Blog Assignment #3: Chatroullete

The last time I went on Chatroullete was in 2009, and I never once went on it by myself. It was always with a group of people, and we treated it as a complete novelty. I don't think I ever had a conversation with somebody that lasted more than 30 seconds, and anything that was said was unsubstantial. This time around, I was by myself and with the expectation that my experience would be the same as the last time. However, this was not the case at all, and I instead had meaningful and insightful conversation with people around the world.
I met a college girl from Bogota Colombia named Sara, who spoke perfect English, and we had a conversation that lasted nearly two hours. In that time I learned the political climate of Bogota, cultural youth movements in South America that sprouted from a music scene, the educational system in Colombia, and the unique interests of a peer in a part of the world I have never visited. I also talked at length with a man from China, who wanted to know a great deal about what life was like in the United States, and we also talked about the current state of North Korea, and how many Chinese people feel about it. I also talked with a college student from Florida, who had received a full-ride scholarship to play soccer there. She was unimpressed with the general culture of the student body and had trouble making friends, which was why she was on Chatroullete, in order to have interesting conversation.
I did run into the infamous serial masturbators, which was just as unfortunate as I remembered it to be. But that proved to be more of a background annoyance once I accumulated more and more meaningful conversations. These lonely guys might instantaneously deter one from using this site, and cut one's experience short. However, if one ignores or tunes them out, Chatroullete can surprisingly be a place to learn from and interact with actual people. Not only people, but people in places that before seemed impossibly far away, which are made to feel a little closer through interaction and conversation. Of course many people find themselves too offended by aggressive nudity to ever consider using this website, which is understandable. But if one is interested in genuine interaction with all kinds of people from around the world, the potential is most certainly there.