links for 2010-02-14

Fascinating. Whilst I will not be using it anytime soon I think the concept is interesting: voyeurism meets spontaneous social networking.

A friend of mine once said that walking alone into a bar, in an unfamiliar town, is an exercise that can teach you reams about your own social skills; striking conversations with strangers is a natural gift for some people—and not so much for others.

Chat rooms and social networks have, in many ways, given introverts the ability to build relationships online, without face-to-face interaction. I often think: do these insular environments prohibit the development of social skills? Most psychologists would agree that they do.

A concept such as Chatroulette, if vetted and controlled, could be used as a personal development tool for people who suffer from various forms of social anxiety.