It all started when I saw Nicole James’ Facebook status update, “Please try chatroulette if you have not yet”. The next day, Daily Candy tweeted, “You never know when you’ll be asked to show your bra on Chatroulette”. That same night the local newstold me to “beware of Chatroulette”. And that was that. I knew I had totry the latest social phenomenon to hit the Internet for myself.
Before logging on I did a little research, just so I knew exactly what I was in for. The first thing I found was
The 24 Best Chat Roulette Screenshots. After LOLing for 10 minutes, I went to the site and pressed “Play”.
My first encounter was with a really hot guy. Uneasy, not knowing whatto say, and loathing the surreality of it all, I clicked, “Next”.Before I knew it, the side profile of an elderly man with a bald headand a ring of bright white hair appeared. I was scared shitless. Idon’t even talk to old people that I don’t know in real life! How wasthis happening? I closed the tab and decided I would be morecomfortable experiencing this voyeuristic activity with a partner incrime. The next day, after getting over my initial fears (mostly ofencountering perverts and strangers), I recruited my roommate to aid mein this social experiment.
After putting on full faces of makeup, on the off chance that we would
encounter a celebrity,we sat in our living room spinning the metaphorical wheel. If youhaven’t done it, the best way I can describe it is “early 90s chatroommeets Elimidate.”
One by one, we met an array of interesting people, most of whichwere men and many of whom werefrom France. We were only “nexted” once and it was by the one otherwoman that was logged on. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until the last halfhour that we came across themasturbators everyone is talking about. Out of 40 people we met (notincluding: the tent, a live white cat, two different dancing robots anda “Dick 4 Pussy” sign) most seemed pretty normal, albeit this was viavideo chat.
There was the guy from Denver who lived in a studioapartment and hung pots on the wall due to insufficient space. The emoboy from Norway sitting in a dark room just staring back at us. Two frat guys from “The MurderMitten” asking to see our boobs. Danny the hot lab tech from Dallas. The list can go on but thewhole point is that everyone was trying this thing for the same tworeasons: to meet new people and to be entertained. After realizingthat, it wasn’t so scary after all. Once my 60 minutes were up, Iended up with a few new like-minded Facebook friends and got at least20people that were admittedly bored or lonely to laugh and smile.
My experience was better than several other friends that have tried it but I think that’s why it’s called ChatROULETTE. Once you click play you’re taking a gamble. It’s definitely worth a try. I mean, what other time in your life will it be acceptable to opt out of a meeting the minute you get bored, take a break from being you and be “Sophie from Russia”, or watch real, live reality at a moment’s notice?
Daaamn, you got FB friends out of it?