By now, you are likely aware of a new online video chatting site called Chatroulette. The concept is simple; instead of just video Skyping with people you already know on your computer’s webcam, with Chatroulette, you get a random assignment of people to video chat with. Don’t like what you see? Spin again and find someone new. If you want to find someone closer to your age, someone in another country, someone cuter, they might just be a spin away. But so maybe someone partially disrobed, or engaged in on-camera masturbation. One estimate, from the Texas Attorney General’s investigation (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/030810dnnatchatroulette.18a0fb88b.html), is that nearly half of the people found on the site were behaving in inappropriate ways.
Yes, that’s right. Within a few weeks of the site’s launch, the internet perverts are out in force, using the site to find video sex partners or just to get the bizarre thrill of exposing themselves to strangers. Naturally, this phenomenon has attracted nearly hysterical amounts of media exposure because it includes the magic variables guaranteeing interest and ratings:
- Internet
- Nudity
- Predators
- Children
We’re left with wondering whether or not growing teen and tween interest in the site is natural or a result of the media “panic” over the site. I haven’t heard of too many kids actually using the site other than on a few news broadcasts. Harvard’s danah boyd recently Tweeted with dripping sarcasm, “Congrats news media. In framing ChatRoulette as scary & risky, you've motivated many teens who shouldn't participate to do so. Good job.” Those who have seen the site either report looking at it in a group as a “dare” to see how long it took for something inappropriate to appear or just think the whole concept is gross. I think Jon Stewart and “The Daily Show” captured the circus-like atmosphere in their clip, showing mostly news anchors and reporters on the site. (Watch that clip here: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-4-2010/tech-talch---chatroulette )
For a more serious review of the site and associated concerns for children, here’s Larry Magid’s article. http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10454519-238.html
The Texas Attorney General is so concerned about the potential for innocent children to be injured by content and creeps on the site, he took the unusual step of issuing an alert. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/030810dnnatchatroulette.18a0fb88b.html
I do not mean to downplay the nastiness of this site and wish to remind you that as a caring parent, you MUST block this site from the view of children. Fortunately, the free, FREE (did I remember to say FREE?) OnlineFamily.Norton family safety service can be used to easily block chatroulette.com and any other adult or web chatting site. Just go into the settings and add the site name to sites to be blocked. Repeat the step for each child’s account in your home. And make sure you tell the fellow parents in your school, church, synagogue or community group about how easy it is to use OnlineFamily.Norton to keep your children safe and make sure your household internet rules are upheld.
Take my advice though and don’t even mention the site to your kids if you think it will motivate them to “check it out.” If you’ve blocked it using OnlineFamily.Norton, you’ll be alerted by email if they try to access it and then you’ll be able to have a good conversation about the site’s concerns.