Chatroulette is a way to stop time, waiting. A perfectly instant jolt of the unfiltered internet. The addictive boundlessness of the internet itself is brutally reduced to a demographic experience. There is one single young male after another, each overstimulated by his perpetual anticipation. The ultimate promise that Chatroulette delivers on is fact that the internet has made everything possible at any moment, while denaturing personal experience in a consciously impure way.

From my view, it seems that the majority of the boys/men on the site are searching for something sexual, which most would consider deviant. There are plenty of images of male torsos, abdomens and hand-throttled cocks to elucidate this. The view of man as predator is nothing new but here we are presented with a new structure: an instant one-on-one that can begin, progress, and end quickly and anonymously. Just as the internet has made information on any subject almost too available, using Chatroulette in this context has the promise of a quick climax. That someone’s physical looks blatantly determine whether or not they are worth talking to is one of the harsh realities of using the site, but is also nothing particularly revelatory if you’ve ever been to a bar.

The endless procession of utterly glazed users is blinding. That they can seem simultaneously depraved and endearing is one of the sites many human graces. We are forced to accept ourselves – physically watching our own interactions in real time. There are moments of gentle shyness, universal awkwardness and plenty of honest intrigue. I shared a long silent moment (10 seconds or so – a Chatroulette eternity) with a shirtless man who appeared uncannily like an older version of myself.

I don’t agree that spending time on Chatroulette is not useful or productive as it is now. It seems that Andrey is very succinct and in tune. He created the site so that he could use it. The site is by its very nature as untenable as virtual communication itself. At this moment, Chatroulette is a cross-section of the core of the internet, and the fact that it has gained its most persistent traction in the US is probably one reason why you see so much masturbating. It is both a cause and symptom of the overwhelming available stimuli in our culture. Chatroulette and the internet as a whole give each user a limitless audience. The profound intensity of the experience comes from the lack of performers.