Chatroulette

Katie McMahon

=**Chatroulette**=


 * Brief History of Chatroulette**

Chatroulette is a social networking website created in 2009 by Andrey Ternovskiy, a 17 year old male from Moscow, Russia (Bilton, 2010). The website is set up into 2 boxes, one designated for a random stranger and one for the user. Upon visiting the website, the user’s webcam is activated, and the user clicks “play” (Sutter, 2010). A live video is enabled that randomly selects an individual from any corner of the world to chat using video, audio, and text technology (Stone, 2010). A user is given the choice to press the “next” button which allows the user to disengage in conversation and be shuffled to a new chat partner (Sutter, 2010). A user may also be “nexted” by the stranger on the other end of the video-chat connection and be shuffled to a new chat partner through that method.

Andrey Ternovskiy was inspired by other video chatting technology, such as Skype to create Chatroulette (Stone, 2010). After a bit of boredom with the routine of Skype with friends, Ternovskiy created Chatroulette (Stone, 2010). It was intended to be an international concept, where users could randomly select individuals for chat (Stone, 2010). The site averages 20,000 users a day (Stone, 2010).


 * User Demographics**

Moore (2010) and his company R.J. Metrics collected “detailed data on 2,883 Chatroulette sessions that tied users to geography, gender, appearance, and more” (Moore, 2010). Their findings indicate that about half of all Chatroulette “spins” or selections, connect a user to someone from the United States (Moore, 2010). “In chat sessions involving a single person, 89% of users are male, and 11% are female” (Moore, 2010). 8% of “spins” showed multiple people behind the camera. 1 in 3 females appear as part of such a group and 1 in 12 males appear in a group (Moore, 2010). The majority of Chatroulette users, 70% are young adults (Moore, 2010). 20% were estimated to be under the age of 20 and 10% were estimated to be age 40 and older (Moore, 2010).

In any given “spin”, you’re most likely to encounter a solo male. The Moore (2010) study indicates “72% of our chat sessions were with solo males, 11% contained no person at all, and 9% showed a solo female” (Moore, 2010). A user is also is also twice as likely to encounter a sign requesting female nudity than the chance to encounter actual female nudity (Moore, 2010). However, Moore (2010) found that 1 in 8 “spins” yields R-rated content. The study labeled this category “perverts” and defined users from this category by any one of the following characteristics: the user does not appear to be wearing any clothing, the user is displaying explicit nudity, and/or the user appears to be committing a lewd act (Moore, 2010). “The pervert rate in Chatroulette is 13% of all users” (Moore, 2010). Breaking down this category into male and female users, 8% of all perverts are female (Moore, 2010). This means that out of all Chatroulette users, which can be 20,000 on a typical night, less than 1% of chats will contain a female pervert (Moore, 2010).


 * Sexual Content and Controversy**

Sutter (2010) remarks,

“Two of the first four video chatters randomly selected for CNN by Chatroulette were naked when their pictures appeared. The fifth person simply held a sign up to the screen that read: Please show me your boobs” (p.1)

Chatroulette has caught a lot of attention with its quick growth in popularity within the first three months of the site’s launch. “Statistics show that membership in Chatroulette has grown by 500% since 2009” (Dang et. al, 2010). The results of the Moore (2010) study indicate that there is a high percentage of sexual content and users seeking sexual interactions when 1 in 8 spins features R-rated content (Moore, 2010). The site also contains a high volume of solo male users, approximately 72% of all users, which may indicate that Chatroulette technology is a resource for male internet users seeking sexual communication with females. The “pervert category” which is 13% of all users, is also 92% male, indicating that a portion of males use Chatroulette as a form of sexual communication. This can be by displaying nudity or sexual behavior and requesting sexual behaviors from their chat partner.

Chatroulette’s operating principle of random selection prevents filtering the users that a user will encounter. This has created a controversial discussion surrounding the website and its use for sexual communication. The potential for harm and explicit content exposure to users under the age of 18 is possible. Users are supposed to be 16 years old and there is a button on the website that allows a user to flag a video chat they find offensive. However, “Kids, for instance, do not have to enter birthdates to start chatting on the site, as is the case on some online social networks” (Sutter, 2010). There is a clear risk of pornography and users trafficking through the site are not screened for age.

Legal hype outside of the age group concern still exists because of the sexual behavior occurring on the site regardless of age. “ Ryan Calo, an attorney and residential fellow at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society, said some activities taking place on the site, such as men masturbating in front of the camera, may be illegal” (Sutter, 2010). Sutter (2010) comments, “Exhibitionism, exposure of person is unlawful ”. However, because of the random selection of the site, it may be difficult to prove a user intended to cause harm or to view illegal images (Sutter, 2010). One proposed solution is to install filters to allow Chatroulette users to meet with other individuals on the basis of shared interests to help reduce the amount of undesired sexual images (Sutter, 2010). Whether the legal controversy surrounding the website will increase or decrease is a question for the future of the website and may be dependent on a variety of factors, including the population of users and new regulation measures for users on the website.


 * References**

Bilton, N. (2010, February 20). The Surreal World of Chatroulette. //The New York Times//. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/weekinreview/21bilton.html

Chatroulette Map [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://www.chatroulettemap.com/

[I'm a Cat]. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/the-24-best-chat-roulette-screenshots-nsfw

Moore, R. J. (2010, March 16). Chatroulette Is 89 Percent Male, 47 Percent American, And 13 Percent Perverts. //TechCrunch//. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/16/chatroulette-stats-male-perverts/

Stone, B. (2010, February 13). Chatroulette's Creator, 17, Introduces Himself - NYTimes.com. //Technology - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com//. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/chatroulettes-founder-17-introduces-himself/

Sutter, J. D. (2010, February 24). Chatroulette offers random webcam titillation - CNN.com. //CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News//. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/02/22/chatroulette.random.chat/index.html?hpt=C1

Xing, X., Dang, J., Han, R., Liu, X., & Mishra, S. (2010, July). //Intrusions into Privacy in Video Chat Environments: Attacks and Countermeasures// [Scholarly project]. In //Intrusions into Privacy in Video Chat Environments: Attacks and Countermeasures//. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1007/1007.1473.pdf