Chatroulette: strangers exposed

Chatroulette pairs users with other random users to video chat until one clicks a button, matching him or her with another person. The site has become increasingly popular in recent weeks.

Naked men, drunken college students, giggly pre-teens and Nicole Richie?

That’s what 15 minutes on new webcam chat site Chatroulette might get you.

No, this isn’t your typical Facebook or Twitter experience. In fact, “Facebook is a gateway drug to Chatroulette,” according to Wharton and College sophomore Evan Brower.

“The cocaine of social networking” — as Brower put it — was created by Russian teen Andrey Ternovskiy, according to The New York Times’ technology blog.

Ternovskiy explained on the blog that the website spread solely by word of mouth.

Just a week ago, Chatroulette hosted about 5,000 users at once. Today, upwards of 20,000 users flock to the site at any given time. The site’s video and microphone accessibility set it apart from text-based chat rooms of the past, contributing to its controversial reputation.

On Chatroulette, users are paired with other random users to video chat until one participant clicks “play,” which then matches him or her with another individual.

Wharton sophomore Sam Berger called it “an orgiastic collection of morally bereft individuals.”

“About five clicks in, I see a screenful of penis all up in my grill,” Berger said.

Similarly, a random Chatroulette user requested that his chat partner show her “boobs for Haiti.”

In response, the site now displays “Terms of Service,” which prohibit users under the age of 16 and ban obscene behavior, threatening to block noncompliant users.

Nudity and obscenity, however, are only one side of the Chatroulette experience. Brower, an “ardent Chatrouletter,” explained that the site “improved my life substantially,” providing laughs and entertainment, as well as good conversation and even new Facebook friends.

College freshman Coby Lerner and his friends came across two roommates in Wisconsin on the site. After discussing college majors and movies, the strangers proceeded to serenade Lerner and friends with an Italian operatic duet.

These transient friendships are hardly uncommon.

“I just did the Macarena with some people,” a 20-year-old user from London said via Chatroulette.

With users from around the world, even celebrities have tapped into the new site. Nicole Richie and Joel Madden “lasted about 4 minutes” on Chatroulette, according to Richie’s Twitter, while celebrity blogger Perez Hilton wrote, “We be officially obsessed.”

“Webcamming ... adds this randomness and unexpectedness to the process,” said Annenberg School of Communication doctoral student Aymar Jean Christian.

Although he believes it to be a “brilliant idea,” Christian questioned the longevity of the site.

“The most successful websites today are about … sustained engagement,” Christian said, noting that Chatroulette offers “no prolonged interaction.”

What Berger called an “accurate reflection of a pathetic generation that has no conception of what it means to be real with one another,” Ternovskiy simply saw as a place where “two groups of teenagers can party together.”

But at the end of the day, according to the site, “Chatroulette is not responsible for what you will find.” You were warned.

Comments (23)

I have heard of this before but have never tried it myself. Is this a free service to use or is there a charge for it? Does anyone know where I can get more info about this?

I barely agree with this article and Chatroulette statement on social media and chating scenario. In fact this cyber activities gonna common in everywhere and its now turned into a best time pass for new youths. However i think, good thing can be grasp from social media and charing. Of course you can get true friends and can promote your product through this media also. Its depend upon the individual, how to utilize the media.

so far i got 1 naked guy and 1 non-naked girl. the rest were 20 something dabgs with nothing better to do... just like me. Regards

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