It’s always fascinating when new websites or apps begin to sweep the interwebs like a phenomenon (or in some cases, like a plague). I remember when Napster was bad ass, when Facebook swallowed the masses (and Farmville nearly achieved Class A drug status), when Twitter was no longer primarily populated with Ashton Kutcher fan-boys. And the latest web obsession to hit the mainstream is Chatroulette. Whether you equate the term with the casino game of luck, or the potentially lethal Russian variety, roulette is all about spinning the wheel (or the cylinder of a revolver) and taking a chance. In this case, you turn on your webcam, click to connect, and see what happens. And as you might expect, the results can be … eye-opening.
Personally, I’ve never experienced the awkward voyeurism of Chatroulette first-hand. (No, really!) I don’t have a webcam, and shoot – I don’t appear on camera unless I’m getting paid for it, baby! (Or it’s being archived in a “private collection”. Awwwwww yeah.) But srsly, I have to admit that I’m struck by the lurid fascination of watching a mix of cam-whores, douches and weirdos making fools of themselves. And of course, the promise of endless wang is ever so tempting. The folks at College Humor helpfully created this graphic to better illustrate the Chatroulette penis probability factor:
In this case, a “dick” does not equal a jerk. But speaking of “jerking” …
Like any true web fad, Chatroulette has grown immensely popular in a very short period of time – and is already attracting its fair share of controversy. The site was launched last November by a high-school student in Moscow, and in 5 short months it has already attracted 500,000 daily visitors worldwide. But as soon as news outlets began carrying the story, it came under criticism for being potentially dangerous, particularly for young chatters. I even came across a Chatroulette screenshot where someone had managed to manipulate their cam feed with a loop of the Jonas Brothers, which caused their young, female chat partners to erupt into squeegasms. As noted by Switched, all it would take is one devious chatter managing to lure a 12 year old girl into flashing her prepubescent chest (or worse) for a lawsuit to begin raging. Sure, the site states that users must be 16 years of age or older (shouldn’t that be 18?!) but there’s no age check or verification to speak of. And yes, websites like Yahoo Chat have long provided online meeting spots for the mentally depraved and curiously naive. But the webcam angle takes things to a whole new level of sketchiness, in my opinion.
So, my web savvy readers, have you tried Chatroulette? I’d love to hear some personal (mis)adventures. And for those who have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, check out this short Chatroulette movie on YouTube for a little look-see at the way it’s used and abused. Oh, and remember that thing I said about endless penis shots? The makers of the documentary said that during the process of filming, they saw more than one hundred shots of male genitalia, versus only two that belonged to the ladies. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! ^_^
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