1. Intent of Video Chat Room Users among Different Ages and Genders Kailee Culver, Melanie Bauer, & Blaine Peden (Faculty Advisor) University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire
Introduction
Results
Operational Definitions
Due to a technologically advancing society, many new forms of communication have evolved, such as video chat rooms.
Video chat rooms enable users to convey first impressions to new people and decide whether to create relationships.
Video chat rooms usually recommend being 18+, but do not verify age. In fact the demographics of the users vary much.
Due to the sexual intentions of some users, young users may be exposed to unwarranted sexual intent.
This study codes first impressions to examine the correlation of demographics (age and gender) and intent of conversation.
We have two research questions.
This graph shows a comparison of the age groups and the type of interaction.
Sexual Intent
If the participants had minimal to no clothing present or showed interest in a purely sexual conversation.
Networking Intent
If the participants showed interest in a conversation purely for getting to know a person, such as personality traits.
No Intent
Participants disconnected from us before interacting.
Gender and Intent
Figure 1. No gender effect in intent.
Discussion
Incidence of sexual intent is high, even though it doesn’t vary systematically with age and gender.
The high sexual content could be why they’re popular.
Age and Intent
Are there gender differences in the intent of the conversation?
Are there age differences in the intent of the conversation?
Males and females are equally distributed in their intentions of video chat room use.
Figure 2. No age effect in intent.
Adolescents have the smallest amount of sexual intent.
Young adults use video chat rooms the most and are equally distributed in their intentions.
Adults use video chat rooms for sexual purposes more than any other purpose.
Method
This study was a naturalistic observation using the video chat room websites, Omegle and Chat Roulette.
In our observations, we did not allow the users to see or hear us. We did not interact with them in any way.
Both websites allow users to disconnect, and we observed users until they disconnected from us.
We excluded participants who remained inactive for longer than 30 seconds.
We observed 132 participants. We assumed their demographic information and intentions.
20 females and 112 males ages 15 to 60.
Ages were recorded numerically and later recoded into adolescents (≤ 18), young adults (19-29), and adults (30+)
An article from Cyber Psychology & Behavior about video chat room websites says that 75% of users are male and the average age of users are
Our observations show that our study was representative of gender and age.
Limitations and Implications
The Two Chat Rooms: Omegle & Chatroulette
One limitation of the study was the small number of females, but this may be due to the website demographics.
Findings show a small number of adolescent users showing sexual intent, but are often only exposed to it by legal adults.
Because of these implications, video chat room websites should more strictly monitor age and content.
Parents should take these implications seriously, and monitor their childrens’ internet behavior.
Server connects you to random person from around the world
Talk via text or video for as long as user desires
Press the “Stop/Next” button
Go to website & confirm age (of 18+)
Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Blaine Peden for guiding our research and the LTS printing service for their contribution to our poster.