Chatroulette, the new site that lets you chat with random webcam users from all over the globe, is all the rage on the Intertubes right now. And much of the buzz is about how creepy and decidedly NSFW it is. Apparently the bulk of the users right now are dudes masturbating, people wearing scary masks, and teens and college kids dancing or giving you the middle finger. It's like the early "anything goes" days of the Internet, before the Yahoos and Net Nannys came in to make everything neat and tidy.
I spent about five minutes on Chatroulette before running away in terror. (It's not the half-naked dudes, it's the dudes in scary monster masks.) But it's also an intriguing concept: don't want to chat with the random stranger the site connects you to? Click "next," and fate instantly connects you to another cam. And while Chatroulette is a bit of a no man's land right now (well, more of a "no woman's" land actually), I can't help but think that the concept (in a more SFW fashion) could possibly be the future of online dating. We're already using Skype and YouTube in our everyday lives. Could Chatroulette, with the right policing and organization, help to bring back video dating?
While everything else about the Internet has progressed, online dating has remained pretty much unchanged since the early days of AOL Personals and Nerve. You fill out a profile, and surf other profiles. And that's....basically it. Sure, sites like eHarmony or OK Cupid claim to have scientifically proven formulas for finding your soulmate, and will occasionally adapt to new trends by adding things like IM or status updates. But, really, it's still no different than the old days of trolling the personal column in the newspaper hoping to meet Mr. or Mrs. Right-- you're still just reading about the potential love of your life. Isn't it time that online dating went Web 2.0?
What if there was a site, like Chatroulette, that let you randomly chat with webcam users in your area? (And I don't mean in a porn-y way.) You could filter by location, age, and interests, just like on a dating site. If someone was away from their cam, you could view a prerecorded video about the person and leave them a message or comment. And if you aren't interested, you click "next." Think of the time you'd save with an entirely video-based dating site: you could actually see and talk to someone before meeting in person. Not to mention how much more you'd learn about the person by chatting cam to cam, as opposed to simply reading a profile.
Plus, it would speed up the whole online dating process. My number one piece of advice to anyone who is interested in online dating is always, "get offline as fast as possible." Between contacting the person on the site, then emailing back and forth, IMing, talking on the phone, etc., online dating gets to be a long process. Sometimes all the back-and-forth causes potential relationships to fizzle before they've even begun. There's also the problem of the chemistry you have over email and IM evaporating once you meet in the real world. Chatting over webcam could help with the initial "getting to know you" stage, and provide a better indicator of your potential chemistry.
Sure, there are problems with my brilliant, sure to be money-making idea. For one, face to face rejection over cams could be rough. But is it any different than looking at your "who's viewed me" section on Match or OK Cupid and wondering why he viewed your profile, but didn't write? So while Chatroulette is only for the adventurous right now, it could be a sign of things to come. Right now, it's the latest Internet craze that we'll all probably be sick of in three months. But in the future, clicking "next" could bring you face to face with the person of your dreams. (Who hopefully won't be wearing a scary mask.)
I spent about five minutes on Chatroulette before running away in terror. (It's not the half-naked dudes, it's the dudes in scary monster masks.) But it's also an intriguing concept: don't want to chat with the random stranger the site connects you to? Click "next," and fate instantly connects you to another cam. And while Chatroulette is a bit of a no man's land right now (well, more of a "no woman's" land actually), I can't help but think that the concept (in a more SFW fashion) could possibly be the future of online dating. We're already using Skype and YouTube in our everyday lives. Could Chatroulette, with the right policing and organization, help to bring back video dating?
While everything else about the Internet has progressed, online dating has remained pretty much unchanged since the early days of AOL Personals and Nerve. You fill out a profile, and surf other profiles. And that's....basically it. Sure, sites like eHarmony or OK Cupid claim to have scientifically proven formulas for finding your soulmate, and will occasionally adapt to new trends by adding things like IM or status updates. But, really, it's still no different than the old days of trolling the personal column in the newspaper hoping to meet Mr. or Mrs. Right-- you're still just reading about the potential love of your life. Isn't it time that online dating went Web 2.0?
