The Greatest Medium of All Time?

     What if I were to tell you I have found the greatest medium of all time? It uses video and sound technology to bring together people from far across the world, or just the other room. It is mindless and provocative. Its ease of use allows for people of all ages to enjoy its greatness. It was created by a Russian. It's everything the internet is about. Got it yet?

     While Chatroulette may never be praised for its academic content, it is a medium that contains the best and worst the internet has to offer while also bringing together many cultural aspects we have discussed in class. Chatroulette is able to bring together strangers through the use of webcams and can be seen as extensions of sight, sound, and social functions. The "roulette" formatting of the website allows a user to skip to a new chat partner at their leisure, which is representative of the effect the internet continues to have on its users. We discussed in class about the way the internet has changed reading in the sense that users only scan the information and aren't willing to stay on a specific page for a long period of time. Chatroulette plays off of this effect, as users are more willing to skip between chat partners at a rapid pace.

     The way Chatroulette combines technological advancements, cultural behaviors, and the wackiness that is the internet works to create a truly unique medium. Although all you'll probably stumble across is a bunch of stray weiners, go ahead and give Chatroulette a spin and experience what makes the internet awesome and terrifying at the same time. Who knows, you might even run into this guy: