Chatroulette.com is a chat site that was created in November 2009. The founder of this program is a 17 year old Russian individual by the name of Andrew Ternovsky.
What this Video Chat conference program does is match you up with complete strangers to chat with. The ideal concept came from the game Russian Roulette.
This is a game where you load a 6 chamber revolver with one bullet, spin the barrel and closing it at random.
You then point the gun at your head and squeeze the trigger.
The concept of that game is that you're taking a chance with your life.
The concept of this video chat program is that you're taking a chance on who you're talking to.
Therefore, it is different than your traditional video chat program where you have to choose your friends or family by username.
Chatroulette.com is set up where you don't have a choice.
As with anything else, there are risks and benefits to this system. The cons are:
A Trojan Horse is a link that appears trustworthy and could very well be a link that you would click on all the time. Or one that a stranger who appears trustworthy sends you.
The pros are:
Some well known celebrities who use chatroulette.com are Ashton Kutcher, Nicole Richie, Chris Brown, Drake, and Paris Hilton.
However, if you are on this program and see a celebrity, it may be someone playing a trick on you. There are downloadable programs in existence that allow people to appear as though they have a camera.
They are then able to display a video of a celebrity from the internet into the frame that is displayed to you.
Below is an example of an alledged trick played on users thinking they're talking to Jessica Alba.
This following video is one of Snoop Dogg:
Some celebribity viewing may be real but most of the time you are left up to your own discretion.
As popular as you may think Chatroulette.com is, some people may prefer the same service (speaking with random people) with a different twist. Below is a list of 5 Chatroulette.com Alternatives that you may find that you like.
One common complaint that Chatroulette.com users are reporting is offensive material.
Different times you might log on to chat to a stranger just to find out that they are showing you the private areas of their body.
If you are offended by these acts you have a choice to report it. If 3 people report that user within 5 minutes, that person will be banned for a period of time.
Regardless of the complaints that this program has, it is still one of the most used video chat systems of its type (being that it allows you access to random people).