As social media continues to grow and connected devices become more ubiquitous in everyday life, video chatting is starting to become a primary method of communication. As such, the market for video chatting applications is booming and with good reason. A good majority of video chatting programs, like Skype, are free to use. Paid services like calling landlines and mobile phones are available as well. They're also all very easy to use.

Unless you have a really bad hangover or a black eye, why wouldn't you choose to video chat with your friends, family and business partner(s)? Texting and email may be quicker forms of communication, but they're very impersonal. 

Skype is probably the most well known video chatting application. But it's been around since 2003 and, despite some cosmetic changes, has stayed largely the same. I'm not saying Skype is bad, far from it, but newer programs have matched and surpassed Skype is some way or another. So what are some alternatives you should look into? 

FaceTime is a great alternative to Skype. It works with every new Apple computer and iDevice purchase. With Macintosh computers becoming more and more prevalent at home and in the workplace, FaceTime is everywhere. How do you use it? You'll need access to your Apple ID and a solid internet connection. Then just fire up the FaceTime app and connect with other Mac, iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone users.

Not an Apple fan? Well, if you have a Google+ account then you have full access to Google Hangouts. Google Hangouts is great for multi-person video chats. Each hangout member can see the other in full-screen or a smaller thumbnail viewer.

Another great service is ooVoo and like Google+ you can talk to multiple people (up to 12) at one time.

A popular Skype alternative is VSee. VSee is a self-described video conference and screen sharing application.

Perhaps your interested in adding video chat functionality to your website or smartphone application? TokBox is the perfect application to suit your needs. It's an open platform, meaning that anyone and everyone can use it.

Which video chatting application do you currently use? Would you consider switching to these alternatives? Let me know in the comments section below.