The Web has provided a seemingly endless number of avenues for individuals to interact since its inception. Blogs, message boards and newspaper Web sites have become venues for expression and heated debate.Perhaps one of the most defining aspects of the Internet is anonymity. Veiled behind a user name from an undisclosed location in cyber space, this relatively young venue for discourse has remained fairly stagnant. Sites like Facebook create a sense of identity for users, but communication on the Internet is for the most part akin to the scrawling in toilet stalls.Such is the case with the latest Internet sensation: Chatroulette.Chatroulette is a sort of StumbleUpon meets YouTube. Users go to the site — Chatroulette.com — and spin the wheel. No registration is required. They are immediately paired with another random individual sitting in front of a webcam. They can then strike up a conversation or click “next” and find a new person.The site, created by a Russian teenager, has taken the Web by storm. Looking at Google Trends, which creates an index to show a site’s popularity, shows an exponential increase in the site’s popularity. Interestingly, the site has been particularly popular in Tunisia.The randomness of connecting with people from around the world is intriguing, but the decorum on Chatroulette suffers from the same problems inherent with anonymity.Users beware. Trolling the waters of Chatroulette is not for the faint at heart. You will encounter a plethora of male genitalia, racist propaganda and general mean-spiritedness while going through the site, especially in the wee hours of the night.This new, more dynamic medium for anonymity has not lost the utter lack of civility which comes with individuals not being identified.The first night I used Chatroulette I declared that the Internet had changed forever. This, I thought, was going to be a major bullet point in the development in the Internet. But I became a bit more skeptical of my initial thoughts after the initial excitement — or perhaps shock — of using the site went away.The activities that take place on Chatroulette are little more than a freak show. And I’ve had my fun on Bourbon Street, but it’s not where I typically go for a night out in New Orleans.What then is the significance of Chatroulette — besides being fodder for Chris Hanson?   It will hardly be a game-changing development in the big picture. It will undoubtedly be a fixture in popular culture for some time to come, but it hasn’t changed the fundamental issue of anonymity on the Internet.Anonymity is a powerful force with the potential to do good things. Writing under an assumed identity can be a way to protect the identity of authors whose viewpoints would put them in danger of reprisal. It allows people to communicate ideas openly, challenging social norms.But Chatroulette — as well as the other forms of anonymous communication on the Internet — serves as a case example of all that is bad about anonymity. Lewd and mischievous acts abound. So are, undoubtedly, pedophiles and predators.  This is not to say the technology behind Chatroulette doesn’t have potential as an interesting and engaging way to communicate. On occasion the site can facilitate civil and profitable conversations which transcend borders.But the site is like the Wild West as it is currently set up — allowing individuals to connect without any sort of registration. And there’s no sheriff in town.Mark Macmurdo is a 23-year-old history and economics senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mmacmurdo.—–Contact Mark Macmurdo at [email protected]