So Chatroulette is the new live chat phenomenon that is sweeping the globe. For those that have not heard of it yet, Chatroulette randomly matches you up with strangers around the world for video, audio, and text chat.

After being told about this by a friend, I decided to spin the wheel for myself and see whether there was any value in the new online tool as a communication channel for brands and businesses. As you will be able to tell from my account below, the answer is a big fat no.

First I was confronted with a few teenagers who were quite upset at having an overweight PR guy come up on their live stream,  they quickly moved on in pursuit of better things.

However, my fourth spin of the chat wheel was a little more surprising to say the least. What appeared on my live feed was a middle aged man pleasuring himself. Clearly he was much more used to seeing shocked users than I was at seeing people like him and he paused, clicked the mouse and I was transported to another user.

Ten minutes in and a couple more naked guys later an ‘exhibitionist’ couple were performing for the camera, this I imagine was the pot of gold the teenagers at the start of my Chatroulette journey were looking for, I thought best to leave and let more appreciating users take advantage of the show.

It was not until the final moments did I meet an interesting user, a guitarist from Maine who wanted to play a couple of songs and get feedback.

So, overall my Chatroulette experience was a strange and pornographic one. I doubt I will be heading back any time soon and I am concerned at the lack of restrictions; by the looks of things anyone of any age can use the service, which is worrying.

Is there any value in using it as a marketing tool? Well French Connection thinks so as it has launched a Chatroulette competition. I am sure more will follow suit  and dive head first into the hype. Right now though I would not want any of my clients associated with it, something as unregulated and as seemingly seedy as this has the potential to seriously backfire.