Skype Targets Social Networks In Its Latest Campaign

Skype seems to have right away gotten into an offensive mode by launching an advertising campaign that claims its superiority over social networks. The VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service has claimed that Facebook and Twitter are causing damage by taking people away from direct conversations, by engaging in wall posts and short messages instead. It has gone as far as stating that these services are far from humanity. Slogans just as "When did LOL replace the sound of laughter?" and "140 characters doesn't equal staying in touch" are as well part of the $12 million campaign. Ironically, it is as well true that this chat service provides the backbone for voice and video calling on FB, and the two services share instant messaging research so that users from one service can communicate directly with those from the other.

This new campaign has been launched in Britain and posters have been put up at prominent public locations, just as London's Heathrow airport. Skype, reportedly intends to launch the campaign in the US with but another ironic twist wherein Skype users signing up on the company's FB page can take a snap of their face and share it with their friends on FB during the campaign is live. An unseen angle to this whole campaign is that Skype is owned by Microsoft, which has been largely unsuccessful in the social networking arena. Could Microsoft be the hidden brains behind this campaign? We won't know until furthermore information comes forth.