If you really have to yell at strangers who disagree with you...
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Are you sick and tired of civil discourse? Fed up with a media landscape populated by soft-spoken commentators droning unflappably about complex, nuanced issues?
Exhausted by the societal norms that require you to treat others politely and with respect, even when you disagree with them? Then I may have just the website for you. It's called ShoutRoulette, and it bills itself as "the fastest, simplest way to yell at people you think are morons about the things you are right about."
The premise is simple. You cannot freaking stand, say, Chipotle burritos. You know there must be imbeciles out there who, for unfathomable reasons of their own, actually like Chipotle burritos. ShoutRoulette promises to seamlessly connect you with them via video chat. Voilá! Now you can berate one another in real time.
The topic doesn't have to be food-related. The site will also pair you with wrongheaded fools who hold views opposite yours on anything from Big Bird to Lance Armstrong to climate change.
The site, which loosely parodies the video-chat site Chatroulette, is the brainchild of New York-based comedian Matt Klinman, who brought the idea to a "Comedy Hack Day" last month put on by author and comedian Baratunde Thurston. At the hackathon, Klinman got together with developers Steve Peek, Jeff Escalante and Emin Israfil to turn the concept into a real thing. They built a basic version of ShoutRoulette in two days, and it took top prize, generating enough enthusiasm that they decided to keep working on it after the event.
A demo of the site met with wild applause at a New York Tech Meetup this week. Klinman, a vehement critic of Chipotle burritos, exchanged vicious insults and ad hominem attacks at top volume with one of his developers, who swears by them. The result was a fruitless yet oddly cathartic debate in which no one could hear, let alone understand, either side's point of view.
"ShoutRoulette.com was built from the ground up to be a shouter's paradise," Klinman explained. "We coded the entire thing in upper-case letters."
The site's big challenge going forward, of course, will be to differentiate itself from the existing offerings on cable news.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments