Everyone from the mainstream media to celebrities is obsessing over Chatroulette, the website that randomly connects users through one-on-one videochat with strangers around the world. Why is it so addictive?

As Wired's resident Chatroulette expert (I've been using the service since it was created in late 2009), I think I know why:

Inner internet exhibitionist unleashed, no strings attached ———————————————————–

Let's say you’re a bouncer at a high-class club in Vegas who wants to share his drunken exploits with the world – or, maybe you and your friends want to create a choreographed homage to Lady Gaga's "Pokerface."* Before Chatroulette, there were consequences for uploading your antics to the web (nasty YouTube comments, the possibility that people will make fun of your "Singing in the Shower" video for decades to come). Chatroulette provides the opportunity to act like a crazy person online while still, for the most part, remaining anonymous. Just click Next when you're done entertaining (or, alternatively, gaping at) your current Chatroulette buddy, and voila: a new person for you to amuse.

Next button ————

Think of Chatroulette as a gigantic dinner party, only there's no need to awkwardly excuse yourself when you're bored with chatting with a fellow guest. If your Chatroulette partner is droning on about his pet ferret or his fancy hat collection,* Next him! Warning: At some point you will, too, be Nexted. It happens to the best of us. It may hurt your feelings.

Throwback to a bygone, unpoliced internet era ———————————————

In the wake of dubious Facebook privacy settings and Google Buzz, Chatroulette is a refreshing return to the days of the IRC and old-school AOL chat rooms. Of course, this means you’re going to see some X-rated stuff — this is not a site for minors, or for the squeamish. But, in an age in which potential employers scan your social networking profiles before calling your references, part of the appeal of Chatroulette is in its unsupervised shock value.

Talk to all kinds of people, all over the world ———————————————–

I logged onto Chatroulette to ask fellow users about their best experiences on the site. Almost everyone I spoke with – from Florence, to Sao Paulo, to Little Rock, to Shanghai – said the same thing: "I get to talk to people I otherwise never would." I heard stories about men dressed up as Dr. Seuss characters, people claiming to be messengers from Mars and forlorn teenagers seeking love advice. People can find intelligent discourse on traveling, fine wines and indie bands from Nashville, or take biology lessons from a German professor.

Most people I spoke with didn't care about trolls or X-rated body parts; they simply clicked Next when faced with someone who wasn't serious about chatting. I think Mike from Palm Springs summed up Chatroulette's allure best of all: "You never know who you're going to meet. One minute you will be talking to a person from Europe, and the next minute a guy will hold his cat up to the screen and tell you to make a face.

It's fun ———

Chatroulette's 17-year old Russian founder, Andrey Ternovskiy, told me in an e-mail that he created the site (with a $10 webcam and a few lines of code) "because I wanted to entertain myself and my friends. I am not even sure what the purpose of Chatroulette is now. Everybody finds his own way of using the site! Some people think it is a game, others think it is a dating service. I think it's cool that my service is useful for many purposes." He added that his goal, right from the beginning, was very simple: "To make something different from what currently exists on the internet and to make something that isn't boring."

I speak from experience: Chatroulette is fun, and definitely worth a try.

*Yes, I've Chatrouletted with these people.