How many times have you learned something valuable from a surprising source? It’s unlikely that anybody visits random chat sites to gain valuable insights, but the fact remains that it could happen anyway.
Say you’re on a site like ChatSpin, talking with strangers for entertainment so you can have a well-deserved break from the real world. You’ll meet a bunch of different people, talk about anything and everything, and maybe even make a few friends. But guess what else could happen? If you keep an open mind, you could end up learning a thing or two that you never thought could come from random video chatting.
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Rejection isn’t as terrible as you thought
Getting rejected isn’t something you’d wish for, but this doesn’t mean you should always take it personally when it happens. After all, you can’t win every time, right? And if it’s happening on a random chat site, the stakes are pretty low anyway – there’s always another potential chat partner right around the corner.
Rejection is a common occurrence on chat sites because most people pick and choose their chat partners. Without turning some of them down, you’d be stuck talking with people you had no interest in getting to know. At best, you’d probably end up sitting through a slide-whistle rendition of Bach’s “Ave Maria” while you wondered what was coming next.
With that approach, your random video chat experience wouldn’t be anything you’d want to repeat. Instead, remind yourself that rejection is part of the deal, and that it isn’t personal.
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You shouldn’t prioritize friendships over personal boundaries
It’s great to have friends, but being friends with someone doesn’t mean you can trust them absolutely. This is especially true when it comes to random video chats. Whether you’ve made a connection with someone during a random chat, or you’re bonding with someone online over the long term, boundaries are important to ensure that everything goes well – particularly regarding personal details.
This mainly has to do with the activities of identity thieves on chat sites. While the chances are small of any particular chat partner being a scammer, this doesn’t mean that you should let down your guard around anyone you really click with. This probably sounds cynical, but it’s usually the scammers who are the friendliest – after all, they need you to trust them before handing over various details about yourself, right?
If you find yourself in a situation where someone seems a bit too curious about your full name, work or home addresses, or contact information, that’s a red flag; you should never feel obligated to give them what they want. If you have to choose between keeping yourself safe online or “confiding” in your new pal, choose safety – a tentative online friendship isn’t worth the risk.
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Your social skills could improve
Feeling confident in one’s social skills is something that most people want, but not a lot of them have. It might seem like you’d need to work on that before hopping onto a random video chat site, but as it turns out, that’s a bit like cleaning yourself up before taking a shower. Why? Because random video chatting can actually build your social skills.
It’s all about being able to relax and focus on what’s happening in the moment, instead of stressing about how well (or badly) you’re doing. If you’re imagining all kinds of disaster scenarios instead of actually paying attention to the chat, of course you’re going to make a blunder or two. However, there’s one feature offered by random chatting that can reduce your anxiety quite a lot: it’s the “next chat” button. If you know that you can find a new chat just by pressing this button, you don’t have to be so concerned about what’ll happen if things go south. If they do, you can whisk yourself away from that particular chat, and meet a new chat partner who doesn’t have a clue what just happened.
It isn’t the most direct way to deal with the issue, but it sure is efficient. And if you can get used to chatting without the usual anxiety, that’ll probably carry over to your real-life conversations too.
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Acting out of self-interest can be a good thing
Nobody visits a random chat site just so they can be nice to other people; they do it so they can have some fun socializing with strangers. That being the case, you’ll find that it’s common for people to skip over any chat partners they don’t find interesting or entertaining enough. Is this rude? On a chat site, no – because there’s no reason for them to spend time with anyone they don’t want to.
This kind of self-interested behavior is definitely considered a misstep in the real world, but if you’re using a chat site, it’s common practice. Nobody means it as a personal insult, so nobody takes it personally. It might feel odd at first, but it shouldn’t take long for you to acclimatize – and start doing it yourself!
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There are plenty of oddballs out there
Most friend-groups will have that one person who’s funnier, edgier, or quirkier than the rest. When you’re being compared to a limited group of people, it’s not that hard to pick a few distinguishing characteristics and make them your entire personality. If you’re mingling with thousands of strangers online, however, you might feel more normal than you ever thought you were.
And guess what? This isn’t just because there are a lot of weird people online (although that’s true too); it’s because many of them talk more freely about themselves when they’re anonymously chatting with strangers. Who knows – maybe half the people you know are secretly even weirder than you are.
What else do you think you could learn through random video chatting?
Whether you want to expand your social skills, or you’re just looking for a way to enjoy yourself while you’re killing time, random video chatting is a great way to do both.
kenny