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Chat Roulette is a website that randomly connects users for webcam-based conversations. However, some users have transmitted offensive or pornographic images to their chat partners, leading to widespread concern. The site lacks regulation and user accountability, leading to irresponsible and dangerous behavior among some of its participants.
Chat Roulette is a website that randomly connects users for webcam-based conversations. The site is intended as a form of entertainment that offers participants the chance to talk to strangers from around the world in a casual, non-threatening and fun way. Since its inception, however, a number of users have transmitted offensive or pornographic images to their chat partners, leading to widespread concern in the US media that the site is unsuitable for underage or sensitive users.
17-year-old Russian student Andrey Ternovskiy created Chat Roulette in 2009. The site quickly gained media attention in the United States and Great Britain and by early 2010 had attracted more than 1 million users. It was initially funded with an investment from Ternovskiy’s parents, but is now partially funded by advertising.
Using Chat Roulette is quite simple. The site view consists of two video boxes and a sidebar for optional text chat. When a user enters the site, he is randomly connected to another participant. Your live image, transmitted via webcam, appears in one of the video boxes and that of your chat partner appears in the other. Once connected, the two chat partners can communicate with each other via the video image, audio and text.
If a Chat Roulette user decides that he is not satisfied with his chat partner, he can simply switch to a new one by selecting the “Next” option on the site display. Due to the random and anonymous nature of Chat Roulette connections, many users may feel less inclined than usual to obey usual conversational etiquette. Therefore, conversations often only last a few seconds before a chat partner chooses to move forward. At times, this quick dismissal can create feelings of rejection in some users.
The site’s lack of regulation and user accountability has led to what some believe to be irresponsible and even dangerous behavior among some of its participants. A number of users have transmitted images of a vulgar and even pornographic nature. The complaints led site administrators to put a system in place where users can report another participant’s abusive behavior. Once a user has been flagged three times, he is temporarily blocked from accessing the site.
Despite these precautionary measures, Chat Roulette users remain largely unregulated. Although the site states that users must be at least 16 years of age, it is difficult to enforce this clause in practice. Therefore, parents of underage Internet users may want to discuss the site with their children, or change their computer settings so that it is blocked.
