U t o n N e w s: Yahoo

Next steps
Facebook's new chat features open up a lot of possibilities for the world's largest social networking site — but there are some issues with the service. For example, the gear button does not yet show up consistently in chat windows across browser types. Even if you see the gear, you may not see the "Add Friends to Chat" option yet. This issue might be resolved as the feature fully rolls out to Facebook users in the coming weeks.

The full scope of who you can add to chat sessions is also currently unanswered — if you're adding friend #2 to a chat session with friend #1 and these two are not friends, will they be able to restart the conversation through the messages window? Or, if you've messaged someone before, but are not friends with them, can you add them to a chat session (or vice versa)? How will group chat and one-on-one video chatting stack up against Google+ Hangouts? Only time will tell!

Regardless, have fun while you explore Facebook's new chat options — go on, stretch your social web muscles and strike up a group conversation!

[Image source: khrawlings]

Post by Liz Patt

More from Tecca:

You guide to getting up close and personal with your favorite Facebook friends

Facebook's long-rumored video chat feature is finally here, giving you an opportunity to look into the eyes of all 5,000 of your "friends." The service was just announced today, and is already up and running. We're here to show you how it works, and just how simple it is to get started.

Although the new service will technically roll out to all users over the next few weeks, if you want to get in on the action early and don't see it enabled yet for your profile, just head over to the Facebook video calling corner and request access before following the steps below.

Facebook chat window
The video chat feature works hand-in-hand with Facebook's built-in chat system. The first step to starting a video feed with someone is simply choosing their name from the chat sidebar and opening a messaging session.
In the blue bar at the top of the chat window you'll notice a new video icon — click it. If this is your first time using Facebook video chat (given the fact that you're reading a guide, we'd guess the answer is "yes") you will be prompted to download and install the software needed to make the service play nice with your webcam and/or microphone.
After the installation file is downloaded, double click it to being the installation process. Depending on your computer operating system, the installation may require you to grant permission to the computer to access your webcam and microphone. If this occurs, simply allow access and finish the installation.
When the installation is complete your video chat session should begin automatically. If it doesn't, simply click the video icon to try again. If your chat partner agrees to the video session, a window will pop up displaying both your partner and yourself.
You can select your audio device by clicking the bar at the bottom of the video window. A drop down menu will display all the audio devices currently hooked up to your computer, allowing you to pick the correct one.
To end a video session, simply close the video window by clicking the X in the corner.

Facebook video chat interface

That's everything you need to know to proceed on your video chat escapades, but perhaps text chat is more your style. If that's the case, be sure to check out our guide to Facebook group chat — a feature that was also just announced today. Enjoy!

U t o n N e w s

Thursday, July 7, 2011

How to use Facebook’s new group chat feature (Yahoo! News)

How to use Facebook video chat (Yahoo! News)