On March 20, 2007, Jaxtr launched the public beta version of its free widget, which “allows users to connect their personal phone to their digital personality.” Users can put this widget on their favorite social networking sites and blogs such as Blogger, Craigslist, eBay, Facebook, Flickr, Friendster, LinkedIn, LiveJournal, MySpace, YouTube, and Wikipedia. During the three months it spent in private beta (December 14, 2006 - March 20, 2007), Jaxtr was tested by thousands of individuals “from more than 80 countries and included bloggers, real estate agents, lawyers, doctors, customer service agents, public service organizations and others.”

When a user clicks on the widget, they enter their mobile or land-line phone number. They then receive a call on that phone, and once they pick up, Jaxtr calls the phone number provided by the owner of the widget in order to join the two calls. Jaxtr stores voice mails as well, and can be accessed by simply calling into the service. Perhaps the most important feature of Jaxtr is that the phone numbers of all users, both those who initiate and accept calls, are kept private. When calls are made, unique numbers are assigned so that real phone numbers are never shared. And, for the time being, the service is free.

In the past, social networking via the web has been very text-based. Over the last several years, however, talking over the web has become more mainstream and popular. When I think of talking over the web, though, I think of people speaking with individuals who they actually know. I feel like when people make new acquaintances on the internet, they prefer text-based communication, at least at first. Despite the increase in popularity of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) applications such as Skype, I think it will take some time before, if at all, this form of communication overtakes text-based applications such as AOL Instant Messenger.

Unlike Skype, Jaxtr allows individuals to communicate using the physical phone of their choice, versus being constrained by the internet’s speed or the sound quality it allows. Jaxtr presents the opportunity for new new social networks to form, and for weak ties to strengthen. The service allows users to communicate using voice channels while giving them complete anonymity. Whereas before many users associated anonymous communication with text-based channels, Jaxtr allows people to communicate using voice channels while giving them complete anonymity. Furthermore, networking ties between weaker links could be strengthened by using Jaxtr, since it eliminates the need to be tied to your computer in order to speak with someone who before you would only chat with over the internet. Jaxtr preserves the anonymous relationship established online and carries it over to allow for live voice conversation.