Say Goodbye to Skype

Amid the earth-shaking headlines this week, one headline in particular has caught the attention of both students and teachers of English alike: Skype is shutting down. A representative of Microsoft said in a blog post, “We will be retiring Skype in May 2025 to focus on Microsoft Teams.” Like many people, I was a little taken aback by the announcement, having used Skype since its release in the first decade of this century. The platform has enabled me to keep in touch with friends and family, in addition to facilitating countless English lessons with people in different countries. It is indeed exemplary of our globalised world when a British man in Poland can teach English to a French woman in Singapore.

Undoubtedly, Skype has helped to shape modern communications, and it played a particularly important role during the pandemic, when competing platforms like Zoom and Google Meet also kept people connected. The word 'Skype', like 'Google', inevitably became a verb as people began 'skyping' each other back in the 2000s, with 4 billion registered users by 2019. Microsoft Teams has grown in popularity in recent years, so I understand why the company might want to shift its focus. Jeff Teper from Microsoft has said that Skype users can export all their data to the platform for free and enjoy more features. It remains to be seen how many people will take heed.

Soon, the well-known S logo of Skype will disappear from our screens forever. It is time to say 'Sayonara' to the much-loved internet platform, a pioneer in the world of digital communications.

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