Chatroulette

[RedKnight]

Online voyeurs flock to the random thrills of Chatroulette

 

An addictive new website that links strangers' webcams is gaining popularity – and notoriety

 

* Buzz up!

* Digg it

 

* Bobbie Johnson in San Francisco

* The Observer, Sunday 14 February 2010

* Article history

 

A new website that has been described as "surreal", "addictive" and "frightening" is proving a sensation around the world – and attracting a reputation as a haven for no-holds-barred, explicit material.

 

Chatroulette, which was launched in November, has rocketed in popularity thanks to its simple premise: internet video chats with *random strangers.

 

When users visit the site and switch on their webcams, they are suddenly connected to another, randomly chosen person who is doing precisely the same thing somewhere else in the world.

 

Once they are logged in together, chatters can do anything they like: talk to each other, type messages, entertain each other – or just say goodbye, hit the "next" button and move on in an attempt to find somebody more interesting.

 

Chatroulette describes itself as a "brand new service for one-on-one text, webcam and microphone-based chat with people around the world", but no one is sure who started the site. The owners did not respond to an attempt to contact them by email, and they have gone to great pains to protect their identities. This may be because *Chatroulette appears to operate largely as an *unregulated service and, as a result, has rapidly become a haven for exhibitionists and voyeurs.

 

A large contingent of people seem intent on using the service's string of random connections as the basis for some sort of sex game.

 

Users regularly describe unwanted encounters with all sorts of unsavoury characters, and it has become the defining aspect of the site for some. Veteran blogger Jason Kottke, who has spent years documenting some of the web's most weird and wonderful corners, tried the site and then wrote about witnessing nudity, sexual activity and strange behaviour.

 

"I observed several people drinking malt liquor, two girls making out, many, many guys who disconnected as soon as they saw I wasn't female, [and] several girls who disconnected after seeing my face," he said, adding that he also witnessed "three couples having sex and 11 erect penises".

 

Yet despite the highly offensive nature of much of the site's content, Kottke – like thousands of others – has been hypnotised by the glimpses the site offers into other people's lives. "Chatroulette is pretty much the best site going on the internet right now," he wrote.

 

Although the site says that it "does not tolerate broadcasting obscene, offending, pornographic material" and offers users the option to report unsuitable content, the restrictions do not seem to prevent users from broadcasting explicit videos of themselves online.

 

However, like the chatroom explosion in the late 1990s or the early days of YouTube, spending time inside Chatroulette is becoming a peculiarly modern form of entertainment, particularly popular with students in campuses around the world. In just a couple of months the site has expanded significantly as it tears through universities by word of mouth, spreading virally in a similar manner to sites such as Facebook. This has catapulted the site up the charts and brought it increasing amounts of attention from bloggers. The site had just a handful of visitors at launch, but now boasts more than 10,000 concurrent users at any one time – often rising to 16,000 and beyond.

 

One chatter, who identified himself as Dan from Philadelphia, said that he had been using the site since very early on and that it was largely populated by people looking for any kind of instant amusement. "Everybody wants to be entertained," he said.

 

He said he regularly goes on the site with a group of friends to hold "Chatroulette dance parties" – playing records and dancing in front of the camera in an attempt to bring a smile to the face of any passing visitor.

 

Although Chatroulette takes the idea of random connections between people to extremes, its raison d'être is not entirely new. Internet chatrooms have been around for a generation, while an explosion of webcam sites emerged in the late 1990s. Meanwhile, millions of people use video chat services such as Skype every day to talk to their friends and families, and YouTube – which was bought by Google in 2006 for $1.65bn – is among the biggest sites on the web.

 

There are also a number of self-broadcasting services online, including blogTV, Justin.tv and qik.com – though most provide only one-way connections.

 

With constant campaigns against cyberbullying and abuse on the internet, there are still questions about potential abuses of Chatroulette and its dangers, but the site's rise is creating interest in many quarters.

 

Among those wanting to chart its development is Fred Wilson, a New York-based venture capitalist with Union Square Ventures who has invested in dozens of dotcom companies, including Twitter.

 

While Wilson says the level of "perversion and sexual innuendo" is sky-high – and does not suggest that anybody puts money into the service – he admits that it taps into something primal about the web.

