Using SKYPE as a Newbie

Doing the new things newbies must do to be successful online can be a bit intimidating and frustrating. I am not a newby, but as a Boomer I am in the generation of techno-phobes and technology-challenged grey heads, and there are some things that just frighten the you-know-what out of me. That is no excuse for anyone, however, as there are many senior aged internet success stories. Moreover, with the wealth of information available and the affordable and accessible technology supporting it, given the right mind set we can all learn to do anything we choose.

SKYPE is a very useful tool to the global community and is used for a variety of applications centered around enabling world conversations. Skype is a software application that can be downloaded Free. While I have used it mostly as a business builder, like other Internet Messengers (IM’s), it has an immense social value as well. Family members use Skype to keep in touch, business contacts discuss more than business, friends lists are easily built, chat rooms are growing in popularity, and on and on I could go.

Until this November 19, 2009, Skype was owned by PayPal which is owned by E-Bay. Rumored to be under consideration for sale to Google sometime this year, a deal has just been announced by Press Release that SKYPE was sold for $ 2.75 Billion to an investor group. Skype offers the same capabilities as other IM’s, chatting, sending pictures and files, phone calling over the internet as opposed to land lines, video conferencing, video calling, low-rate international long distance phone service, private phone numbers, and mobile VOIP.

The same Press Release says there are over 400 million registered users worldwide with approximately 16 Million online all the time and an estimated 40 to 60 million estimated daily users, depending on the season.

I did a little research and it is taking me off base from the original focus and intent of this article. I now think this will be the first in a short series of SKYPE user articles.

I want to share with you a true story that happened to me yesterday. Like any IM, there are problems you may encounter, newby or not, but seasoned users are probably more accustomed to this kind of thing, and I share this to prepare newbies for what is sure to come.

Our Team just participated in the launch of Internet Show Off as a Team Build and while working on my Profile there I requested that a Team Member named Dorothy be my friend. That was on Thursday. Well… on Friday I had a Skype message from Dorothy pop up on my screen with a personal message thanking me for accepting her as a friend and wanting my email to share some more information about herself and her family.

I thought it a bit strange but since I have chatted some with Dorothy I complied and agreed to share my details. I soon discovered that the contact was a different Dorothy as a picture of a very attractive Bolivian girl appeared next to her name. Soon I had an email telling me about her heritage and claiming that she was soon to graduate from medical school and she wanted to get to know me as she is looking for love.

I do not know if women with obvious female Skype names get these same kind of phishing messages but I get them routinely, probably as many as 3 or 4 a week. Most of these lost souls have some nude pics they want to share, or do sex talk or video for a credit card number, or some such thing as that. I quickly got rid of her when she asked, referring to my Skype profile, “What does that mean you are online to make money, not spend money.”

Some may think that I got what I asked for by posting my Skype ID on all my emails and on my blog and… and certainly I understand this is a risk I take. But when this sort of thing happens, and it will happen, one option you have is to block that contact from contacting you again, which is what I did. Well, I am stopping here to take up again later on How to Use Skype.

Written by Mark Moffett - Visit The Rite Biz