What if there was a site, like Chatroulette, that let you randomly chat with webcam users in your area? (And I don't mean in a porn-y way.) You could filter by location, age, and interests, just like on a dating site. If someone was away from their cam, you could view a prerecorded video about the person and leave them a message or comment. And if you aren't interested, you click "next." Think of the time you'd save with an entirely video-based dating site: you could actually see and talk to someone before meeting in person. Not to mention how much more you'd learn about the person by chatting cam to cam, as opposed to simply reading a profile.
Plus, it would speed up the whole online dating process. My number one piece of advice to anyone who is interested in online dating is always, "get offline as fast as possible." Between contacting the person on the site, then emailing back and forth, IMing, talking on the phone, etc., online dating gets to be a long process. Sometimes all the back-and-forth causes potential relationships to fizzle before they've even begun. There's also the problem of the chemistry you have over email and IM evaporating once you meet in the real world. Chatting over webcam could help with the initial "getting to know you" stage, and provide a better indicator of your potential chemistry.
Sure, there are problems with my brilliant, sure to be money-making idea. For one, face to face rejection over cams could be rough. But is it any different than looking at your "who's viewed me" section on Match or OK Cupid and wondering why he viewed your profile, but didn't write? So while Chatroulette is only for the adventurous right now, it could be a sign of things to come. Right now, it's the latest Internet craze that we'll all probably be sick of in three months. But in the future, clicking "next" could bring you face to face with the person of your dreams. (Who hopefully won't be wearing a scary mask.)
I like your idea. I was actually thinking the same thing. I have met several girls on chatroulette that I seemed to have a connection with but unfortunately they live on the other side of the country. I have never used a dating site but if there was something like chatroulette that matched you with people in the same area I would be willing to try the service. I believe face to face contact, even via a webcam would definitely be a better way to meet people rather than browsing through pictures and reading a description.
Chatroulette is not the future of online dating it is the present of one-night cyber stands.
Exactly what I though once I got over chatroulette's creepiness.
Once you've browed past 6 guys masturbating or asking you to show your tits and seven deserted offices, I'm guessing you can actually have a nice chat with complete strangers. However, once you click next, there is no way to find this person back (a big part of the whole interest, and also of the whole anonimous porn invasion).
Chatroulette is all new and ruled by anarchy, and will disappear once the buzz is over. But as more and more content on the Internet are video based, I'm sure this concept will inspire some interesting stuff in the future.
So I swallowed my pride and made an OK Cupid account. I met a great guy the first night and we've been chatting online for over a week. I want to meet up with him, but should I wait for him to make the first move?
Nick,
I thought of the same idea, and totally agree. I'm a college student, so haven't had much need for a dating site. But my problem with them was: who's going to spend hours browsing profiles and communicating for just a chance at meeting up in person? It makes the whole interaction way too burdensome - too much investment when there's a good chance it won't work out. Honestly, I don't want to spend more than 5-10 minutes corresponding before meeting in person.
I think the creepiness issue could be evaded by some sort of reputation system, although that would kinda sap the fun of the whole complete random and painless dimension to it.
Chat Roulette really only needs a location filter to be used as a dating site at this point. And, the less hoops there are to go through, the more popular it will be.
I've created a chatroulette like site oriented towards online dating. You guys should check it out at www.chitchattur.com. It allows you to filter by gender, distance from your zip code, and age.
What a lovely day for a 3576865! SCK was here
What a lovely day for a 1951257! SCK was here
What a lovely day for a 927533! SCK was here
I met my husband on ChatRoulette! It's a crazy story, but it worked! :)
I was skeptical about the site too, but there are people out there that aren't complete dicks or showing their dicks that actually want to talk to you and get to know you. I've meet a wonderful person on ChatRoulette! And he currently is transfering to be with me.. may sound creepy, but you gotta get over that. He's not anyways. I am currently dating this person and its going great. Couldn't be happier. Biggest Sweetheart I know.