Skype putting town-hall idea on the Internet
NEW SERVICE LETS UP TO 100 HOLD AUDIO DISCUSSIONS — Internet phone-calling software maker Skype has created a way to transform blogs from soapboxes into live, town-hall meetings. — Starting today, people who have installed the free Skype software …
Context & Ripple Effects
Skype’s 2.5 release pairs simpler registration and more intuitive landline and mobile dialing with Skypecasts, extending the client beyond one-to-one calling. The new format gives blog publishers a built-in way to convene live audio groups of up to 100 people rather than relying only on written posts.
The move builds on Skype’s conferencing ambitions: version 2.0 offered 10-way calls on specified Intel dual-core processors, while Skypecasts make a much larger discussion format available through the 2.5 beta.
First-order effects
- Blog publishers and their readers can turn an audience built around posts into scheduled, live voice discussions without deploying separate conferencing software.
- Skype gains a community-use case for its client, while new users encounter the service through a hosted discussion as well as through personal calling.
Second-order effects
- Simpler registration in Skype 2.5 becomes more consequential because a host’s ability to convene a large discussion depends on participants joining the service with minimal setup.
- Blog communities gain a reason to organize around recurring live sessions, making Skype compete for attention with other channels used for online discussion rather than only with telephone calling.
Third-order effects
- If publishers adopt the format, online publishing shifts toward blended communities in which asynchronous posts generate audiences for real-time participation, and communications clients compete on group-hosting features as well as call quality.
The trend: Internet calling software is broadening from a personal communications utility into infrastructure for audience-led online communities.