Facebook Chat… Friend or Foe?

I wanted to hear everyone’s thoughts on the newly released facebook chat.

In case you haven’t been on facebook 15 times in the last twelve hours (I know, I have a problem), the chat appears as follows:

Chat docs in the lower right of your facebook window and tells you how many of your friends are online at any given moment. If they’re not online, you can still send them a chat (kind of like Google chat?) but they get it later (kind of like sending them a facebook message and then waiting for a response when they sign on next?). You are also updated on a friend’s facebook status as they change it (kind of like an AIM away message?).

My thoughts: I’m skeptical.

The chat windows look suspiciously Google chat – esque, which I rarely use because I already have several means (facebook messaging, IMing, texting) to get a hold of my friends quickly. I suppose the idea is that it’s unobtrusive enough to run in the background so user’s won’t disable it and make it useless (like the ultra-creepy Beacon project of a few months ago). Then people will slowly get used to the idea and start using it. That has seemed to be the pattern in the past.

It’s true, I was skeptical of mini-feed, additional applications, and several other facebook features that I currently cannot live without. So maybe I should just give up talking about it and welcome Mark Zuckerberg and the facebook overlords into another area of my personal life with open arms.