Powered by Skype, Facebook announced a new video chat feature today. Which will be of interest to those of you who chat on Facebook, or to those of you who don't already use GMail's nifty video chat feature. So, what is it exactly? TechCrunch explains: "It’s a feature that’s been rumored for quite a while, and it’s one that Facebook is putting a lot of weight behind. Now, whenever you browse to a friend’s profile, you’ll see a new button nestled between the ‘Message’ and ‘Poke’ buttons that says ‘Call’. Click that, the other user will see a popup asking if they want to accept a call, and you’ll be immediately connected (you’ll need to install a small plugin the first time you use the service)."

This new feature comes after the launch of Google+, "which includes a video chat feature called "Hangouts"" (Speaking of which, does love Google+? What's it like? Should we try getting an invitation? Are invitations still a thing? So complex, this world.)

So why did it take so long for Facebook to jump on the video chat feature? ZDNet notes: "While Facebook admitted that video chat has been around for years now, the company emphasized that it’s still not an everyday activity for most people. Sometimes it’s too difficult to set up, or the friends you want to talk to are on different services. As a result, a few months ago Facebook started working with Skype to bring video calling to the social network."

The real problem with video chatting, at least for us, is that the eyes can't really meet between the two viewing parties. Subtly unnerving. Do you stare into the lens? Do you look at the screen? Both? Someone fix this, please. Only then will video chatting become a staple.

Anyway, watch Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg make the announcement at KQED News.