So, last week, after growing tired of seeing the term “chatroulette” mentioned over and over and over and over again on facebooks and the twitters (and needing something besides fbook to procrastinate with as I finish my MFA thesis), I googled it, and found out that “chatroulette.com” is, according to Wikipedia (who else?):
“a website that pairs random strangers for webcam-based conversations. Visitors to the website randomly begin an online chat (video, audio and text) with another visitor. At any point, either user may leave the current chat by initiating another random connection.”
So last Wednesday night at about midnight, I hopped on to chatroulette.com. I clicked to enable my camera and microphone and there I was, on my little screen, with another little screen above it, a traditional chat window to the right. I clicked “new game” (and why they call it a “game” is anyone’s guess). I went through maybe a dozen “partners” in a minute or two. Most of them were young guys, clearly looking for something to jerk off to. Something that clearly wasn’t me, as they disappeared one after another. There was one older couple who looked like they were in Europe somewhere, although I can’t remember why, maybe something about the window or kitchen cabinet behind them. They smiled and waved. I waved back, then got nervous, clicked “next.” There was a guy in a wife-beater sitting in his garage listening to hip hop, who gave me a nod, then clicked away. ” I saw a couple of black screens (people playing with the lights off, cheating is what I’d call it), a couple of penises (I’d been warned about the penises), and one actual female human being, who clicked away in what seemed like a fraction of a second.
The whole thing was very unnerving. And while we were all both on camera and microphone, and I could hear people’s music or chatter in the background (one screen was just pointed at an empty living room. Dance music was playing. I think someone had forgotten they were on chatroulette and left the room.), no one spoke, although occasionally someone would type in the message box, aka, and I quote, “Wanna fuk?” I think the idea of actually talking was just too unnerving, just too much connection to a complete stranger at a moment’s notice. If you ever try chatroulette, here’s something to remember: If you minimize the chatroulette window but don’t close it, and you’re still logged in, don’t forget, people can still see you even though you’re not seeing them!
Chatroulette is incredibly bizarre. Chatroulette the kind of thing that Miranda July is probably kicking herself for not thinking of when she made “Me and You and Everyone We Know.” Chatroulette is just totally whack, as the kids say (circa 1988, anyway).
So, where do the Jonas Brothers come in?
Gosh, this post has gotten a little long. I’ll tell y’all about that part tomorrow.
(insert huge winky emoticon)
