General Tips
The very first thing to consider when trying to get your family to use mobile video calling is their hardware. If they don’t have a phone that’s capable of sending video, that’s going to make things difficult, and you’ll probably want to look at getting them upgraded before you go any further. It is worth noting though that they can still participate in video calls, but they won’t be sending video; to the people talking to them, it’ll be just a voice conversation.
In some cases getting your family onto video chat services will require them to create a new account. I’ve already told you something of the difficulties I have encountered here. It seems like such a simple matter, but here are some things you should bear in mind.
If your relative has several email addresses, this will be a prime area for confusion. Make sure that both of you know which address the account was created with.
Make sure the password for the account works, and that your relative will be able to use it.
Most of the problems I run into revolve around these two points. Password recovery can be a huge source of pain, confusion and frustration, and may lead less tech-savvy people to abandon the account entirely rather than deal with it. You know what’s less secure than an account with a weak password? An account with a weak password and that the owner never uses, so be particularly careful of point #2.
It’s important to keep in mind, too, that we the citizens of the Internet have built up an innate familiarity with how software works. We have a sort of language of iconography, an expectation of functionality, that people outside of our world don’t share. It’s very difficult sometimes to remember that, and to get frustrated when you’re trying to explain how an app works to someone who just doesn’t seem to understand the easiest of things.
The best way I’ve found to get people used to these things is to use it with them a few times in a short period of time, say a few days or so, and get them to do it on their own too, instead of relying on you. With a smartphone, that’s pretty easy; just get them to practice a bit while they’re out, and go over it again with them if they’re still not comfortable with it later.
Now let’s get on to some specific apps.