I recently posted on Switched on Media the below post:
became aware there is a Facebook app that enables Skype users to speak with friends right from the Facebook newsfeed. It’s now clear to me why there are (well founded) rumours that Facebook will buy Skype or form a joint venture of some description.
Having recently worked closely with some corporate advisors, it’s also now equally clear to me why there are alternate rumours that Google is also interested in acquiring Skype. No points for guessing this is the result of corporate advisors for Skype creating competitive tension in order to maximise deal value for the company.
When I worked for eBay, which acquired Skype in 2005, the deal was a lemon. Full stop. An acquisition of Skype by Facebook in my opinion will also under deliver on market expectations for the following reasons:
- People want to socialise when they want to
Facebook and other forms of social media allows us to keep up to date with friends at our own convenience, not necessarily at the same time our “friends” are online.
- People want to choose their level of interaction
The Facebook and Twitter phenomenon is evidence that there are times we prefer to keep up to date on several relationships in a shallow way, instead of few relationships in a deep way. Ever interested to know what someone is doing without actually speaking to them? Yeah, me too.
- You can’t ‘Like’ on Skype
Why talk to one person on Skype when you can interact with scores online over the same timeframe? To take a Facebook conversation on to Skype actually prohibits broader group social interaction – no one else in your network can “like” or “comment” on a private Skype discussion. Like and comment attainment is the gratification of the Facebook status update. Note that Facebook chat is currently underutilised for this reason – it doesn’t make one feel popular.
Why would Facebook acquire Skype when it could build it at a fraction of the acquisition cost? Acquirers always express interest to test seller reaction, then tailor back the offer. The change in Facebook’s official stance from “yes we will buy”, to “perhaps we will partner”, is evidence that the synergy of such a deal appears diminished after some initial due diligence.
Oh, and if none of the above points resonate, there is always the fact that Facebook is often used by people when they are at work and should be working. They can’t exactly start talking into their computer to a mate without somebody noticing, can they?
