Video Chatting on a Mac?

So I just got a macbook and I was super excited to video chat with my friends. However, when I open iChat it just brings me to my AIM buddy list. I think that that's correct, but I'm not sure what to do from here. How do I add contacts? Is it the same thing as Skype? Or should I just use Skype? (PS: If it's Skype....how do I use that? Sorry, I'm just not tech savvy. A huge thanks to anyone who could help!