ChatRoulette (warning: this is often NSFW) is a site that has caused a lot of buzz over the last week or so.
It’s a webcam site where you login to chat with complete strangers – you are randomly matched with a stranger and you both have the opportunity to find a new person to chat with at anytime.
People tend to quickly click, click, click through the people that they find matched with them until they find someone that they find ‘interesting’. Unless you do something a little interesting, wacky or happen to be an amazingly beautiful person – you tend to get passed over very quickly.
While much has been written about ChatRoulette and whether it is offensive, dangerous and moral – as I was spending a few minutes on it earlier in the week (where I must have been having a bad hair day because I was ignored by 99.9% of people I was matched with) it struck me that what I was watching was a visual of how people increasingly use the web.
Click, click, click.
- They don’t stay till long – they’re always clicking
- They are always looking for the next best thing
- They only pause if they see something that is interesting, intriguing or completely relevant to them
- They are ruthless
- They are impulsive
- They will judge what they see within a split second of arriving on a site
- They rely upon instinct and first impressions
As bloggers – the reality is that people are making these kinds of calls about our blogs every day as they click through to them from different sources. The blank faces that you see scrolling past on ChatRoulette could be the faces of your readers – clicking onto your site, making a quick judgement about your site and what its worth and then in many cases moving on.
PS: after 3 minutes on ChatRoulette and being ignored by 100+ people I decided to experiment. I put on a clown wig, I stuck two CDs to my glasses and put on some 70’s disco music (hopefully no one took a screen shot of me doing this).
The rotation of people I was being matched with slowed down – one in 5 waved – one in 10 even chatted with me.
The take home lesson
- do something different
- be unique and original
- make people look twice
- snap people out of their ‘click click click’ stupor
Do this and you might just make people pause long enough to connect (or you could just make a fool of yourself).
Further Reading: The Power of Uniqueness – 19 Starting Points for Being a Unique Blogger.
Fox News article, “Chatroulette Is ‘Predator’s Paradise,’ Experts Say”: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/03/01/chatroulette-chock-legal-questions-attorneys-say/
This is more important than any of the other stuff we learn on here, really, isn’t it?
None of the SEO, pillar articles, etc will make a lick of difference if we can’t get people to look at our blogs! There’s no point trying to be like our favourite cool blogger (and you see this all the time), be you, be different.
I’ve not heard of chatRoulette yet, but doing something different to stand out really strikes home. I think my site is fairly unique and I have been searching for a way to spice it up and really grab some attention.
Thanks for the swift kick in the pants!
Hmmm very interesting site and very interesting deductions from the site Dareen…
@Darren – I almost fell off my chair laughing. A clown wig?
The lessons learned here can be brutal, but they are honest. In the end, I guess I just have to pick up the time to make my site more refreshing.
thanks for the warning! but i don’t know anything about that ‘ChatRoulette’ maybe ill visit it later and explore.
Just goes to show what lengths we’ve got to go to sometimes to get peoples attention.
They reckon 5-8 seconds is all you’ve got on a website so maybe that’s why the new outfit worked?
I think there’ll be a lot more “interactive video” sites on the way as well.
LOL!!! Clown suit? Quick thinking Darren.
You know, I think this site got some publicity from Tosh.0 . I gotta say if it is the same, you get some really interesting people to chat with. From a marketing stand point I could see it being satisfying though by marketing your blog on your shirt or behind you while you talk to everyone. You might end up finding some new fans of your site.
A clown wig can be a surprisingly effective tool. I once spent a summer dressed up as a tomato (complete with a green clown wig) to market a restaurant I was working for. It really drove the point home that just being different is enough to get traffic to slow down and take a look.
I agree on trying different things and unique ideas. There is so much more that can be done with this medium and things like ChatRoulette, crazy and random as it is, changes up the standard types of content on sites/blogs that we are use to seeing. Good stuff.
The thought that our sites are being judged by their first impressions rather by the actual content is frustrating. But I guess it is important to realize the internet is just as shallow as the real world and try to use that knowledge to your advantage. You almost have to “sell out” to get attention.
