Chatroulette is a site that lets you talk to an Internet stranger via webcam. It could be awesome. It could be incredibly disturbing. I take no blame for whatever you find on the site.
In both cases, it’s addictive. You never know what you’re going to come across next (though it’s likely you’ll see a man doing things no one should ever want to see…).
Reader Anthony found a way to make the most of the site:
In an effort to counter [the questionable content,] I spent all day yesterday on the site putting up science videos like Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot, the Symphony of Science videos, a clip of Richard Feynman and a few others to see people’s reactions.
He asked the strangers to give a thumbs up if they love science and a thumbs down if they don’t. Here’s what he saw:
Anthony’s asking that others join him on March 20th and find a way to promote science on the website that day.
I don’t know how effective it is, but it sure beats a lot of the other things you could come across 🙂