Pioneer LogLewis & Clark College’s Student-Run Newspaper

The frightening and addictive world of Chatroulette

February 26, 2010

by Deanna Horton

Chatroulette is a three-month-old social website that randomly pairs strangers on webcams with others from around the world to engage in text and/or audio chat. Created by a 17-year-old from Moscow, Chatroulette is reminiscent of Omegle.com, a text-only stranger chat website created last March by a Vermont teen.  

As soon as you press play, you experience a moment of anticipation while you wait for your partner’s video to load. You never know what you’re going to see on the other end.  Warning: it could very well be pornographic, but after clicking the Next button a few times, you’re bound to find someone worth talking to.

The Pioneer Log’s first conversation happened to be with former MTV “Made” coach Laura Shmalo. She told us we were the most normal people she had encountered so far and then linked us to Season 9 Episode 22 of Made in which we saw her teaching a high school girl how to figure skate.

On our whirlwind Chatroulette adventure we also encountered a person wearing a cat mask, a group of college students from San Francisco State, an attractive Italian man who claimed to be a Roberto Cavalli model, a Chilean man on vacation and a group of drunk men that continued to tell terrible Oregon Trail Jokes after we said we were from Portland (“I got bit by a rattlesnake and got dysentery! My wheel keeps breaking!”). We also got flipped off by a bald man wearing rhinestone earrings.

The first few moments of a partnership are sometimes jarring. You see strangers judging you right before your eyes and oftentimes you’re instantly nexted. Then again, you’re judging them too. When we encountered a 60-year-old man with long, grey, unkempt hair holding up a peace sign, we judged him and quickly clicked Next.

Despite the abundance of creepers, Chatroulette is addictive, fun and keeps you coming back for more.

Try it for yourself at www.chatroulette.com.