Chatroulette – The Very Wild West Of The Webcam World…
Disclaimer: The Chatroulette site below can be EXTREMELY NSFW so I purposely didn’t link to the site until the end. I strongly suggest people read what the site is about before randomly visiting unprepared. Even after reading about it and going in aware of the content, I was still quite shocked at what I came across at times…and I’m not easily shocked…
I had heard about Chatroulette a few weeks ago but never had a chance to check it out until this weekend. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget the experience. I had thought that Ustream and Justin.tv played loose and fast with online video and webcam ‘community rules’ but nothing quite tops Chatroulette’s unfiltered and uncensored chaos. So, if you’re into the randomness of personal webcam videos from people around the globe, then you’ll probably enjoy the surreal experience that is Chatroulette.
In brief, Chatroulette randomly connects people’s webcams from all over the world. So it’s kind of like a modernized version of speed-dating/meetings with integrated chat. As you connect to another person, either they (or you) can click next to be randomly connected to someone else. And that’s where things can tend to veer into something out of a Tarantino film (think Pulp Fiction.) The site also says it’s screening obscene and pornographic content but there’s quite a bit on there…almost 1 out of every 10 random cams by my count.
Sometimes wacky and more often disturbing , Chatroulette’s appeal comes from the quick connection via video to anybody worldwide. My 1st experience with Chatroulette went something like this:
- Connect to someone from Korea. Exchange ‘Hi’s” then moved on…
- Connect to somebody who appeared to be from the Middle East…that person clicked ‘next’ before I could type anything…
- Connect to somebody holding a Kermit the Frog puppet with Jergen’s Lotion. You can figure out the rest. A quick “NEXT’ on my part…
- Connect to somebody dressed in a Cat outfit. Too weird for me…NEXT!
(Image courtesy of Buzzfeed as I was too shocked at the time to take a screengrab. I guess I’m also not the only one that’s come across this ‘cat person’ who I’m assuming is Chatroulette’s first “celebrity”. If you want to see some more images of Chatroulette, you can visit Buzzfeed which has some of the better ones – though some are slightly NSFW.)
Webcam usage is growing with Gen X and Gen Y so it’s only a matter of time until webcam chatting or videoconferencing becomes the defacto method of communication for these generations – I’d argue it’s already here. Also, from a technical perspective, this site is very well done as everything functions in a Flash interface so no need for any plug-ins or software downloads (Yay!) The webcam feeds switch out almost instantaneously with little to no loadtimes in between. Even more amazing considering it was created by a teen from Russia (see below..)
Now with all that said, Chatroulette is a great experiment and idea with worldwide social connections via webcam. I found it oddly appealing that every click of the NEXT button could lead me to someone from any corner of the globe. However, the site does need to put better safeguards in place to deliver a cleaner experience. The majority of the sites users seem to be college aged kids (18-24) but with no age screening and quite a bit of objectionable content, control measures need to be put in place sooner rather than later.
For more on Chatroulette there’s a good overview of the site from Fast Company, an interview with the 17 year old creator in the NY Times and a very detailed article on a writer’s experience with Chatroulette from NYMag.
If you are brave enough to jump right into Chatroulette let me know what you think in the comments below or on Twitter @Kobrakai. Keep in mind again that this site can be EXTREMELY NSFW so you have been warned…
UPDATE!!!
It turns out I’m not the only one to come across Kermit the Frog either on Chatroulette as this image is making the rounds now…
