Video conferencing can be a great way to keep families and friends connected
With today's modern technology, there is really no reason why families couldn't spend quality time together even if they are hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. Through video conferencing, families and friends can still keep in touch and create beautiful memories together no matter where they are.
Video Conferencing: Some Facts and Figures
Video chatting is fast becoming a regular fixture in most American homes. An ever growing number of people are using it to stay connected with their family and friends. In fact, about 600 million people all over the world are now using Skype, a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) service that allows people to communicate over the internet for free. With Skype, users can choose to communicate through text, voice or video. You can even use it to share photos without having to upload any files to a third party service.
However, Skype is not the only one in its class. A lot of people, including recent retirees, are also communicating with their friends and loved ones via Facebook [3], Google Chat, Apple's FaceTime and iChat for Macs, among others.
Recent developments now also allow users to use their mobile devices, tablets and smartphones [4] to stay connected. With video chat on the go, keeping family and friends close despite the distance has never been this easy.
Risks and Limitations
While video chatting provides a lot of benefits, it can also bring some unwanted risks and complications. It can undoubtedly bring families connected but it can never take the place of actually being together. For some people, seeing their loved ones on video but not being able to touch them can even add to the emptiness they feel from having to live so far apart from each other.
Video chatting also carries some risks, especially to our unsuspecting children. Since everyone can use video chats to connect with virtually anyone who has an Internet connection and a webcam, you need to set your privacy settings accordingly to block strangers from contacting your children. And since a lot of people use video chatting for sexual purposes, you should put a restriction on what sites your children can visit.
Used correctly, video conferencing can be a great way to keep families and friends connected. It may never replace the feeling of actually being together but it definitely comes close enough.