Interesting. It reminds me of those people who just click click click the TV remote in hopes of finding something better. By the time they find something, the show is ending… too funny. We’re becoming quite the A.D.D. society!
This is why you’re a damn genius haha, you find relevance everywhere. I’ve played with ChatRoulette and was passed over a bunch of times till I got bored and stopped playing, but I never even thought of this being relevant to how people think about everything on the web. I probably should know, it seems obvious now, but good post, I like things that make me think outside the box a little.
And I want a picture of you in this clown wig :p
That is really telling of the state of internet users today. But I’m afraid it’s very true.
Wow, they’re very insightful and interesting observations Darren. Probably nothing you didn’t already know, but I guess it’s a harsh lesson to learn when you’re sitting in front of the webcam and getting judged on how you look. I also heard that it’s mainly blokes on there. Was that true of your experience? If so, would that have any particular impact on the results you found, I wonder?
Put on a clown wig to experiment? – That really shows why you made this far. This is the desire to knowledge that sets one apart from the rest.
I’m kind of embarassed, because a friend and I came up with an idea just like this about 3 years ago. I didn’t think it had any potential and decided not to pursue it. These guys sure proved me wrong.
I think you’re focusing on the wrong thing here. The click isn’t what’s important, it’s what each person is looking for that you don’t appear to be at first glance. (Whether they come from a search engine, link or random-number-generator.)
While breaking expectations will often get you a second or slightly longer glance and may even get a few people to re-evaluate their search, if you don’t appear to be what they’re looking for (even if you are) they won’t stick around.
This makes me wonder if ChatRoulette can be a practical way to do “keword research” on personal appearance.
Of the one in ten who chatted with you, how long were the conversations? Were they what you were looking for when you started, or just about your costume and why you wore it?
That’s funny… But it’s on point…
People don’t like boring…
Perception is everything, it doesn’t matter how good your “fill in the blank” is, if it’s perceived as boring… It’ll get passed over…
That’s pretty funny. Alas, I do not own a clown wig (yet).
Some of the webcam software I’ve used in the past would actually pick up my TV input device (an old Interview USB device for the Mac) as a webcam. So, in theory, I could feed footage of some celeb into Chat Roulette :)
I miss the old days of the internet (early 90s) when chat rooms, in general, were always a roulette session where you never knew what sort of people you’d run into on a given day. Back in those days, I spent a lot of time on IRC (channel #love2chat) while tethered to a desk doing computer support work,
That’s it! I’m putting a clown wig on my website! :)
Hi Darren,
So can we call this “BlogRoulette”?
I’m a big believer in first impressions, but I also want to believe that the people doing chatroulette are not the same people looking for quality content on blogs.
If this is the case we are all in big trouble – content is king right?
But maybe the Clickomania is the kingdom now (-:
With respect,
Ami
Bee a Blogger | REAL-TIME Blogging Report
This is a pretty cool story actually. I like the chatroulette concept. You do have to be different in the blog world to make a mark.
I never really saw it like that before you know.Now I can imagine those impulsive faces reading my blog contents.This really gives bloggers a reason to make our blog the next interesting thing otherwise we are just a click away from our readers.I am trying something unique though ,My fingers are crossed.
Whoa, that’s kind of scary. Both the fact that you can instantly see strangers without them knowing or that they can see you without you knowing. It was also scary the fact that you put on a clown suit. :) Thanks for sharing this!
I meant clown wig.* :)
Funny example.
Of course, the blade can cut two ways. If your revenue is ad based and every view is valuable, breaking the click click click stupor is top priority. If revenue comes from more traditional transactions, it’s about attracting the ‘right’ people and it’s ok for a non-clown wig approach to let certain visitor types sort themselves out.
If you just host a circus, you might not be happy with the crowd that shows up.
Couldn’t have said it better. Nice to see someone who knows what they’re talking about.
Now that’s thinking outside the square.
Darren, top marks for creativity!
