digital globe trotting
We cruise Airtime, avoid any crotch-shots and come back confused
Jun 6, 2012 | 10:20 pm
Meeting the Interbrand office in New York City.
Meeting Arseny Veytskin in Moscow.
Meeting Mawli Agbefe in Waco.
Meeting Alon Porat in Tel Aviv (and watching his company's pitch video).
Airtime is kind of like speed dating. Though I’ve never actually speed dated, I imagine I'd feel similarly exhausted after having as many quick "intro" conversations as I did the first day the video chat application launched. The good news is (at least for now) you can meet people across the globe who actually have their pants on, unlike the contingency of pantless porny people who proliferate a similar browser based video chat service, Chatroulette.
Airtime officially launched Tuesday morning to a star studded crowd in New York City; Olivia Munn, Martha Stewart, Joel McHale all publicly endorsed the product. Created by former Facebook president Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning, the bad-boy duo that also created the boundary-pushing but ill-fated Napster, Airtime had raised $33 million as of launch according to theverge.com.
A self-proclaimed early adopter (and early abandoner), I took a spin on the interactive superhighway that is Airtime and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of people I met yet still apprehensive about what's to come, owing to other video chat services' reputations. What’s supposed to quell users’ fears of being introduced to crotch after crotch (you again, Chatroulette) is the fact that Airtime is tethered to Facebook Connect, meaning people are paired together by location, mutual friends and common "Likes."
A self-proclaimed early adopter (and early abandoner), I took a spin on the interactive superhighway that is Airtime and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of people I met yet still apprehensive about what's to come, owing to other video chat services' reputations. What’s supposed to quell users’ fears of being introduced to crotch after crotch (you again, Chatroulette) is the fact that Airtime is tethered to Facebook Connect, meaning people are paired together by location, mutual friends and common "Likes."
"Most importantly we want to bring serendipity back to the Internet, everyone is a participant, and this is an environment for live performance." - Sean Parker
For example, my "likes" are rather broad, whereas my coworker's are hyper-local. She came across more people in Central Texas, where as I was dealt people from all over the world who also "like" loose (read: lazy) topics like Google, publishing, creativity, etc. My first takeaway? If you want to feel a wee bit more confident in the types of strangers you could meet through Airtime, you might want to make your profile very specific to the life you actually lead. That said, one of my true passions is travel, so I find it pretty invigorating to meet people in Moscow, Tel Aviv and London like I did as a result of the service.
Parker said to the crowd at Airtime’s launch event, "We don't want to reinvent the social graph, we don't want an application to download, that's an archaic model. But most importantly we want to bring serendipity back to the Internet, everyone is a participant, and this is an environment for live performance."
And serendipitous it can be. I actually came across graphic designer Roland Tiangco in Manhattan who was giving Airtime a whirl with his entire office of Interbrand peering over his back. Lots of "No wayyyys!" ensued when Airtime scrolled our mutual friends and interests across the screen after we'd been matched. Turns out, the dude knows my boyfriend and went to the same wedding as I did a few weeks ago, yet we’ve never met. Never even heard of each other. However based on those very intimate commonalities, Roland probably is a dude I could kick it with.
Next I met Arseny Veytskin, a timid 32-year-old mergers and acquisitions associate in Moscow whose very business is protecting the assets of Internet companies. Does he think Airtime will last? "Why not?" he said with a smile and a shrug. I'm sure we'd have more to say if we'd had a stronger grasp of each other's language.
Parker said to the crowd at Airtime’s launch event, "We don't want to reinvent the social graph, we don't want an application to download, that's an archaic model. But most importantly we want to bring serendipity back to the Internet, everyone is a participant, and this is an environment for live performance."
And serendipitous it can be. I actually came across graphic designer Roland Tiangco in Manhattan who was giving Airtime a whirl with his entire office of Interbrand peering over his back. Lots of "No wayyyys!" ensued when Airtime scrolled our mutual friends and interests across the screen after we'd been matched. Turns out, the dude knows my boyfriend and went to the same wedding as I did a few weeks ago, yet we’ve never met. Never even heard of each other. However based on those very intimate commonalities, Roland probably is a dude I could kick it with.
Next I met Arseny Veytskin, a timid 32-year-old mergers and acquisitions associate in Moscow whose very business is protecting the assets of Internet companies. Does he think Airtime will last? "Why not?" he said with a smile and a shrug. I'm sure we'd have more to say if we'd had a stronger grasp of each other's language.
There’s still a facade of togetherness and coolness, even on video chat.
