Skype was first released in 2003 – and as of 2014 it holds a 40 % share of the internet call market . It is available in 108 languages and allows account holders to chat via video across devices including computers , tablets , smartphones and the Xbox One as well as smart watches . Skype calls can also be made to regular telephones . Some of Skype ’ s services , such as one-to-one video chat , are free of charge and instant messaging and file sharing are also available . Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for $ 8.5bn and since 2012 , Skype has been powered entirely by Microsoft systems . It is now integrated within Microsoft ’ s products .

Facebook was founded in 2004 and by 2008 had 100mn registered users .

As of June 2017 , 2bn people use the platform which is available in 140 different languages . It is the most popular social network in the US , UK and Canada , but Asian countries have their own equivalents so uptake has been lower – particularly as the site has been blocked in China since 2009 . Facebook has 69 % market penetration is North America and 57 % in Europe . Facebook stores its data in custom-built data centres in the US and Europe . Data is stored on a combination platform with new events stored in log files , which are then pulled out and displayed to users .

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