I just thought I’d say how clever this post is. It is definitely an interesting idea for a post.
I am trying to think of ways to make my own posts more interesting, and I use your posts for inspiration.
Again, great post!
ChatRullete phenomenon is interesting indeed. Had a short blog post about it too on http://blog.1smartsolution.com/index.cfm/action:posts.entry/id:268/ChatRullete–To-Be-Or-Not-Be.html
And interesting is the fact that for the search term ChatRullete, Google has placed it immediately not just on the first page, but at least for some countries on #1 and #2. The funny part is that i wrote ChatRullete instead of CharRoulette by mistake and yet there was people that came to that article by that wrong ChatRullete term :)
I remember a drama teacher telling me that entertainment and grabbing attention was all about the:
“Shit. Click” factor. In that whether you’re channel hopping, or surfing the net, going shopping, we’re instantly making a judgment and if it’s not what we want we’ll move on in an instant.
Interesting post!
Here is another great post about ChatRoulette … this blogger thinks they are on to something great–with a few refinements to be made that is. Check it out… http://e-swagger.com/2010/02/chatroulettea-haven-for-perverts-or-a-social-media-jackpot/
Verrry interesting post. I jumped on ChatRoulette last night, spent 5 minutes clicking around and hopped off never to think of it again. Thanks for pointing out this invaluable lesson. We need metaphors like this to advance the blogging industry.
I was using this website a few weeks ago, and I found the same thing. If you didn’t have a webcam on, people would just skip you so quickly. If you have a picture of a person from a magazine, they will wait a bit longer, but then leave.
If you put your webcam on to a pole-dancing alarm clock, you find some funny American guys who loved it. It was a great chat with them because they thought it was hilarious, and they have never seen one before. They even asked me where they could get one.
As you said, you show something that people are interested in, they will stay longer.
If you pretend your are a young female, there are a few disturbing guys out there who try to see more of you.
lol thats funny i haven’t got into the webcam chatting yet but i think I’ll try this one out…
Sometimes it pays to be a peacock, eh?
It’s a great reminder that some of the best content still needs sizzle with the steak … or it gets passed by.
cool post…I wrote a thing on Chat Roulette…shared some of the tips and techniques I used to slow people down :-) .. . http://dogandogs.com/dont-get-nexted-chatroulette-tips-and-techniq if you’re interested
@ Jack Cola
Haha, sex always sells.
Interesting and suprisingly enlightening experiment, Darren. I guess that’s why a provocative and shocking headlines sell articles. Or images that is.
Looks like many of the other chat sites.
There is so much I can say about this blog…but all I want to say is thank you. This is exactly how I feel as well.
Well done you get learning from Chatroulette . It shows your brain is always used every time. And I’m sure you are a person who always think, have a plan, and a great goal that is almost always guaranteed that all your plans succeed according to destination.
You basically found a unique way of tellling us how to be unique!? Freakin genius!
ChatRoulette users have a lot of time to kill, that is for sure
Darren with CD’s for sunglasses – it’s no wonder you see things slightly differently to the rest of us!
Thank you for the insights you share so freely – people like me need them :)
You are a source of inspiration. Thank you!
It is easier said than done. Although having interests is the best teacher for us, we have to spare our efforts to insist on it if we want to get success at last.
Well said! Do something different.
I think that’s the crux of just about anything online these days. You have to stand out in the crown.
For now, a clown wig will slow down the stream, but you’re also competing with half naked women (or just women at all), men with swords, dogs, people wrapped entirely in close and others who have learned to turn the chat into a game.
I recently wrote this article about ChatRoulette and what I think are the many ways to take what it is now and turn it into something different.
http://matadorlife.com/the-thermodynamic-theory-of-chatroulette/
I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks darren
this is a very interesting site and i will be looking into it further once i have had my dinner.
kind regards
sam
X
I love this Darren–and it is so true. So many bloggers get comfortable after a while and tend to be monotonous. Then they wonder why their traffic isn’t what it used to be. This is a great reminder to mix things up once in a while.