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Chat Roulette

In depth: Is there dosh or depravity in online phenomenon Chatroulette?

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

May 10, 2010 | 8 min read

Some 10 million people now use Chatroulette every month as the phenomenon brings people together across the planet infront of webcams to chat (or do something far less socially acceptable.) The Drum asks where Chatroulette fits into the social media scene and how could it be monetised?

Armed only with a webcam, broadband connection and an open mind you too can be chatting to assorted oddballs in an unfiltered face off in which there are no rules, laws or limitations. Chatroulette allows users to make random connections with complete strangers providing the ability to both see and speak with persons unknown the world over, a window thus opened participants have the option of either speaking to one another, “entertaining” one another or flicking over to the next person/victim.

Base desires seek outlet as people look to acquire notoriety in an escalating game of one upmanship as participants look to outdo one another, from fake suicides, masturbating, nudity, strange costumes, puppets and wacky challenges such as eating a page of your favourite book, or screaming to your mum that you’re being murdered. Well, it's better than an episode of Neighbours anyway.

Remarkably the site has grown from a paltry 500 users in November 2009 to a hefty ten million visitors a month, a period of breakneck expansion which has proven irresistible to tech moguls at the forefront of a new cold war between American and Russian suitors over the internet's hottest property, each vying to make 17 year old Andrey Ternevoskiy Russia’s richest schoolboy.

So far the Russian teen has spurned their advances, denouncing offers of around $1m as “not serious,” but should Ternevoskiy lower his iron curtain and sell out to capitalism, is he wise to hold out when Google won’t even release ad payments to persons under the age of 18? The Drum asked players in the design community for their thoughts.

Jamie Sterling, a provider of ongoing SEO, SEM and online tech management is in thrall with the concept stating: “It’s certainly a novel idea and one of the most creative uses for modern technology I’ve seen recently. While it’s a virtually unregulated environment and prone to slightly ‘quirky’ users like every niche on the internet, as a tool – and I use that term lightly – it’s a great way to pass a few hours, meet new people or make a bit of a name for yourself as an individual.”

The internet is a notorious dead field for those on the hunt to pull a profit with many bright minds and great ideas coming unstuck on a medium where few splash the cash. Sterling reckons: “By staying small, using technology which limits the amount of internet bandwidth needed - connecting users directly with each other - and supporting itself via online dating website adverts, Chatroulette seems to be doing pretty well for itself.

"There’s a lot to be said for niche ideas like this which are simple ideas, quickly developed, deployed and require little in ongoing costs; as the site expands there’s the possibility for more advertising, brand sponsorship and ‘premium’ accounts giving users more – most likely tying up with the online dating aspect of the service.”

Famously Google were burned financially after purchasing Youtube, thought to be losing millions daily on the upkeep of the expensive service without the ad revenue to support it. Companies remain reluctant to associate with unpredictable and variable quality home grown material, preferring instead to associate with quality assured programming from established broadcasters.

Is the chatroulette model sufficiently different? Sterling thinks so: “While they’re both online video, each service offers their user something very different. Chatroulette and YouTube in their current formats are neither threat nor competition for each other, and it looks unlikely that either would diversify enough to offer features of the other. Chatroulette is never going to be a platform for streaming live video that would rival YouTube and I’d imagine possible investors would be more concerned with being associated with some of the more questionable content on Chatroulette.“

Facebook is one of the high profile suitors linked with the site but Sterling thinks the platform offers a better fit with a distinct and relatively small number of brands who are unperturbed by reduced scope for brand placement and consumer interaction in an unregulated environment: “The reality is that the ‘wild west’, especially in our world of web 2.0 will now generally be comprised of user generated content and belong firmly to the community no matter which service holds the content.

“The other thing is that with the new legal issues around individuals' usage of the internet still being defined, some consumers will be frightened off exploring certain content, even if their own intentions are innocent, and for that reason alone the list of potential advertisers again changes immediately.

“The current format of Chatroulette doesn’t lend itself to a great corporate model – would you pay to talk to strangers? However there are ways that the service could adapt to offer more advertising opportunities or premium features which may get customers to subscribe. While it would be pleasant (perhaps...) to use a Chatroulette-type concept to get a more personal feel next time I have to make a tech support call, I can’t see this sort of idea gaining huge momentum as a professional tool.”

Dan Neville, digital strategy director at Fuse Digital Ltd, says: “Chatroulette is the current media darling and over the last two months has prompted a huge amount of debate on a large number of issues, but first and foremost is it a good idea? Supporters say yes, it’s (currently) unencumbered by much of the moderation / controls that many early adopters see as an over-policing of our online social interactions and it’s perceived to offer anonymity, whilst at the same time allowing us to feed our inner-voyeur.

" But it is for these very same reasons that it is difficult to see how the site, in its current guise, can deliver a viable, ‘mainstream’ commercial return. 99% of brands will see it as just too risky and who can blame them.”

An unofficial survey undertaken by TechCrunch found that 89% of users were male, 47% American and 13% perverts . With 1 in 8 interactions X-rated (or worse), with that rising to close to 1 in 4 in the UK! – Poor odds for those seeking a meaningful conversation. Neville says: “Given the significant backlash from brand owners around inappropriate online advertising placement, we’d be mad to think that Chatroulette will see a gold rush from brands looking to capitalise on the next big thing. “

Neville adds that despite all this there are some, edgier, youth orientated brands for whom Chatroulette could offer a PR / viral opportunity… but only whilst its media profile remains high.

Singling out French Connection’s recent Chatroulette campaign where the fashion retailer added a bit of spice to their ‘The Man, The Woman’ campaign the clothing provider ran a competition encouraging people to go to the site and secure a ‘real life date’ with a ‘real life girl’, generating significant coverage in the process, as a first mover and augmenting the traditional campaign where the fashion retailer used an exaggeratedly French narrator to state ‘This is the Woman’, ‘She is knowing we are watching’, to push a new clothing range.

Neville warns however: “Of course Chatroulette could, in an attempt make the site more viable for marketers, bring in a slew of controls and filters to clean up the site, but then it would lose the spirit of the ‘old wild west’ that has delivered its overnight‘ success. This really is the nub of the problem for Chatroulette, as the very same reasons that have made the site an overnight media success will prevent it from becoming a long term commercial success.”

So far Ternevoskiy has been lucky with his creation but as all players of Russian roulette know that luck only lasts so long. Perhaps Chatroulette should look to capitalise on what is a remarkable success while media attention is at a maximum, for as quickly for just as the service has risen to prominence it could just as easily disappear, victim of the latest fad, stricter competition and regulation.

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