“NEXTED” (neks-ted)

1. the act of being removed from a video chat with a random stranger on chat roulette. 2. the act of selecting next while on chat roulette

–UrbanDictonary.com

I recently watched a video that delved into the community of Chat Roulette and covered some of the basic things one encounters there. One of the most prominent topics in the video was the idea of being “nexted” and it was suggested at the end, what would the world be like if we could “next” people in real life the way people do in the Chat Roulette platform. While part of me has been entirely curious about this Chat Roulette phenomenon (which is what lead me to watch this video in the first place), I found myself being more curious about the idea of “nexting” than the actual Chat Roulette environment.

What would a world be like where we could “next” anyone we were bored with?

It certainly is a powerful question if you think about it enough. “Nexting” could apply to any number of things beyond people as well. Don’t want to wait for the red light to turn? Next. Suddenly it’s green. Don’t want to deal with a boring date? Next. You’re suddenly at home curled up with a good movie or book instead. Tired of sitting through the umpteenth class of the semester? Next. Winter term is over and you’re on your way to your summer holiday.

Sure, lots of these things seem like great personal triumphs. No longer be bored. Waiting? Never. Anxious? No worries! Instant gratification? Yes please! When you look at the great picture, however, you clearly come to see that it’s not such a great concept. If everyone was “nexting” everything, it would be sheer pandemonium. People and objects would be popping into and out of existence. The future now, or at least a bit sooner. You’d never be able to plan anything, you’d never have the built up anticipation for something you were dying to get to and you’d probably have a difficult time keeping anyone’s attention as they’d already be off onto the next big thing that’d grab their attention. It’d get as bad as channel surfing constantly through life–and what’s the point in that? Granted, all of this is of course a little extreme–and who wouldn’t want a few “get-out-of-jail nexted style” cards to use every now and then for those sheer emergencies.

With all those second midterms, exams, assignments and ultimately finals encroaching, who wouldn’t want to “next” their way into May? Instant gratification and pushing onto the next best thing may be great every once in a while–but without the agony of waiting, spent time and emotions tied therein, can we ever really appreciate what we gain?

That being said–watch the video and think about what you think a “nexted”-capable world would be like. I’d love to hear your theories!

chat roulette from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.

Streetlights hum,
vibrate across the dark
parking lot.
Steam unbroken
on the windows,
like someone’s hot mouth
hovered for too long over the glass.
Our bodies fit together
and erase the pavement.

Trapping the heat,
it’s hibernation in your mind,
inside your voice,
that stifles my thoughts
of progression
with ones of static.
Skin
stuck to leather
means nothing will change.

Fibres sink in the glow
of the stereo, discharged
by movement.
Notes cyclical and
slurred
saturate the background,
rest heated on top our
bare arrangement of limbs
and words.

Humidity:
sticky and persuasive.
Confined within
movement
and reaction,
invisible in
this backseat,
we’re fixed and stationary,
nothing but static.