Ah, the smell of randomness, porn, and dumb people; ChatRoulette offers that sweet smell and then some. I wandered across ChatRoulette.com about two days ago and since then I have become *sigh* addicted to it. I finally had a reason to setup that webcam I had kept stored for months and put it to good use. ChatRoulette allows you to connect with random people all over the world via webcam and/or chat. I’ve literally been able to travel the world from my chair. From a coffee shop in Berlin, to a sidewalk cafe in France. Hell, I was even in the bedroom of dominatrix and for once I wasnt tied up.

ChatRoulette has gained a strong user base and upwards of 20000 users if not more use it every night. It’s filled with mystery, suspense and porn. Since it’s random connections you never know who you’re going to get and with ChatRoulette not requiring registration or age verification the true sense of Anonymity shows through. In the daytime you find quite a few people, but at night as said by an individual I talked with from Texas, the ” creepers come out”. In a sense the creepers are always there, I seen probably 100 penises in the short time I’ve been there and it’s disturbing. ChatRoulette I think will shortly come under scrutinization due to the amount of children who use the service and the fact that many are using the site as a porn platform.

Of course not everyone is like that, there are actually people on there that are just looking to have a conversation with random people. But for every 1 of those there are 6 others who are doing naughty things. I think that the technology of this site could come in handy and be used for other ways and I think more site will start to see that and follow suit. But for now ChatRoulette is really one of a kind.

Earlier I mentioned Anonymity and that is going to play a big role in the future of the site. A recent article a Mod at Dream.In.Code posted was about the anonymity of the Internet and how he feels its a move in the wrong direction. In a way I totally agree, we should have no reason to hide who we really are, if you dont like who you really then do something to change it. I used to lie online to make myself look cooler; when I was 15. As I grew older I realized I liked who I was, and liked the direction I was heading that I have no reason to lie about it and have sense never made up a story to make myelf look good. Below are a few points he thinks would help.
—Don’t post anonymously unless you really might be in danger.
—If you put effort into Wikipedia articles, put even more effort into using your personal voice and expression outside of the wiki to help attract people who don’t yet realize they are interested in the topics you contributed to.
—Create a Web site that expresses something about who you are that won’t fit into the template available to you on a social networking site.
—Post a video once in a while that took you 100 times more time to create than it takes to view.
—Write a blog post that took weeks of reflection before you heard the inner voice that needed to come out.

Here is the link, its a fantastic article and really get you thinking. Virtual Reality Pioneer Says the Internet is Making People Trolls, Needs More Human Input