Facebook for journalists: recording audio interviews from new video chat feature

Facebook's new video chat feature left some journalists, like Al Jazeera correspondent Dima Khatib, underwhelmed. "If I have Skype why would I want to Skype on facebook?" she wondered on Twitter. (I also puzzled over the video launch: one of the first features I disabled in Facebook for the signal-to-noise ratio was the chat).

But it may be useful: as we reported in our tip sheet for reporters using Facebook, Laura Amico from Homicide Watch said that some of the victims’ families that she connects with prefer to talk with her via Facebook Chat instead of over the phone.

The video chat feature may give reporters a way to establish rapport and conduct interviews that might not be possible otherwise. Keep in mind that you can only call your Friends (another reason to establish a public page and a private profile).

Journalism.co.uk suggests using Audio Hijack Pro for Macs or one of these recorders for Windows. Once the recorder is installed and the Facebook video chat feature downloaded, then set the ‘default system input’ button in Audio Hijack and click record. You'll be able to view and edit the MP3 or AIFF file.