Chatroulette paired you with a random stranger over webcam and let either of you hit Next. Built by 17-year-old Andrey Ternovskiy in late 2009, it exploded in February and March 2010, inspired piano improvisers and TV segments, and then collapsed under a flood of nudity.
- Domain in 2010
- chatroulette.com
- Launched
- November 2009
- Founders
- Andrey Ternovskiy
- Owner in 2010
- Andrey Ternovskiy
- Status today
- Still active
What people used it for
- Random video chat with strangers
- Pranks, costumes and improvised music
- Screenshots shared on blogs
Interface characteristics
- Two video panes stacked on the left
- Text chat log on the right
- Big Next button
Notable features
- Fastest-rising search term of 2010 according to Google Zeitgeist
What happened later
Chatroulette added moderation and image recognition, faded from the mainstream, and still operates.
Archived on the Wayback Machine
Archived pages open on web.archive.org (Internet Archive). They are historical captures, not part of this exhibit.
Related
- WebsiteSupported
Omegle
Talk to strangers
Omegle launched in 2009 as an anonymous text chat with strangers and added video chat in March 2010 as Chatroulette's popularity surged. Its tagline, "Talk to strangers!", captured a moment when...
- CultureSupported
Chatroulette goes viral
The random-webcam site built by a Russian teenager exploded in February, reaching hundreds of thousands of daily users and becoming, per Google, the fastest-rising search of 2010.