The next connection took me to Tel Aviv based upon the fact that I "liked" SXSW and a few of the same indie bands as 25-year-old entrepreneur Alon Porat. It was midnight in his office and the start up team around him was still buzzing with energy. From Isreal they've launched Moolta, a dare-based application, at the University of Florida. Crazily enough, the University of Texas is next on their list of launch sites. He promptly played Moolta's pitch video within the Airtime screen. We said we'd be in touch in case there are any interesting articles to come of it.
The closest-to-home chatting partner I had was Baylor University student Mawli Agbefe in Waco. After having so many conversations that required me adapt and react to my partner's unfamiliar environment, it was relaxing to come across someone so close to home. After a quick chat and friendly goodbyes, I attempted to close Airtime and immediately yelped to my coworkers “Oh my god, I’m so exhausted from talking to so many people!” It was then that I heard Mawli laughing in the background. He was still there, and he’d witnessed me break my Airtime facade.
Oh, did you hear that?! There’s still a facade of togetherness and coolness, even on video chat.
All in all? Good, clean fun. But how long will that level of safety and comfort last after the initial hype subsides? Lest we forget, Chatroulette was exciting at first, too. Similarly, though tied to Facebook, people's real names and networks are not available on Airtime. Unless you decide to reveal your real name to your chat partner, you may remain listed as “Anonymous.”
Clearly, the intention here is to get people to meet as organically as possible based on personality. But it's still online and let’s call a spade a spade: There are probably a lot of people out there who also enjoy Radiohead and the country of Spain that I might detest IRL (internet speak for "in real life").
Clearly, the intention here is to get people to meet as organically as possible based on personality. But it's still online and let’s call a spade a spade: There are probably a lot of people out there who also enjoy Radiohead and the country of Spain that I might detest IRL (internet speak for "in real life").
It's a gamble. . .That's probably why Chatroulette had the good sense to trademark its name when it did.
Oh, but it’s boring to be so guarded, you say. Might I be missing out on the powerful connections Sean Parker promises me with that suspicious attitude?
Any way you slice it, Airtime is a very isolated way to meet one another; though you can "Next" as soon as you'd like, it's a format for meeting someone that could leave you feeling very violated should something go awry. This new form of communication is face-to-face, minus the core humanity of actually occupying the same space. To me, some degree of social responsibility goes out the window alongside that loss of tactile interaction.
You can "Report" someone, but what that does, I don't know. Time reports other thresholds: “Facial recognition software will judge if there is a face on the other side of the camera and user ratings will keep track of how many times someone has been “Nexted” by other people.” Are those obstacles enough to keep Airtime porn- and bully-free? Time will tell.
On the other hand, Airtime is Facebook brought to life. Facebook currently has 901 million monthly active users, with approximately 80 percent of those users living outside the U.S. and Canada. That’s downright mind-blowing. You get to meet people you’ve never heard of, never imagined and never would were it not made so easy by everyone’s favorite social network. So long as we all play by the rules and have the same Pollyanna-esque intention of learning and loving, it's a great opportunity to connect to and swap stories with with your contemporaries in other cultures.
It's a gamble. You’ll meet some duds on Airtime, but you might meet some winners. That's probably why Chatroulette had the good sense to trademark its name when it did. Just don’t forget how to create offline relationships — maybe speed dating would be a good exercise for video chat junkies after all.
You can "Report" someone, but what that does, I don't know. Time reports other thresholds: “Facial recognition software will judge if there is a face on the other side of the camera and user ratings will keep track of how many times someone has been “Nexted” by other people.” Are those obstacles enough to keep Airtime porn- and bully-free? Time will tell.
On the other hand, Airtime is Facebook brought to life. Facebook currently has 901 million monthly active users, with approximately 80 percent of those users living outside the U.S. and Canada. That’s downright mind-blowing. You get to meet people you’ve never heard of, never imagined and never would were it not made so easy by everyone’s favorite social network. So long as we all play by the rules and have the same Pollyanna-esque intention of learning and loving, it's a great opportunity to connect to and swap stories with with your contemporaries in other cultures.
It's a gamble. You’ll meet some duds on Airtime, but you might meet some winners. That's probably why Chatroulette had the good sense to trademark its name when it did. Just don’t forget how to create offline relationships — maybe speed dating would be a good exercise for video chat junkies after all.
Ironically, if people don't eventually take these proclaimed potentially awesome relationships offline, I'm not sure Airtime will make a lasting impression at all.
