First there was Facebook, then Twitter. Now the latest craze in social networking puts a teenager or college student live online in front of total strangers, never knowing what might be said or done.

It’s called Chat Roulette, and some say it’s a dark and disturbing online place to be, a world of endless encounters with strangers who watch each other, IM, talk or just stare at their screens. Press “play” and your webcam is activated. Hit “next” and a new stranger arrives.Chat Roulette can be quirky, fun, even creative, its users say. But it can also be graphic, or worse.

“It can be perverted and sick,” said Scott Bauman, a digital marketing expert for Greenough Communications. “When there is an opportunity to confront someone doing something lewd and lascivious, that’s a potential sex crime,” he said.At any given time, tens of thousands of people may be logged on to Chat Roulette. Some dismiss it as offensive.

“I think it’s gross, really disgusting,” said one Northeastern University student.But others said they find it a fascinating social exercise.”I think the fun of it is you have this idea that it could be someone from anywhere in the world,” said another NEU student.

College students are Chat Roulette’s biggest followers. They argue it’s all anonymous and if you don’t like what you see, just click to disconnect. But when a colleague at WCVB-TV agreed to take a look, she saw mostly men engaging in pornographic behavior.It’s something the 17-year-old Russian who created Chat Roulette may not have anticipated. But as the content becomes increasingly pornographic, the easy access is a big concern.

No registration or verification of age is required on the site, just an open mike and a webcam.”My 5-year-old could easily get in because there’s no barrier entry now,” said Bauman. “With any explosion, there’s always some sort of collateral damage. Parents need to see this as a wake up call.”

Article from http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/23238688/detail.html – The Boston Channel.

This is the craziest PSA I’ve seen in a while, and it has been marketed on a look-a-like ChatRoulette site called Do You Chat.

It starts out like a regular CR screen and you start seeing random people looking at you.  Give it about 5 minutes and you should see a relatively attractive girl come on screen.  Keep watching…

Can you believe that?  Someone comes in the background and starts beating the shit out of her and then a message comes up on the right saying:

> In this case, you can’t help her.
>
>
> But if it happens to your sister, your neighbor or a friend, there is something you can do.
>
> Contact your local organization.
> Ni putes ni soumises, french organization against domestic violence.

Pretty powerful stuff.

Chatroulette, has a penis problem.

According to one survey, 13 percent of Chatrouletters are “perverts”, that is one in every eight spins will yield “adult” related content (views of people masturbating, having sex, or just plain taking their pants down).

Andrey Ternovskiy, the 17-year-old creator of Chatroulette, has plans to curb the video site’s graphic content in the near future.

What does Ternovskiy have in mind? Well…

Ternovskiy has made a subtle but important tweak already.  This is changes to the “reporting people” function designed to cut down on the male genitalia that famously crop up throughout the site.  This includes a 45 minute ban when someone reports you.  This change seem to be working, as we were “nexted” by 30-plus people without seeing a single offense. In one case, we did encounter a couple middle fingers, which Ternovskiy mentioned is an accepted greeting on Chatroulette.

Other forthcoming developments include a new feature likely to be deemed “Chessroulette.”

Check out the interview with Ternovskiy below, then see 8 more ideas for putting an end to Chatroulette’s R-rated content. See some of the Chatroulette craziness on our selection of the wildest Chatroulette screenshots.

When Merton the Chatroulette Piano Guy joined the community last month, a large amount of people believed him to be musician Ben Folds from Ben Folds Five. Folds, in turn, started imitating Merton at concerts, uploading his “Odes to Merton” onto YouTube himself. Mashable recently sat down with Ben Folds via Skype to talk about Merton, Chat Roulette and whether he is, in fact, the man behind the mysterious hood.

After hearing this interview with Folds, I’m pretty sure that he and Merton are not the same person. Check out the interview below if you’re still not convinced, check out another interview I’m posting below also from mashable but with Merton himself.

A new Web site gives complete strangers face-to-face access to your children. The Web site, Chat Roulette, engages a computer’s webcam and instantly connects to another user who could be anywhere in the world.

The Web site ensures users cannot choose the person they talk to, though they can choose to disconnect with chat partners at anytime (NEXT’ing).

It’s an interesting way for adults to meet new people, but child safety experts said that it is not a place for children.

“Parents should be aware of this Web site,” said Cpl. William Liczbinski from the Michigan Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The website site has a very simple interface and clearly states that users must be at least 16 years old and remain clothed; however, there’s nothing to ensure those requirements are enforced.

Many children have already discovered the site and where children go in cyberspace, Liczbinski said predators often follow.

“In the last 10 minutes just clicking around, we saw three men openly masturbating, we found at least two or three others just waiting to masturbate, and a couple actually having intercourse,” said Liczbinski.

Investigators said many times webcams were pointed below the waist, indicating to them, that the user would expose themselves to particular targets.

In one case, a man held a stuffed animal in his lap. ICAC officers said the toy was significant and shows that man was targeting kids.

“Maybe a child would see how cute the bunny rabbit is and all of a sudden, the bunny rabbit gets pulled away, and the child is exposed to something they shouldn’t be exposed to,” said Liczbinski.

A worrisome aspect of this seemingly simple website is that it allows users to talk face-to-face in real time.

ICAC officers fear that, that could speed up the relationship between a child and a potential predator.

“It becomes a more personal experience. Children, based on my experience, easily give up personal information about themselves. Name, address phone number, what school they go to,” said Liczbinski. “It’s just because they’re kids and these people are preying on these kids and know what to say to get them to give up that information.”

Parents can create online boundaries fairly easily. Many web browsers offer safeguards.

Here is a step-by-step video guide on how to block Web sites on Internet Explorer (care of ClickonDetroit.com).

Watch: How To Block Sites On Internet Explorer

But as always, police said the best thing parents can do to prevent online predators from targeting their children is to have many conversations with them about where they go online, what sites they visit and ANY friends they’ve made online.

“Get involved, because the more you know the more you can help your child not be exposed to something that they shouldn’t be,” said Liczbinski.