Text roulette or SMS roulette is a game played chiefly by schoolchildren, in which they compose a

text message Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/ laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...

on their

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

then send it to one of their contacts or a made-up number at random.

Popular use

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

disc jockey

Scott Mills Scott Robert Mills (born 28 March 1973) is an English radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor. He is best known for presenting the '' Scott Mills'' show on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2022 and since then, on BBC Radio 2. Mills has also ...

makes regular use of

texting Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible compute ...

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. In the last episode of Series 3 of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

sitcom ''

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television teen sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 until 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager ...

'', the four main characters play text roulette with each other's phones. The BBC One series ''

Michael McIntyre's Big Show ''Michael McIntyre's Big Show'' (adapted from ''Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show'') is a British variety and stand-up comedy television series, presented by British comedian Michael McIntyre. The show was originally a one-off Christmas spe ...

'', 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.

Demographics of users

In 2010, a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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 An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

. A similar proportion had sent texts to previously unknown mobile numbers typed in at random, asking for the recipient to reply. Motivations included

loneliness Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived isolation. Loneliness is also described as social paina psychological mechanism which motivates individuals to seek social connections. It is often associated with a perceived lack ...

, "

fun Fun is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "Light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment". Etymology and usage The word ''fun'' is associated with sports, entertaining medi ...

" and

boredom In conventional usage, boredom, ennui, or tedium is an emotional and occasionally psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, is listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occu ...

, 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.

Dangers

Neil McHugh, who had commissioned the survey, said it showed that young people did not realize the dangers of texting unknown numbers. A writer for business organisation

ICAEW The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is a professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports chartered accountants and students around the world. As of July 2022, it has over 198,000 members ...

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 Child protection is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home. One of the ways to ...

. In October 2010, Textslide debuted as an application that enables people to easily and safely engage in SMS conversations with strangers.Random Chat Service Connects People via SMS
Mashable, Retrieved 2011-02-02

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Text Roulette Children's games Mobile games Roulette and wheel games Mobile phone culture Child safety Text messaging

Popular use

Demographics of users

Dangers

See also

References