Chat Roulette: Keep the Young’uns Far Away

There’s a new social media in town. Only you might not want to be so quick to sign up.

ChatRoulette is a new website that randomly connects you to another one of its users via webcam or chat. It’s so simple in its objective that it’s a wonder that no one has come up with the idea before now.

Launched in late November by 17-year-old Moscow native Andrey Ternovskiy, Chat Roulette is quickly becoming the new internet sensation. Ternoviskiy says he initially created the site for his friends after they grew tired of talking to each other on Skype, so he embarked on a project that would allow them to chat with people they didn’t already know. Since its launch, Chat Roulette has managed to gain coverage in the New York Times, and boasts usership of over 20,000 people at any given time.

The setup is simple. You log on, activate your webcam, click ‘next’, and wait to be matched up with a random stranger. Sounds easy right? Eh…. maybe not.

As with any other social media, people have already found a way to abuse the technology. An appallingly large majority of the people you get matched up with are lonely boys masturbating into the camera or busty women exposing themselves. However, if you’re willing to sift through the smut, you will eventually be rewarded with an intelligent conversation with an interesting stranger hailing from some other part of the world.

There is such a variety of characters on the site that you’re unlikely to ever get bored. In my online adventures, I’ve been serenaded to Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” I’ve had an impromptu dance party to “Pants on the Ground,” I’ve been randomly matched up with another BU student living in South Campus, I’ve chatted with a gentleman from Saudi Arabia and I’ve had someone try to convince me why it was essential that I flash them (of course I did not oblige). My most interesting interaction by far though was with a 19-year-old from Philadelphia with whom I had a quite engaging hour long conversation about what the best shows on television are and why, and whether or not Avatar deserved all the hype.

My personal prediction for the site is that it will not get much further than what it exists as right now unless Mr. Ternovskiy can create some way to monetize it. It has managed to get the celebrity nod, but as it stands, it’s more of an interesting party activity than any kind of useful, information-serving medium. That may change, but in the mean time I’ll continue to be startled by the vast displays of penises, and laugh at this cleverly crafted Chat Roulette Movie.