Skype Targets Social Networks In Its Latest Campaign

Puts up promotional posters claiming that its service is "closer to humanity".

Jayesh Limaye
23:38 16th Oct, 2012

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Skype seems to have suddenly launched an offensive through an advertising campaign that claims its superiority over social networks. The VOIP service has claimed that Facebook and Twitter are causing harm by taking people away from direct conversations and replacing them with Wall posts and short messages instead. It has gone as far as stating that these services are "far from humanity". Slogans such as "When did LOL replace the sound of laughter?" and "140 characters doesn't equal staying in touch" are also part of the $12 million campaign. Ironically, the voice chat service provides the backbone for the voice and video calling functions on FB, and the two companies have shared instant messaging technology 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, such as London's Heathrow airport. Skype reportedly intends to launch the campaign in the US, 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. Another angle to the story is that Skype is owned by Microsoft, which has been largely unsuccessful in the social networking arena. Could MS be the hidden brains behind this campaign?

An obvious reference to Facebook.

This is clearly a jab at Twitter.