Five months ago, right around the time that Andrey Ternovskiy was building Chatroulette, no one could have predicted that being "nexted" would become the modern day equivalent to a rite of passage.

But after three days of coding, Ternovskiy introduced his pet project for random video chat to friends, then users of Web forums, and from there things just spiraled.

When the New York Times talked to the 17 year-old Ternovskiy earlier in the month, he confessed that, "Last month I saw 30 million unique visitors come to the Web site and one million new people visit each day. It continues to multiply and I just couldn’t stop it from growing."

Chatroulette's astronomical growth, while impressive, tends to be tainted by the prevalence of penises, and other naughty bits, that seem to go unchecked (there is a "Report" button) due to anonymity. But, as is the case when something hits a nerve with the population, Chatroulette has spawned a slew of copycats and one-off apps. Clearly there's more to this cultural phenomenon than what initially accosts the eye.

All That Glitters Is Gold

"All that glitters is not gold ... "

Although there's truth to this Shakespearean phrase, the reality is that when it comes to the Web, the company with its name in lights is the company that most often will prevail.

Look no further than modern day fairy tale of Twitter as proof. The service was challenged by arguably better competitors in the beginning but it won the battle of attention and it now stands alone.

Chatroulette — the glittering Web property du jour — shines bright amidst a flurry of coverage from print, Web, and broadcast media outlets. We may think of Jon Stewart's satirical review of the service as jumping the shark, or the beginning of the end, but it's really just a sign that Chatroulette has permeated into pop culture. With upwards of 1.5 million visitors a day, that notion is fast becoming inescapable.

In fact, the 17 year-old youngster from Russia is currently touring the U.S., entertaining offers from venture capitalists and investment firms. Ternovskiy's gone on record to say that investors and buyers are more interested in him then he is in them. Apparently he could sell for $1 million today if he wanted to.

As Ternovskiy contemplates how best to move forward, one thing is becoming increasingly obvious: The time is ripe for inside and outside bets on Chatroulette's wheel of opportunity. This glitter will become gold.

A Hit at Parties Is Still a Hit

Often described as a distraction for college kids, Chatroulette has found an audience because it's fun — especially at parties. Much like Rock Band or other group entertainment activities, there's power in the collective experience. The guaranteed randomness of Chatroulette, even with the occasional appearance of a penis, is sure to entertain.

Chatroulette doesn't need to be serious to succeed. Just as there's a monetizable niche for funny cat pictures, so too is there room for a random video chat site. Lest we forget, those Lolcats generate 8.5 million page views a day, with the Cheezburger Network bringing in "more than seven figures from advertising, licensing feeds, and merchandise sales," per a Fast Company report last year.

Even if Chatroulette is relegated to the entertainment-only realm of the Web, that could very well be all it needs to continue to thrive.

Promise in Possibility







Okay there are penises. And plenty of them. But there's also Merton using Chatroulette for piano improv, and Ben Fold's playing live in concert. It's the colorful nature of the service's users and the lure of the unexpected that have helped Chatroulette flourish.

Sure anonymity takes the form of frightening figures from time to time, but there's promise in the possibility of what the site could become. Already, Chatroulette is testing custom roulettes which could offer a more structured experience for those with particular interests.

The custom roulettes are auto-generated via subdomains. If one doesn't exist, type it and it will come into being. So sandiego.chatroulette, sports.chatroulette or ucla.chatroulette could become like Chatroulette rooms offering a little less randomness and experiences more suitable for the squeamish.

Right now you'll be lucky to find anyone using these custom roulettes, but as site frequenters happen upon the new feature, we're bound to see this change and become a better way for users to maintain their freedom of expression while having more focused conversations with strangers or neighbors.

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Image via Yevgeny Kondakov/Spiegel, Buzzfeed and courtesy of iStockphoto, Irochka_T.