The Hidden Glasgow Forums

Have been asked by relatives to join Facebook and download Skype.

I don't think I particularly want my photos on Facebook and anyway I don't really take any on a regular basis.

As far as Skype is concerned I thought it was more for people who made a lot of calls and perhaps long distance ones. You will have to forgive my lack of knowledge on these things.
My mobile is a contract phone for a tenner a month with 300 texts and 300 mins.
I doubt I have ever used my entire quota for either and I don't ring anyone outside of the UK.

Anybody care to tell me what advantages or benefits I would get from these things if any or am I not the only one
who hasn't signed up. Expect I sound like a boring old fart but if anyone cares to comment I'd be happy to hear from them.

Don't bother with Skype. Recent versions of MSN and Yahoo offer the same service (free internet calls). Don't be fooled by the nonsense, I talk regularly to my extended family in Texas and i have never parted with a penny through MSN, Yahoo or Skype

I'm on Facebook with one of my aliases. Facebook is subject to California Law which does not necessarily respect our principles of data protection. If you don't like the look of it, don't use it.

If your friends want to keep in touch, they can still send a postcard.

BrigitDoon wrote:I'm on Facebook with one of my aliases. Facebook is subject to California Law which does not necessarily respect our principles of data protection. If you don't like the look of it, don't use it.

If your friends want to keep in touch, they can still send a postcard.

Postcards BD. I remember my mum talking about them. Just remind us what you do with them again.

Never been on Facebook and I don't know what Skype is.

I've found facebook to be excellent. Like a lot of people I am bit lazy when it comes to keeping in touch, and facebook sorts that out. Post some pictures of what you have been up to, keep up with what else your friends have been up to (on tour, weddings whatever). All good stuff.

Skype, tend to agree. I find it most use for calling or travelling internationally and of course of most use if the person you are calling is also using Skype. Skype to skype is free and the call quality is far superior to most international telephone lines. If you are calling somebody from skype to their regular phone, you pay the local call rate for that country, which is still better than standard international rates. Skype is also pretty good if you want to phone the UK while travelling abroad, and especially to avoid paying hotel phone rates.
Sometimes you can get a better deal to call phone to phone e.g. I use use Tiscalli to call Australia free, from my regular phone.If most of your calls are local then I would say skype is probably not worth it.

As an aside I tried Skype-In for a while back when it launched and it was flat out useless. It would connect a call at best, 25% of the time. That was a few years back, so it might have improved since then.

hazy wrote:Postcards BD. I remember my mum talking about them. Just remind us what you do with them again. ::): ::):

I think you need to tap into a government system to use postcards. The same sytem they use you to send you tax bills, you know electricity tax, tv tax, bank tax etc etc.

I am bebo but gradually moving over to Facebook, think its better to use.

I'm on a million and one social networking sites because friends have persuaded me but I regularly use none of them.

Facebook is by far the worst imo, everytime I log in i'm bombarbed with invites to groups, quizzes, games and people send you virtual items and you need to reciprocate lest they fall out with you. If however you love wasting time playing games and challenging your friends to whether they know the ins and outs of former soap stars then you'll love it.

I just ignore them all, on Facebook it used to come up as soon as i signed in but now they come up at the side and i just ignore them.

i like the wee chat application as i can chat with friends that dont have msn or yahoo.

Mates that don't have what now?

MSN, Yahoo et al chat clients are all compatible with one another so you shouldn't need a webbased application to overcome instant online chat. I use Facebook, I think my friends extend to a few mates and my family so it's there only for show. I do get the odd request from people I went to school with, my theory is I spent the last 20 years not bothering with them so why would I want them involved in any part of my future

i do know a lot of people that dont have msn etc as they can only access the internet on their mobiles etc. the chat doesnt work then but you can still comment

On a telephone you say, the internet?? Oh dear kids these days...fancy gadgets....I'm off to milk cows

i have bbc iplayer on my mobile!

But do you know how chicken is made?