Will Video Chat Become Mainstream With Facebook?

Today, Facebook announced a partnership with Skype to bring video chat to the platform. Now you'll be able to initiate a video chat with a friend by starting a chat with them, and pressing the video button at the top of the chat window.
Users will need to download a plugin, but after a quick install, they'll be chatting.

This could mean trouble for all other video chat services, even the standalone Skype client. Facetime, Google+, Fring, Qik, and many others, may have a hard time competing with video chat that has full access to your Facebook friends. As of now, Facetime is the most seamless video chat application, allowing for calling between iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Macs. It's as easy as placing a call, and resembles video calling more than video chat. And, though Apple made the platform open, Apple hasn't pushed for much support. This is why Facetime is still Mac/iOS only, and this is it's only downfall.

Developers at Facebook are also looking to bring calling to phones, and video chat to cell phones. They're also working to allow group chats within Facebook groups, directly competing with the new video chatting features found in Google+. Facebook video chat promises to be a real competitor, and they're only just getting started.

Personally, I like the interface of Facetime more, as well as it's ability to call phones and other mobile devices. But I can't argue with the fact that Facebook video chat is extremely convenient. Some people have reported some bugs. Facebook chat has had a number of bugs in it for years, so this is to be expected. Facebook will most likely work on this, and maybe they'll finally take the time to fix their issues with chat.  
You can find out more, and try out the new video chatting feature on Facebook right now.
via Gizmodo and MacWorld