Twitter introducing wall, Facebook expected to add video chat

The cold war between social networking sites Twitter and Facebook could be heating up as Twitter tests a 'message wall' and Facebook is expected to announce a new video chat service.

The moves follow news last week that the world's largest internet search provider, Google, is once again attempting to dive into social networking with their Google+ service. Twitter testing 'message wall' The popular 140-character-or-less microblogging site is testing a new interface that will "make it easier for users to engage with each other", a spokesperson told Mashable. The new message wall will display public person-to-person tweets to users, allowing them to see conversations between one another with greater ease. According to Mashable, it is intended to counter the steep learning curve that exists for new users who are struggling to learn how to communicate with others. Facebook expected to announce video chat service Late last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the media he had plans to announce something 'awesome' this Wednesday. While Zuckerberg is staying mum on the subject, some unnamed sources have said that the Seattle office is developing a video chat service in partnership with internet telephony company Skype. That service would be a direct answer to Google+'s 'hangouts' feature, which allows users to participate in multi-user video chats. News of the partnership suggests a closer relationship between Facebook and Skype's new owner, Microsoft, which already owns a stake in the social networking giant. The new offering could prove to be mutually beneficial to the two companies, as Facebook will add a new facet and Skype could stand to add new users from the over 500 million active users of the social networking site.