Image from Dangerous Minds

Chatroulette, the fascinating new Web video chat service from 17-yr old Russian wunderkind Andrey Ternovskiy, is rapidly taking the Internets by storm.  Whether you think Chatroulette is an uncensored mess with unseen potential or it’s just the best thing going right now, it’s only a matter of time before everybody is talking about it.  With that in mind, I felt like conducting some informal surveys directly on Chatroulette to see what it’s all about.

I found that, despite a reputation for being a phallus-plagued 4chan-esque Internet backwater, most users are looking to Chatroulette for a fun, genuine chat experience with a member of the opposite sex.

Before I dive in to the numbers, in short, Chatroulette is a Web vidchat service akin to the non-video chat service Omegle.  Like Omegle, Chatroulette matches random webcam users with other random webcam users, no login, prior criteria, or preferences required.  Already, Chatroulette is producing craigslist “Missed Connections” and some pretty hilarious “Chatroulette Reaction” screencaps (NSFW!).  It appears that the general consensus around the blogosphere is that, like much of the Internet, lewd behavior and exhibitionism is the modus operandi of the site.  Following are some non-scientific figures I’ve produced to both challenge and support such conceptions.

Chatroulette Late Night Usage

On 15 February 2010, I conducted an informal survey of Chatroulette to find out how and who is using it.  Beginning at 10:40 pm PT and with my webcam fully enabled and my face completely visible (it should be noted that I am a white male in my late twenties, and I was wearing a backwards baseball cap in a fully-lit space), I engaged in the service, making approx. 100 connections (webcam only to webcam only, 97 in all) during a one hour-long period.  Occasionally, (meaning roughly 5 failed attempts) I held up a sign indicating I was conducting a survey, but this appeared to be less effective in drawing participation.  Instead, with each attempted connection I introduced myself verbally, asking various survey questions to whoever would respond.  Certainly, this survey was incredibly non-scientific! Only 8 useful connections (as in, chats concluding in actual survey completion) occured, but every connection made provided actual visual data, allowing a majority of the data below to be recorded.  Nevertheless, this data is prone to a heavy degree of error, although I feel the numbers validate some generally useful observations.

The overwhelming majority of Chatroulette users are male.  Big surprise!?

Average user age (claimed) – 22 yrs old

Of the 8 useful connections made (meaning, concluded in an actual survey taking place), accounting for roughly 11 answering respondents claiming certain ages, the mean age was 22, while the mode was 21.  By my cursory observations, most users appeared to be of legal age for using the site (16 yrs old according to the site’s disclaimer).

For all the talk of penises and masturbation plaguing Chatroulette, a surprising number of users appeared fully-clothed and with fully visible faces, apparently intent on chatting as opposed to displaying a lewd act.  However, as you’ll see in the chart below, it appears that users are looking for a specific kind of person to chat with.  I was “skipped” (meaning, the user on the other end rapidly disconnected or hit “Next”) approx. 75 percent of the time.  As noted above, I did nothing to disfigure my appearance or shock other users, attempting to look as plain as possible.

Because the majority of Chatroulette late night users were male, and because I was male, the high-volume of “skipped” connections I experienced generally indicates that Chatroulette is being used for chat encounters with the opposite sex.

Chatroulette begins when a user clicks “Play” – and I find this terminology to be particular apropos because it really is a game just to find one person who will speak to you.  Of my 97 connections, only 8 resulted in actual chats.  Because “skips” happened so immediately and frequently, I can’t venture to guess that I was being ignored because I was conducting a survey, as most users did not take the time to find out because I wasn’t female.

Chatroulette is popular.  During my informal survey I noted the amount of users on-line to fluctuate between 20,000 and 30,000.

25% of respondents indicated that they use Chatroulette on a daily basis, with the same percentage reporting using it “rarely” or for the first time that night.  12.5% indicated that they use the service once a month, with the remainder indicating they use it several times a week.

Most respondents were from the US, with one being from the UK and one on-camera group from Canada.

1 Chileno who blocked his or her camera requested that I show them my “tits”.  Apparently my facial scruff and clearly visible male face was not enough to dissuade them.

1 user was clearly under the influence of alcohol, another respondent was smoking a bong and blowing smoke in to the camera the entire time we chatted.

Survey responses to “Favorite thing about Chatroulette”:

“Meeting random people”

“Anonymity” (user typed this out because she did not know how to pronounce it, and was thankful that I uttered it allowed for her so she could learn how.

“It’s weird”

“Meeting people from different countries”

“All the crazy sh-t”

“The concept is awesome”

“Nudity” (mentioned by female respondent… Canadian female respondent)

Survey responses to “Least favorite thing about Chatroulette”:

“Masturbating men” (near-universal response)

“Penises” or variants of the term

“Old men” (mentioned by a female respondent)

“Masturbating pedophiles” (mentioned by a male respondent)

Conclusions

Chatroulette is living up to its reputation as a service full of obvious random encounters and voyeurism. However, Chatroulette, even late at night, is not entirely chock-full of perpetual visages of male genitalia and annoying requests for “boobs” and “tits”.  In fact, it would appear that Chatroulette is being used by young people to find other young people of the opposite sex to simply video chat with.  Of course, that may lead to “boobs”, “tits”, or otherwise exposed male genitalia later on, but that denies any other less malignant possibilities.

If anything, like most social media, Chatroulette reflects the real, echoing actual life experiences while eliminating restrictions of time and geography.  Before you pass on Chatroulette, take another look at it’s more productive branding, messaging and communicative possibilities.

I should note that, all things consider, this survey was conducted late at night, so a daytime and primetime (early evening) survey will also need to be conducted, as well as mirror surveys conducted by a female considering the extreme male-to-female ratio of users.  I encourage anyone and everyone to study the matter further, and do a much better job than non-scientific me!

COMING SOON – Chatroulette day time usage, Chatroulette primetime usage

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