Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not advocating helping the drifter who patrols the playground find his lost puppy.  And I’m not suggesting you take the guy with the windowless van up on his offer to go get ice cream.  All I’m saying is, there are some times when it’s acceptable to commingle with folks you don’t know.  And you can credit Omegle with doing its part to knock down a few of those barriers.

It works like this: Visitors to the site are sent to a private chat room with a random stranger - someone from anywhere in the world.  You type.  They type.  Conversations are had. Friendships are formed.  Stereotypes are dissolved.  And a deeper understanding of disparate cultures is nurtured.

Or if you’re me, you just go on there to mess with people:

Omegle Conversation Attempt 1

Omegle Conversation Attempt 2

Omegle Conversation Attempt 3

Now, to be fair, I didn’t mess with everyone.  I had an interesting conversation with a college student from South Africa. She has a grotesque fascination with the roving gangs of feral teens indiscriminately attacking downtown tourists.  She couldn’t understand what would drive civilized human beings to beat random strangers without warning or provocation.

I reassured her it’s just Charm City’s version of Omegle.

When he’s not here, M. M. McDermott is here. Email him at mmcdermott@getrenegade.com.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.