A couple nights ago after giving up on a particularly dry reading for class, I walked downstairs to discover my housemates playing around on Chatroulette, a website that pairs you with random webcam chat partners. Sound horrifying? It is. But it’s also ridiculously addictive.

Here’s how it works: You visit the website, and without having to sign up for an account or even choose a nickname, you’re paired up with a random stranger. If you don’t like the looks of your chat partner, you can click “Next” and Chatroulette will pick another person at random. When you’ve found somebody who isn’t too creepy or too naked (more on that below), you can chat via text or audio.

About every ten Chatroulette cycles features male genitalia, so I wouldn’t visit if you’re easily offended (or sitting in lecture). But every now and then you’ll run across somebody who isn’t creepy or boring – like the biker guy from Chicago who introduced us to his Ukrainian wife, or Phillippe, my housemate’s new French boyfriend.

Not just for boredom-induced chats with random strangers, Chatroulette  presents the opportunity for all kinds of social experiments, like the “If You Turn Your Head I Win” game. This guy writes, “If you turn your head I win” on a piece of paper and flips the camera sideways, and tallies up every head-turn he gets. It’s great seeing the reactions of “losers,” most of whom crack up and give the guy a big thumbs-up.

Oh, and you might run into Jon Stewart.