One of the Strangest Current Phenomenons on the Web: ChatRoulette, "Nexting" by the Numbers.
An informative and well thought out film on the ins, outs as well as home-made stats on Chat Roulette.
What is it? Weird. Strange. Scary. And according to some people who've tried it, addictive.
New York Magazine had this to say:
"The first time I entered ChatRoulette—a new website that brings you face-to-face, via webcam, with an endless stream of random strangers all over the world—I was primed for a full-on Walt Whitman experience: an ecstatic surrender to the miraculous variety and abundance of humankind. The site was only a few months old, but its population was beginning to explode in a way that suggested serious viral potential: 300 users in December had grown to 10,000 by the beginning of February. Although big media outlets had yet to cover it, smallish blogs were full of huzzahs. The blog Asylum called ChatRoulette its favorite site since YouTube; another, The Frisky, called it “the Holy Grail of all Internet fun.” Everyone seemed to agree that it was intensely addictive—one of those gloriously simple ideas that manages to harness the crazy power of the Internet in a potentially revolutionary way.
The site activates your webcam automatically; when you click “start” you’re suddenly staring at another human on your screen and they’re staring back at you, at which point you can either choose to chat (via text or voice) or just click “next,” instantly calling up someone else."
The NYTimes said:
"Nothing can really prepare you for the latest online phenomenon, Chatroulette.
The social Web site, created just three months ago by a 17-year-old Russian named Andrey Ternovskiy, drops you into an unnerving world where you are connected through webcams to a random, fathomless succession of strangers from across the globe. You see them, they see you. You talk to them, they talk to you. Or not. The site, which is gaining thousands of users a day and lately some news coverage, has a faddish feel, but those who study online vagaries see a glimpse into a surreal future, a turn in the direction of the Internet.
Before you rush off to your computer to try Chatroulette, it is only fair to let you know what you’re getting into. Entering Chatroulette is akin to speed-dating tens of thousands of perfect strangers — some clothed, some not.
The home page is sparse, with two empty boxes — one labeled Stranger, the other, aptly, You. When you press the Play button, your webcam is activated and you are told that Chatroulette is “Looking for a random stranger.” Up pops a live video and you can chat with the person on the other end. Hit Next and you are confronted with a new stranger.
In its simplest form, the site does exactly what its name says — it pulls you into a game of roulette. I used the service for the first time a few weeks ago, and I found it both enthralling and distasteful, yet I kept going back for more."
Given the evidence of most males being "nexted," it might be a fun thing to observe off camera, while getting a good looking female to try.
Though, maybe not.
