The other night at dinner a friend (a heavyweight in the tech industry) made an astute observation when he said that red-hot Snapchat and totally flopped Airtime are two faces of the same coin, aka Chatroulette, the Internet sensation that allowed strangers to randomly connect via video and was well known for frequent appearance of a certain part of a man’s anatomy.
Social Internet shaman Sean Parker (who apparently is a new dad, congrats dude) bet on “meet the strangers” part of Chatroulette phenomenon with Airtime Snapchat, on the other hand, is about exposing yourself to a person you know for ever so brief (including private parts) ephemeral period and using that as a way of communication. Snapchat is part of the Alive Web revolution I had talked about two years ago and we are finally starting to see that future slowly unfold.
The opposite growth trajectories of Airtime and Snapchat provide apt testimony to who was right and who was wrong. Bottom line, unless for carnal pleasures, no one really wants to meet strangers.