 

"The internet is this huge network with over a billion people worldwide on it. Chatroulette feels like a pretty cool way to take a quick trip around that network, meeting people and talking to them."

 

Online voyeurs flock to the random thrills of Chatroulette | Technology | The Observer

 

Chatroulette!

 

 

Quite possibly the dumbest idea in quite a while. The possibility of connecting to something you don't want to see or that it isn't legal is surely quite high. You can view the site without a webcam and it's just weird. There were girls on one camera, a bloke on another, someone's living room on another and other weird stuff.

[odris]

I just went on there and was met by a barrage of man penis, not nice.

[Guest Super Sub]

I just went on there and was met by a barrage of man penis, not nice.

 

I went on it a few weeks ago and it scared me with women getting fucked by randy bull mastifs, and sad men wanking to their web cam. It really is very sick!

[RedKnight]

And seemingly completely unregulated, it's frightening.

[RJ Fan club]

I've just been on there.

 

I saw Woo rimming a stuffed tiger, RiS spunking into his dishwasher and The Sir was mocking the dead.

 

I won't tell you what Beef was doing with a Betty Turpin cardboard cutout.

[The-Sir]

What a strange site. Too many penises.

[Johnni]

And seemingly completely unregulated, it's frightening.

 

How do they get to set up sites like this, astonishing.

 

You cant have a laugh with it like that other random chat site posted on here cos they just click 'next' when they see i dont have a cam the unsociable bastards!

[Malarkey]

I've been on some horrible websites such as Rotten and Ogrish. But that is by far the most fucked up website I've ever seen.

[Liverpool lad]

This is the best idea ever

[Joe Le Taxi]

Read the Omegle thread. I put up a photo of a Woo-lookalike who was on ChatRoulette as well as Deadmau5's plans to create a cult.

[Carradona]

I just spent about 2 hours on this thing with a couple of my mates. It's crazy. Very funny, I have to say.

[Malarkey]

I just spent about 2 hours on this thing with a couple of my mates. It's crazy. Very funny, I have to say.

 

You Paddys are a crazy breed.

[Remmie]

Haha, loving all the nay sayers. Oooh it's terrible *clicks link and wanks*

Reminds me of me pretending I didn't watch porn when I was younger

[lifetime fan]

Haha, loving all the nay sayers. Oooh it's terrible *clicks link and wanks*

Reminds me of me pretending I didn't watch porn when I was younger

 

Why do blokes/lads do that. If I had my time over again I'd always admit to watching porn and always kiss my nan infront of birds, fuck feeling embaressed about it birds love that shit.

[stevebaby]

Why do blokes/lads do that. If I had my time over again I'd always admit to watching porn and always kiss my nan infront of birds, fuck feeling embaressed about it birds love that shit.

My Nan is the best tongue-kisser in the county,DAHIKT.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Warning! The following content is NOT WORK SAFE. Click the Show button to reveal.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Remmie

[Malarkey]

Went on this before and was greeted by two fat birds in eachothers arms necking the grid off eachother.

 

It hurt me.

 

Inside.

[Guest The Chimp]

Warning! The following content is NOT WORK SAFE. Click the Show button to reveal.

 

I was just about to go to bed - not sure I can face it now. One thing's for sure when I do get off, I'll be sleeping with the light on.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Remmie

[odris]

It's Paul fuckin' Bearer.

[Fowlers God]

Warning! The following content is NOT WORK SAFE. Click the Show button to reveal.

 

Is that bottom one a picture of you Numero?

Edited March 1, 2010 by Remmie

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Is that bottom one a picture of you Numero?

 

Nah, my tits are bigger.

[Ezekiel 25:17]

NSFW you wankers.

[Hooch]

Jesus. It's mad that. I saw 2 fit birds, 10 fellas, one fella having a tug and a birthday cake with "grandma's dead" written on it, which kind of freaked me out.

 

I think this will be the next big thing on the net.

[WaltonRed]

Its hilarious.

 

Just had a couple goosing on mine, I told her to take it out and suck it but she ignored me the bitch

[Fugitive]

It's the funniest post-pub site around at the minute.