• by Douglas Quenqua , May 14, 2010

For all the attention Chatroulette has garnered in the media lately, close observers may have noticed that it all seems a bit familiar. That's because Chatroulette, a site launched in November that randomly connects strangers for a chat, is little more than a video-enabled version of Omegle, which made its own, much smaller splash when it debuted in March of last year. The difference is that Chatroulette seems to be catching fire where Omegle quickly flamed out (The former had nearly a million unique visitors in March; the latter 302,000, according to Compete.com). The lesson? Visuals matter. Because users see each other, the Chatroulette experience is more engaging, more dangerous and more adaptable to other exploits. To wit: a side-by-side comparison of each site's cultural impact, and how much attention it attracted.