromebook users. No love for you). You only need to do this once and it\u2019s at best an annoyance, at worst a hassle, for those of us adjusted to an \u201ceverything just works\u201d mindset. With the call connected you\u2019re greeted with the second problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Facebook pops up a chat window that while attractive, hovers over your browser and remains persistently on top of all windows. You can minimize it, but that seems to defeat the purpose of video chatting. So you\u2019re faced with a massive, cumbersome screen and are essentially barred from any kind of multitasking while chatting. As Facebook would say, this is more \u201cintimate.\u201d All this seemed small and passable until the biggest problem with Facebook video chat dawned on me. No group chatting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve long been an active user of Tinychat and now a full convert to Google+ Hangouts. Video calls require a certain investment in time and effort that can at times seem like overkill for a simple one-to-one chat. When you need to contact someone rapidly, you default to text (messenger\/chat) or voice calls. Video calls require a certain amount of engagement that you may not be prepared to give.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dynamic is somewhat different in a group dynamic. Hangout really is an apt name. You gather with a host of people, prepared to drop whatever else you\u2019re doing, and you engage with words, gestures, and eye contact. Facebook\u2019s contention that consumers prefer video chatting for intimate one-on-one communications has one flaw. People reserve in-person meetings for intimate one-on-one communication, and video calls are more a contingency to bridge a gap that can\u2019 be easily covered. So the one-on-one is a fallback, not always a choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without the ability to group chat, video chatting on Facebook becomes just another app, the increasing mountains of bloatware that make Facebook glitchy. Facebook shows either a serious strategic disconnect, or they were caught with their pants down and were trying to spin the release positively. The entire presentation reiterated the massive popularity of groups and how groups and apps are quickly becoming the cornerstone of Facebook. People get on Facebook to connect with groups. Group video chat would have been worth talking about; worth even the \u201cawesome\u201d label we were promised. However, this? Excuse me while I yawn. And lest we forget, Google may not be worried about this lackluster counterpunch from Zuckerberg, but they aren\u2019t exactly standing still either<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tired of juggling browser tabs while video chatting? Facebook’s new video chat is here, but with clunky plugins, awkward one-on-one focus, and NO group calls, it’s more yawn than awesome. Google+ Hangouts might be smirking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1141],"tags":[274,7,990,532],"class_list":["post-9246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-editorials","tag-facebook","tag-mark-zuckerberg","tag-skype"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/facebook-skype.jpg?fit=660%2C495&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pelghY-2p8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9246"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21323,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9246\/revisions\/21323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedyoda.com\/noisecast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}