MySpace and Skype Partner to Bring Net Telephony to Social Network

Digital Journal — Voice communication will be added to MySpace’s instant-messaging client, but is it too late? The partnership comes on the heels of bad news for both Web 2.0 stalwarts, so the deal can either save their skins or bog them down even further. The move will bring Skype’s Net telephony to MySpace’s instant-messaging service. MySpace users can make free calls over Skype with other MySpace or Skype users. The two companies emphasized the number of people this deal will affect, saying in a joint statement:

With more than 110 million monthly active MySpace users and 220 million Skype registered users around the world, this partnership connects two of the most popular communications platforms on the Internet to create the world's largest online, voice-connected community.

The news release is spinning a positive outlook for two firms hoping for brighter futures. While MySpace is still the social-networking market leader, it’s losing some ground to Facebook, whose innovative strategies include opening its door to third-party developers. And eBay, who owns Skype, completed a $1.4 billion write-off of the Net phone service that it bought for $2.6 billion in 2005. All is not well in the land of Skype. As an eBay spokesperson told Forbes:

Skype has not performed as expected. We are disappointed that we had to take the impairment, but it is a more accurate reflection of the value of Skype as an asset.

It remains to be seen if Skype will help boost MySpace’s IM service, or whether MySpace will assist Skype in its troubled times. No matter the outcome, social-networking phone calls are just around the corner, for better or worse.