Just spent an hour and a half on Chatroulette
(Whoops.)
Actually, Chatroulette is just so mind-numbingly addictive that we were able to pull away only after my laptop’s battery had died. But, in that ninety-minute span, Justin and I met people from Paris, France; Munich, Germany; Kent, UK; and even Norway (twice)! Notably, we didn’t have a single worthwhile conversation with another American. On the other hand, it did seem like everyone we talked to was online at around 9 or 10 p.m. in their local time zone, so maybe the “friendly” demographic changes around the clock.
That said, I’m now completely convinced that there are so many potential cultural studies just begging to be leveraged from within Chatroulette. Make no mistake: this is a Very Big Thing; the sort of Big Thing that only comes around every couple internet years. The parade of choked chickens aside, I do believe that there’s a legitimate premise in video conferencing with random strangers around the world.
By far the most interesting aspect of Chatroulette is that every conversation is truncated. Because clicking “Next” to advance to another chat partner is so forcibly ingrained in the user’s behavior, there’s no opportunity to have any sort of meaningful exchange of words or ideas. In other words, by the time you get past “Where are you from?” and “What time is it there?” and finally, “What’s your name?,” one of you is usually already saying “Nice talking!” or “Take care” and hovering over the Next button. As soon as you reach the point in a typical conversation where any substance would normally be introduced, the conversation is over. Near-instantaneously.
The direct implication is that eventually every conversation is perceived as meaningless from the outset, and instead, each encounter becomes a study in attention. For me, this is a fascinating example of how the attention-deficit disorder we are beginning to associate with the internet could be transcribed onto a face-to-face encounter with another human being. Historically, web cams have been used to facilitate meaningful communication between close friends and family members where distance is prohibitive. Now—with Chatroulette—web cams are being used to facilitate surface conversations between complete strangers, in an un-patrolled realm of the internet where anything goes.
I’m really excited to see Chatroulette evolve: what academics are able to discover, what lawsuits are filed, what governments get involved, and what people end up taking away from it. It’s a fascinating place with lots of possibilities.
All that said, I still haven’t gathered the nerve to go on alone.
