Chatroulette: Difference between revisions

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The website uses [[Adobe Flash]] to display video and access the user's [[webcam]]. Flash's peer-to-peer network capabilities (via [[Real Time Media Flow Protocol|RTMFP]]) allow almost all video and audio streams to travel directly between user computers, without using server bandwidth.
The website uses [[Adobe Flash]] to display video and access the user's [[webcam]]. Flash's peer-to-peer network capabilities (via [[Real Time Media Flow Protocol|RTMFP]]) allow almost all video and audio streams to travel directly between user computers, without using server bandwidth.


{{As of|March 2010}}, Ternovskiy runs the site from his childhood bedroom, assisted by four programmers who are working remotely.<ref name=spiegel/> After an early growth phase had been financed by a $10,000 investment from his parents (paid back soon afterwards), the site is supported by advertising links to an online dating service as of March 2010.<ref name=spiegel/>
{{As of|March 2010}}, Ternovskiy runs the site from his childhood bedroom, assisted by four programmers who are working remotely.<ref name=spiegel/>Initially the site was funded by a $10000 dollar investment from his parents. In March 2010 the site began showing advertisements for an online dating service.<ref name=spiegel/>


==Culture==
==Culture==

Revision as of 15:24, 22 March 2010

Chatroulette
File:Chatroulette screenshot (non-free).png
Type of site
Instant messaging, video chat, stranger chat
OwnerAndrey Ternovskiy
Created byAndrey Ternovskiy
RevenueAdvertising
URLChatroulette.com

Chatroulette is a website that pairs random strangers for webcam-based conversations. Visitors to the website randomly begin an online chat (video, audio and text) with another visitor. At any point, either user may leave the current chat by initiating another random connection.

Overview

The Chatroulette web site was created by Andrey Ternovskiy, a 17-year-old high school student in Moscow.[2] Ternovskiy says the concept arose from video chats he used to have with friends on Skype, and that he wrote the first version of Chatroulette in "two days and two nights".[3] Ternovskiy chose the name "Chatroulette" after watching The Deer Hunter, a 1978 film set in the Vietnam War where some prisoners of war are forced to play Russian roulette.[4]

In early November 2009, shortly after the site launched, it had 500 visitors per day.[3] One month later there were 50,000.[3] In February 2010, the site was featured on Good Morning America,[5] in The New York Times,[2] in New York magazine,[6] and on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.[7] In that month, there were about 35,000 people on Chatroulette at any given time.[8] Around the beginning of March, Ternovskiy estimated the site to have around 1.5 million users, approximately 33% of them from the United States and 5% from Germany.[3]

The website uses Adobe Flash to display video and access the user's webcam. Flash's peer-to-peer network capabilities (via RTMFP) allow almost all video and audio streams to travel directly between user computers, without using server bandwidth.

As of March 2010, Ternovskiy runs the site from his childhood bedroom, assisted by four programmers who are working remotely.[3]Initially the site was funded by a $10000 dollar investment from his parents. In March 2010 the site began showing advertisements for an online dating service.[3]

Culture

A participant whose chat partner clicks the Chatroulette Next button to move on to a new partner is described as being "nexted" or "F9'd".[9]

Celebrities claiming to have used Chatroulette include Kelly Osbourne, Joel Madden, Nicole Richie, and Perez Hilton.[10] Unverified sightings of celebrities have been reported. These include Paris Hilton, Ashton Kutcher, Jonas Brothers, Jessica Alba and BJ Penn.[10][11]

On February 27 at the Soundwave Festival in Melbourne, Australia, Faith No More streamed their festival performance live on Chatroulette.[12]

Chatroulette missed connections attempts to help Chatroulette users that were unintentionally cut off mid-conversation before exchanging contact details to reconnect with their chat partner.[13]

The website requires users to be at least 16 years old, and prohibits pornographic behavior. Users who experience harassment or witness illegal, immoral, or pornographic activity may report the offending user. After three users have complained about the same participant, he or she is banned from the service[3] for 10 minutes[citation needed].

Niche sites with functionality imitating Chatroulette have been growing in number, although none has yet to gain its popularity and notoriety. [14]

References

  1. ^ Alexa Internet (18 March 2010). "Site Info from Alexa: Chatroulette.com: Traffic Stats". www.alexa.com. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b Stone, Brad (2010-02-13). "Chatroulette's Creator, 17, Introduces Himself - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com". Bits.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Yevgeny Kondakov and Benjamin Bidder: 17-Year-Old Chatroulette Founder: 'Mom, Dad, the Site Is Expanding' Interview with Andrey Ternovskiy, Der Spiegel, 5 March 2010
  4. ^ Nick Bilton: One on One: Andrey Ternovskiy, Creator of Chatroulette (interview) Bits Blog, The New York Times online, March 12, 2010
  5. ^ "Chatroulette: Talking to Strangers on Internet - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  6. ^ Anderson, Sam (2010-02-05). "Is ChatRoulette the Future of the Internet or Its Distant Past? - New York Magazine". Nymag.com. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  7. ^ "Tech-Talch - Jon encounters several reporters and naked masturbating men as he explores Chatroulette". www.thedailyshow.com/. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  8. ^ John D. Sutter, CNN (2010-02-24). "Chatroulette offers random webcam titillation - CNN.com". Edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2010-02-28. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  9. ^ "Chatroulette: 71% men, 15% women and 14% perverts". 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
  10. ^ a b "10 Celebs you may chance upon on Chatroulette". 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  11. ^ "Twitter is so 2009. Celebs discover scary new online social site, Chat Roulette". 2010-02-25. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
  12. ^ http://www.itwire.com/your-it-news/home-it/37217-faith-no-more-stream-entire-show-to-chatroulette
  13. ^ "Calling All Romantics: Chatroulette Now Has Its Own Missed Connections". mashable.com. 2010-02-24. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  14. ^ "Chatroulette Clones: A New Market for Random Connections". readwriteweb.com. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2010-03-08.

External links