All the more reason for kids to be friending only people they know offline: Facebook just added audio to its chat feature. By installing a free app called Bobsled by T-Mobile, users can make it so Facebook chat is like talking on the phone. T-Mobile’s new Bobsled service lets PC and Macintosh users make calls between Facebook pages, add voice to any Facebook Chat and leave voice messages and wall posts on Facebook, reports a USATODAY blog. Reporter Jon Swartz says no download is required, but when I went to the Bobsled page on Facebook, though I found no product description or terms of use, I found a “Jump on!” button that immediately downloads the app to one’s computer hard drive. So our intrepid young Facebook users will feel free to do that, probably, if they see an ad linking to Bobsled. It’s just an enhancement to text chat on computers, but it adds to the momentum toward a total blend of mobile- and computer-based socializing – where everybody’s headed, including our children. “Eventually, the service will be available to iPhone and iPad users,” Swartz adds, reporting that some 250 million FB members (I think that’s about 40%) access the site with their phones.
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