Chatroulette is not yet as dangerous as the Russian roulette, simply because a webcam can’t spit bullets, but it is definitely not without risks. Chatroulette is a website that brings people together for random conversations via the webcam. Visitors usually start with a chat with any stranger (video and text) that is online. At any time, a user can end the chat and start a new conversation with someone else.
The website was launched in November 2009 by Andrey Ternovskiy, a 17-year-old student from Moscow. It gained popularity in February 2010, after a number of major media had paid attention to it. The website has 500,000 visitors a day and at any time of the day about 35,000 visitors are online.
Some of the users show up naked (some even masturbate), so the site is generally not considered to be suitable for minors. There are a number of conditions with regard to the use of this site. First, the user must be sixteen years or older. Secondly, there are requirements for videos, so for example pornographic material is prohibited. Non-tolerable images can be tagged with the F4 key. Claims?are that 14% of chats fall into that category.
An alternative like?Omegle is just like Chatroulette: a website where you will be linked to random strangers for a chat or video chat. And just like Chatroulette, you can also find many pranksters on Omegle. Or freaks like the ketchupman in this movie below:
“One click makes the naked man go away” headlined the newspaper Volkskrant (2013 , October 12). It mentioned a story about Cheyenne who felt bored in the afternoons after school, and then decided to visit chatroulette. “It’s funny. You meet people you do not know. If you encounter a known accidentally, you ask: what are you doing here, because only dirty people that jerk off come here?” One of her favorite sites is the English chatroulette. It’s actually a website for 18+, but then nobody checks anyway, so schoolgirls can apply. On chatroulette you see each other via the webcam. Cheyenne doesn’t know in advance with whom she’ll be connected. Of course there a lot of men, because girls click eachother away. “Sometimes a boy or man exposes himself to the webcam. There are also very old men online, like Grandpa’s. And sometimes a girl and a boy are together … Well, just together. They do advanced stuff.” The most fun is to watch it with a friend. Claudia (13) makes a pulling gesture with both hands at the height of her waist. “If you see this on the webcam you can laugh together. But if you’re just sitting at your computer, you have to laugh yourself. That’s not as much fun.”
There are several examples of how gangs of online criminals are targeting boys or girls who are tempted to expose themselves on a webcam. On Chatroulette or Omegle victims get in touch with a nice young girl or boy. Once they take off their clothes, they are extorted. Victims are forced to transfer hundreds of dollars to an account and if they don’t, their exposed images will be sent to all their Facebook friends. This is really a whole new form of online sexual abuse. In addition, most of the times sexual abuse is not the aim of these criminals, it’s about the money. And once you transfer money they will only contact you for more…
The company behind the social communication platform Just.me has jsut released a new chat app for Apple devices. With Chance users can chat without constant harassment by figures who send inappropriate pictures or requirements . The app brings people into contact with other anonymous smartphone owners worldwide . If you see someone you like, you can start a conversation with that person , otherwise you just quickly press the Next button. The pictures that are sent while chatting remove themselves automatically. Chatroulette is to a large extent a group of digital predators, but here the developers have come up with something to keep them away, so they say. People who break the rules will be blocked by the community. If that occurs more than once, the bastards get a ban. In addition, all shared pictures are initially blurred, so it’s easier to avoid unwanted snapshots from appearing online. This should ensure that Chance users always feel safe. The app is free to download from the App Store. There is no Android version of Chance available just yet.
Below is a funny movie of Carte Blanche, the digital youth project VRT that shows what happens when grandma is embarking on a chatroulette adventure.
The most well-known Chatroulette viral is that of ‘Wrecking Ball’:
Sources: Wikipedia, Humo, BNDeStem, Spits (Jan 31st 2014, ?Gang hunts for naked boys), Volkskrant (October ?12th?2013, One click and the naked man goes away).