Article Tags

“chatroulette”

2010. A year of the same old Princeton happenings–bitching about Dean’s Date, bitching about grade deflation, bitching about bad FML posts. But there were a few things that we think set Oh-Ten apart: Robot Unicorn Attack, Supreme Court dominance, and the demise of Four Loko.

Here’s what happened in 2010:

  • January: There were exams. There are always exams. For the four years you are at Princeton, you will never have a January that isn’t at least partly awful, on account of exams. However: Dean’s Date liveblog. —DCW
  • February: Chatroulette was just starting to become a campus phenomenon, and by phenomenon, we mean something that people would do at parties when they were drunk. In February, we brought you the story of three friends who ran into each other on Chatroulette–while 16,216 other users from around the world were also chatting and nexting each other. -AW
    All month, we crossed our fingers and it happened: February 10th – Snow Day! With classes cancelled, Princetonians’ inner five-year-olds came out to play. The day unfolded like a story — like Beginner’s Reading story from Highlights For Children where nothing bad ever happens ever and instead the characters perform one wholesome recreational activity after another until it’s time to go home and get warm and Mom’s made hot chocolate with marshmallows oh yeah! It was simple. It was uncool. It was so, so wonderful. It was: Snowball fight in the Junior Slums! Quick now sled down Whitman Hill! Hide out in an igloo! Build a snowman on Alexander Beach! How could you not go to bed that night with a smile? — DCW
  • Continue reading…

    You’ll have to pardon my insistence on Chatroulette. I’m just consistently amazed at this… thing, and the interactions it produces. What’s even better is that some people have made such a connection to people they’ve met on Chatroulette that they’ve actually friended each other on Facebook (not to mention posted missed connections about lost opportunities on Craigslist).

    source: funpics.classicfun.ws

    source: funpics.classicfun.ws

    A female student who chose to remain anonymous (we’ll call her Flustered Flo ’12), told us about her own experiences getting to know some ‘rouletters.

    Flo heard about Chatroulette through some friends and thought it was hilarious the first few times she did it.

    “I generally don’t tell people who I am or where I am, until I know who they are and where they’re from,” she said. “I’ve only ever told one person that I was from Princeton, and we found out that we knew some people in common. That made me feel safer.”

    She’s even Facebook friended two college students she met on the ‘lette and has kept in contact with them through messages.

    That’s not to say it was all rosy, though… Because, you know, things get complicated in matters of the heart.

    Continue reading…

    So you’re all caught up on the cultural phenomenon that is Chatroulette. And I’ve explained just how Princeton works in the mix. About how people think of Princetonians as these people quite literally locked away in an ivory tower, which is awkward because, do they even make towers made of ivory anymore?

    But anyway, you’re meeting all these strange people and you think to yourself, Wouldn’t it be weird if I came across someone I knew? Someone… from Princeton?

    “Oh hey ‘that guy’ in precept” — NEXT. “Yikes, girl who was sloshed last night and sang ‘Don’t Stop Believin” at the top of her lungs” — NEXT. “Professor?” — NEXT.

    Not so for [REDACTED!] ’11 and Libby van Beuren ’11, and Matt de Jonge ’10. Yes, apparently these three (friends, Chatroulette’ing on separate accounts with no idea the other was doing so) found each other. On the site. When 16,216 users from all around the world were logged on.

    From the comfort of Foulke, van Beuren and [REDACTED!] Next’d their way through their first awkward minutes of Chatroulette when…

    Continue reading…

    source: twinfactory.co.uk

    source: twinfactory.co.uk

    By now you’ve probably heard of Chatroulette, and if not, well, get out from under that rock and let’s have a quick talk.

    Chatroulette connects you and random other users of the site through your webcams. You click play and it pairs you up, and once you see the other person, you have the option of “nexting” them to start the process again. You can wave, you can have a conversation, you can yell at the other person – the magic and virtue of the whole thing is that you can press “Next” and chances are the person is gone from your life forever.

    Which means you see a lot of weird and creepy stuff on the Chatroulette.  Namely, male genitalia. Lots of them.

    Once you get past the gross stuff, though, it really is an Internet phenomenon and just “feels important” for some kind of zeitgeist-y reason. Not to mention it’s amazing to watch your friends develop their Chatroulette skills, from feeling awkward about seeing random people, to chatting with them eventually, to then mustering up the courage to shout or bark at them or just generally be as goofy as possible on the thing.

    And doing it from Princeton, well, adds an interesting dimension.

    Continue reading…