When Erika Stasakova, a sophomore at Lafayette and graduate of JC, traveled to Slovakia for three months in the summer, she was not allowed to use her cell phone. Calling her family from another country would cost too much money, so she used Skype to communicate.
With Skype, Stasakova was able to both talk to and see her family for free. “I used Skype mostly to keep in touch with my family, and I used it as my cell phone to call family in Slovakia,” she said.
While Skype is most widely known for its video calls, it can also be used to send instant messages, share files with other users, and make low cost calls to mobiles and landlines.
Skype can be downloaded for free off of the Internet. Users only need a web camera, a microphone, and Internet connection.
Back at college for the school year, Stasakova still uses Skype. “Many people here [at Lafayette] use it too,” she said.
Junior and Skype-user Annie Thomas said, “I use Skype when I’m talking with my friends or my sister who is away at college.”
Skype was first released in August of 2003, and has 171 million registered users. According to Skype survey results from March 2008, 95% of the users say they are saving money using Skype as opposed to using cell phones and landlines, 62% say they communicate better with customers while using Skype as opposed to calling and emailing, and 70% say they use it while traveling.
Skype is increasing its availability on mobile phones and devices, which means it will be more efficient for on the go. While you will not be able to use the video option on a cell phone, you can call your Skype contacts for free from any WiFi zone, IM and group IM, and even share photos and videos on some handsets. Cell phones that do not get WiFi can use Skype Lite. With Skype Lite, people can make local calls on their mobiles or with a paid subscription, use inclusive minutes to reach contacts skype – to – skype wherever they are in the world.
Skype enables the user to express more emotion than in an email or text message because you can actually see the person’s reactions and facial expressions.
Skype is now competing with Facebook. “I like using Skype better than Facebook for when I am talking to people that are away at college because I can actually see them, but I like Facebook better for everyday use,” said Thomas.
Stasakova said that she still uses Facebook more than Skype. “Usually I say lets Skype at this time through a text or Facebook (message). Skype has to be more of a planned thing,” she said.
“I like Skype better than Facebook because it is more personal than Facebook or texting,” said Morgan Buchanan, a freshman at the University of Maryland and 2009 graduate.
Junior Leah Polakoff traveled to Germany this summer for the German exchange. “I only downloaded it this summer so I could talk to my family while I was in Germany. It was awesome to be able to see my family instead of just talking on the phone or something, and it was free.” Although Polakoff used Skype in Germany, she and her exchange student communicate through email. “Our parents still Skype!” she said. “My dad will sign on and my exchange student’s mom will start sending him messages and such.”
“It’s a great way to talk to someone because you can hear and see them,” Buchanan said. “I know tons of college students who use it to keep in touch with old friends.”
Elizabeth Tauber can be reached for comment at [email protected]