Text roulette

Text roulette or SMS roulette is a game played chiefly by schoolchildren, in which they compose a text message on their mobile phone then send it to one of their contacts or a made-up number at random.

A person typing a text message

Popular use

BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Scott Mills makes regular use of texting as a form of entertainment. In an early form of the game in 2007, he encouraged listeners to send "I love you" messages to a contact at random.^[1]

In the last episode of Series 3 of Channel 4 sitcom The Inbetweeners, the four main characters play text roulette with each other's phones.

The BBC One series Michael McIntyre's Big Show, broadcast since 2015, includes a "send to all" segment where the host asks a guest to send an embarrassing message to everyone on their contacts list.^[2]

Demographics of users

In 2010, a United Kingdom survey of people aged 13 to 16 found that one in five had played a variation of the game in which the message must be obscene. A similar proportion had sent texts to previously unknown mobile numbers typed in at random, asking for the recipient to reply. Motivations included loneliness, "fun" and boredom, while 9% admitted being "dared" to do it. Of those who had played text roulette, one in three admitted to being in trouble from the recipient.^[3]

Dangers

Neil McHugh, who had commissioned the survey, said it showed that young people did not realize the dangers of texting unknown numbers.^[4]

A writer for business organisation ICAEW commented that text roulette is a modern variation on an old pattern, i.e. young people finding ways to irritate adults by doing what is forbidden, but raises concerns about child safety.^[5]

In October 2010, Textslide debuted as an application that enables people to easily and safely engage in SMS conversations with strangers.^[6]

See also

• Chatroulette
• Omegle
• Zumbl