Chatroulette, the Internet phenomenon that allows users to jump into video chats with random, anonymous strangers (and all too frequently, their genitalia), has launched some new features that give users a bit more control over the kinds of fellow Chatrouletters they’re paired up with.
As first noticed by NewTeeVee, Chatroulette has launched a feature called Localroulette that will use your IP address to direct you to a channel with other users from your region. A second, related feature is Channelroulette, which lets you start or join a channel with a custom title/theme.
Unsurprisingly, the top user-created channels are primarily focused on sex. That may change as more users become aware of the feature, but don’t count on it.
However, even for users who aren’t eager to engage in XXX-rated chitchat, there are a few pluses. First off, it’s really easy to create your own custom channel by simply appending a subdomain to the normal Chatroulette URL in the format example.Chatroulette.com, which has plenty of potential uses. And, as NewTeeVee points out, it’s possible that more lewd users will congregate in the sex-themed channels, leaving everyone else alone (again, don’t count on it).
Look for more changes from Chatroulette in the near future. We previously reported that its young founder Andrey Ternovskiy has enlisted Napster founder Shawn Fanning as an advisor, and the site may start using filters and reputation systems to help weed out users who have a habit of spontaneously displaying their genitals.
Chatroulette! is a web site that allows users to connect to and video chat with random (site-chosen) users. It was developed by Andrey Ternovskiy of Moscow. The idea may have been influenced by Omegle, a similar service for text chat only. Chatroulette uses seven high-end servers all located in Frankfurt, Germany. Network throughput is 7 gigabits a second. The application uses Adobe Flash Player, and the RTMFP peer-to-peer technology acquired from Amicima and introduced in Flash Player 10.0. From now on...
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