Chatroulette pairs users together with other randomly selected users, who are then expected to engage in conversation of some kind. Created in late 2009 by a 17-year-old high school student from Moscow, Russia, the service rapidly grew in popularity, attracting tens of thousands of users each day just a short time after launching. Though still heavily populated by naked men, Chatroulette has over time developed a reputation as a pop-culture phenomenon, attracting the attention of several notable comedians, including Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien, and Daniel Tosh, each of whom have separately lampooned the service for its high concentration of internet perverts.

At the same time, however, Chatrolutte remains a popular destination for curious individuals willing to wade through a sea of creepy men in order to connect with other likeminded individuals hoping simply to meet new people. Chatroulette is also frequented by a number of popular internet personalities, most notably Merton, a Colorado-based amateur pianist who performs improvised songs about the users he is paired with (see video below). The service has also spawned a vast collection of prank videos, typically wherein an unsuspecting male is shown what appears to be an attractive girl preparing to remove her clothing, which is quickly replaced by an image of an overweight man in the nude (see video below).