Chatroulette Starts Blurring Video As A Filter For Objectionable Content

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uncaptionedIn a bid to maintain cultural relevance, Chatroulette has finally taken a shot at solving its biggest problem: too many pornographic users on the site. The live video chat site that connects you to other random users has recently begun blurring the images of others when you first see them, gradually un-blurring the screen over a few seconds, allowing you time to move on before seeing something you'd rather not. It's likely meant to fight back against the hordes of exhibitionists and male genitalia that have plagued the site. But is it too little, too late?

When Chatroulette went offline for a week last month, many expected a new version that would clean up the service. Instead, version 2 was pretty much the same as version 1, and widely panned by the media.

Even worse, the service has fallen behind in the video chat genre it created in terms of innovation. BlurryPeople, one of the many Chatroulette competitors out there, already implemented the same blurring function as Chatroulette earlier this month. On BlurryPeople, though, you get not a few seconds but a few minutes of time from blurred image to completely un-blurred to decide whether you want to keep chatting with the other person or click 'next' and move on.

After chatting with someone, you're then able to rate them based on how 'friendly,' 'interesting' and 'good looking' they are. The ratings can then be used to filter the type of people you want to chat with in the future.

It's this sort of system and interface that Chatroulette version 2 needed to take the site to the next level and clean up its image. But the fall of Chatroulette may be a sign that the shine has worn off randomized video chat.

That's a shame, since there is something to be said for the serendipitous discovery of content on the Web, like with the newly launched Google Instant, which shows search results as you type your query, or its impressive imitator YouTube Instant, which does something similar for YouTube videos. I think there's a desire beyond mere curiosity that would motivate one to go onto a Chatroulette-type site: the chance to form new and different connections, even if they are fleeting. But the service would need to provide a safe environment and one where people don't have to worry so much about rejection when the other party decides to move on to another person. Internet anonymity, however, tends to bring out the worst in people, something Chatroulette unfortunately wasn't able to adequately prepare for.


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