Could anyone have thought at the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020 that after just a couple of months, almost everyone’s entire life would migrate online? Work, study, communication, new acquaintances and much more. It is amazing how the basic format of interaction between people has changed in such a short time. And if before everyone communicated mainly in instant messengers or social networks, then with the onset of the pandemic, they suddenly switched to video communication. To appreciate the magnitude of this change, just look at the growth statistics of the video conferencing service Zoom. In March 2020, the company’s capitalization grew by a whopping 30%. That’s over 10 billion dollars!
Now it’s 2022. Video communication services are in no hurry to give up positions. And you and I, without expecting it ourselves, have in a sense become streamers. Why did this happen? How has video communication changed our lives? And what’s next for all this? Let’s figure it out!
The worldwide boom of the video format, its pros and cons
Quarantine restrictions and fears for their own health have forced millions of people to switch to a remote format of study and work. And many tried (and still try) to reduce the number of contacts with strangers. Therefore, live communication has become a real negative. However, the need for communication remains, and messengers and social networks are physically unable to satisfy it. But then online video chats of all possible types and formats came onto the scene.
Zoom is far from the only service showing insane growth rates. Here are just a few interesting statistics:
- Slack shares in March 2020 rose from $17.04 to $25.94.
- The number of Skype visits at the same time reached 100 million. This is despite the fact that in the fall of 2019 there were only 25 million of them — four times less.
- Google Meet showed crazy growth rates — 1.25 billion visits at the beginning of 2020 against 100 million at the end of 2019.
It is easy to explain such growth rates. Almost the whole world has switched to a remote format of work and study. In addition, people began to actively use video conferencing services to communicate with friends and relatives. Group video chats appealed to the audience. And considering that many platforms allow holding conferences for 100 or even more people, this has opened up enormous opportunities for their use. Plus they’ve made communication much more convenient without long correspondence, email exchanges, endless phone calls, and so on.
But this format was not without some disadvantages:
- Zoom (and its rivals) are not suitable for finding new acquaintances. Yes, it is a convenient working tool and a means of communication with friends, but nothing more.
- For the ordinary Internet user, the deep functionality of such sites is irrelevant. They need something simpler, clearer and more convenient.
- For many, interaction through video communication services is associated only with work or study, and this is not to everyone’s liking.
What’s there to do for those who like the video communication format, but these tools do not suit them? We know the solution!
Video chat: the choice for those who seek new acquaintances without complications
An online video chat is a website or application whose main function is to connect you with completely random users. You can set only basic search parameters — gender, age, language, etc. (depending on the site). And then the service will randomly select another user for you. You can click “Next” at any time, and almost immediately you’ll have a new person in front of you.
The video chat format is an ideal alternative to classic sites and dating apps, only easier, more convenient and without unnecessary actions on your part. You do not need to spend a long time registering, filling out information in your profile, uploading photos, answering questions in a questionnaire, and so on.
Video chat is also very affordable in comparison with dating sites and applications. Many of these sites are either completely free or available for a minimal fee. If you have used dating apps before, you know they’re usually quite expensive and you have to pay for almost every action.
Against the backdrop of a pandemic, quarantine and a lack of live communication, online video chat services have increased their audience on a par with video conferencing services. And some even more. So, video chats including Emeraldchat, Camsurf, Chatrandom and video chat with women CooMeet showed a 2-3 times increase in their number of users only a couple of months after the start of the pandemic. And most importantly, for more than two years now they have not lost ground. Moreover, many disappointed users from dating applications have now migrated to online video chats.
What will happen next?
- Firstly, we’re confident that video conferencing services, streaming platforms and online video chat sites will continue to grow in the coming years.
- Secondly, dating sites and applications will more actively implement video chat functionality, since the demand for it is very high. Many have already implemented it — Tinder, Badoo and others.
- Thirdly, sooner or later video chat apps will significantly evolve and grow into something more.
It’s on this last point that it is worth going into more detail.
We are talking about metaverses and the use of VR/AR technologies in the dating industry. Facebook has already transformed into Meta, and Mark Zuckerberg is actively working on creating his own meta-universe. And at the same time, Tinder is working on its own metaverse. We’re sure others will follow soon.
Metaverses and virtual/augmented reality technologies can fundamentally change the basic principles of dating and communication on the Internet. And it will definitely be a completely new experience for millions of people around the world. Imagine that you can not only meet new people online and communicate, but also spend time together in a virtual world — go to the VR cinema, walk along the virtual streets of unfamiliar cities or attend concerts by your favorite bands with a crowd of thousands, without leaving your own home! Amazing, isn’t it?
Of course, all this won’t become a reality in a week or a month. But we are sure that only a couple of years will pass before we see a completely different Internet space, which so far can only be read about in science fiction magazines. We don’t know about you, but we are looking forward to trying something new and original.
In the future we’ll all be streamers
The world is changing. Sometimes much faster than we expected. No one could have predicted that literally in an instant, due to a new virus, the whole world would go online, and live communication would become a rarity. Fortunately, the development of Internet technologies had already reached a place by that time that the transition to online turned out to be quite easy for the majority and did not disrupt the rhythm of life.
The situation with the pandemic has shown that people can adapt to a new reality and unexpected changes. Indeed, they learned to adapt the world around them to their needs. So you and I became streamers, avatars on the Web and random users in online video chats. And it turned out that wasn’t at all bad!
