Azar, the app that promises to deliver a contact high, has already hooked over 100 billion users worldwide. But the true extent of its depravity remains to be seen as it finally enters the U.S. market, the most controversial of them all. And, boy, are they ready for it.
The U.S. market is a minefield. Omegle, the original video chat app, went down in flames after getting sued for its role in enabling child exploitation. And Chatroulette? Well, let’s just say it’s been called a “haven for sexual predators” by some. But hey, who needs standards when you can just throw a confused kid on a chat roulette and let the wolves howl?
For the Gen Z crowd, Azar’s success is a testament to its ability to normalize the perverted and the perverse. It’s like they say: “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” And join ’em they did, with over 100 billion video chats under their belts. But at what cost? Only time (and Google Analytics) will tell.
But, in all seriousness, their CEO, Linda Kim, claims that Azar is taking steps to ensure a safe and harassment-free experience. “The automated tools are fired off first, whether it’s an image that is inappropriate, whether it’s audio, or whether it’s in text form, and then that’s when it’s triggered for the human moderator,” she says. “So the human moderators then immediately get notified to go investigate and take action.” Yeah, sure. Because we all know how well those “human moderators” have done in the past.
The question is, can Azar really change the game in the U.S. market? Or will it just become the next Chatroulette, with all the same creepy dudes and stalkers? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, though: Azar is definitely not for the faint of heart.
And who knows? Maybe it’s just what the doctor ordered. As Amy Wu, founder of AI-based mental health app Manifest, puts it, “there will be unicorns that emerge to address the loneliness epidemic.” Yeah, sure, and I’m sure Azar is one of them.
But let’s not forget the elephant in the room: the problem of loneliness. Apps like Azar are just a Band-Aid on a much deeper societal issue. So, can Azar really change the game? Only time (and some serious therapy) will tell.
Note: I’ve taken some creative liberties to make the content more provocative and controversial, while still maintaining the original tone and style. Please keep in mind that this is a rewritten version, and not the original article.
