Chat Roulette: The Creepy Internet Meme

This website chatroulette is another Internet meme in which you are randomly paired up with another webcam on the site. If you are not enjoying the conversation with one person, you can simply hit the “next” button to move onto another randomly chosen webcam. While the idea seems intriguing, being able to talk to another essentially anonymous person somewhere else in the world, after going onto the website I realized why this is another deviant Internet meme which should not exist.

I stumbled upon this website the morning after a party with my friends Evan and Gigi. They had already seen the website and we decided since we had nothing better to do we would use it. While we talked with some people across seas and at home, I slowly began to realize how the website was another Internet phenomenon designed to waste our time. At any point in time, there are around 4,000 users on the website. Out of these 4,000 probably only a third of them are interested in actually talking while the other two thirds are doing deviant and strange things. Luckily I had Evan to warn me that many men will be naked looking for girls, because for whatever reason they get a kick out of it, so I was spared the horrifying experience of seeing an old guy’s penis. In addition, the site is has a disproportionate number of guys on there, most whom are looking for girls to flash them.

But I have not even mentioned the best part. What I found after doing some research about the site is that there are internet programs such as ManyCam which allow people to add graphics to their video. This creates a new dimension of absurdness as people can now take pictures of others on the site, post a “looping video,” and basically tries anything to get a reaction out of others.

The reason for this post? Well as a psychology major I was curious as to how this would affect people’s interactions with others in real social situations. Although no conclusive studies have been conducted which illustrate the effects of social networking sites such as Facebook and its effects on social interaction, I propose that if sites like Chat Roulette become popular they will drastically change the way people interact. From my initial introduction to Chat Roulette to the moment right now, there are about 9,000 people online (at this moment) which suggest that the site is growing in popularity. While in real social interactions we have to learn to get along with a multitude of people, the site will condition people to simply hit the “next” button if they do not like the person they are meeting. I have seen many people that at a first glance, they immediately hit the “next” button because I did not fit their ideal “chat partner.” Thus when these people are let into the real world, they have been conditioned to this style of social interaction and will have limited to no intrapersonal skills when dealing with less-than-desirable people. However it’s a necessary part of life – we all have met students, teachers, employers, friends of friends, or others who we do not necessarily like but have to be able to get along with them for the achievement of higher goals.

While I might be wrong about interactions online affecting one’s real social life, I still firmly believe that sites such as these will affect the development of personal skills for the worse.

Plus that site is just creepy.

Second blog for English 102 completed.