Text roulette
Encyclopedia
Text roulette or SMS roulette is a game played chiefly by minors, in which they compose a message on their mobile phone
then send it to one of their contacts or a made-up number at random.
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.
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.
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 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.
In October 2010, Textslide debuted as the first official application that enables people to easily and safely engage in Text Roulette.
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
then send it to one of their contacts or a made-up number at random.
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
disc jockey Scott Mills
Scott Mills
Scott Robert Mills is a British radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor, best known for presenting The Scott Mills Show on BBC Radio 1...
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.
In 2010, a United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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
Loneliness
Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. However, it is a subjective experience...
, "fun
Fun
Fun is the enjoyment of pleasure and, according to Johan Huizinga, "an absolutely primary category of life, familiar to everybody at a glance right down to the animal level." Fun may be encountered in many human activities during work, social functions, recreation and play, and even seemingly...
" and boredom
Boredom
Boredom is an emotional state experienced when an individual is without any activity or is not interested in their surroundings. The first recorded use of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens, written in 1852, in which it appears six times, although the expression to be a...
, 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.
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 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.
In October 2010, Textslide debuted as the first official application that enables people to easily and safely engage in Text Roulette.