There are many different commercial web conferencing platforms available for use by educators. There is a range of new and emergent forms of web conferencing which are free.

Many web conferencing platforms have in recent years been referred to as collaborative software for the simple fact that the purpose of the software is to connect people and to enable live discussions or information sharing. These are often confused with social networking technology.

The distinctions between social networking technology and web conferencing sometimes blur as these two types of platform often share features.

The main attribute of web conferencing however, is that a user can easily connect with others by downloading an application onto their computer that enables them to connect with others who have the same application.