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Show HN: I made a chat roulette for remote workers

123 points by Pete-Codes 7y ago

Pete-Codes 7y ago
I thought I'd put something together for people working from home. I've been working remotely since July and honestly, the lack of social contact gets old fast.
- trwhite 7y ago
  By that do you mean you dislike the lack of social contact? I started a remote role in November and I'm just starting to appreciate how much I miss spending my day in the company of others.
- vasco 7y ago
  Working remotely for almost 4 years here. Whenever I join a call with co-workers to "hang out" there's no work being done. If someone is there I will speak to them or I'll want to hear what they're saying. And if we're just quiet, my work just becomes the same as if I weren't on the call except I can't have Spotify on. I think there could be a demographic for this tool, but I'd wager not a lot of work will be done while connected to it.
  - ryneandal 7y ago
    We leverage pair programming to alleviate this issue. It works incredibly well, but YMMV
- Seth_Goldberg 7y ago
  Did you choose the stock photos for your front page profiles? Are they random? Are you trying to be all 'modern' and 'diverse'? I'm always curious about those ones.
- jyriand 7y ago
  I usually just have a twitch programming stream running in the background. I can participate in the discussion via chat if i feel like it or just focus on my work while hearing someone typing in the background. Not sure why but it gives me a sense that I’m not totally cut off.
  - mey 7y ago
    I have also found Twitch to be a great way to feel a social connection while WFH as a freelancer working solo.
gczh 7y ago
Love how this might create a positive spin in light of all the pessimism in these trying times. You're awesome Pete!
yingw787 7y ago
How many people have signed up so far? Honestly, just having a Zoom call going for the entire day, with different breakout rooms and multi-person screenshare, would go a long way towards companionship. You don't even need your own platform! $15 / mo. for 100 people for a 24 hour long session :D If it's something like that, and you have DevOps and Full-stack people signed up, and we can switch breakout rooms by host request, I think I'd sign up!
itsangaris 7y ago
Our team ended up creating a Discord voice channel that we can each chime in on as needed. It gives us a "ambient chat" as one of my colleges put it and helps simulate working in the same environment.
- EGreg 7y ago
  Can someone recommend some good Discord channels to hang out with on diff intellectual subjects?
  - kjaftaedi 7y ago
    What you're asking for is wholly separate from what the person you are responding to is saying. The point of stuff like what this thread is about is mostly silent companionship to help focus on a work-related task. Engaging in active discussion, you're never going to get any work done that way.
NikolaeVarius 7y ago
This thread has so much optimism considering what chatroulette is/was/became.
- thrwaway69 7y ago
  exactly my thought.
- crusty 7y ago
  Immediately thought... So I'm chugging along with work and ready for a little endorphin hit from a social interaction and Bam, a penis. Skip, Bam, an A-hole screaming the N-word at the top of his lungs. Why again did I... People suck, I don't even want my to work anymore.
- shaneprrlt 7y ago
  This tool upgrades #metoo for the remote workforce era.
- hocuspocus 7y ago
  Interestingly, Chatroulette's founder is trying to reboot his platform. He built a small team over here in Switzerland and named a new CEO.
- kjaftaedi 7y ago
  The author just wants you to think there is a video roulette system to pretend that there is technology behind this. He's literally just sending you e-mail addresses and expecting you to figure it out from there.
Wmamouth 7y ago
Should probably make it free to use to get a faster test on your assumptions. It is a very novel assumption that people will actually use this as intended and return everyday. I see more revenue opportunity for advertising, partnerships, and affiliate relationships than a flat membership fee. You can have a premiere membership that has special features like improved vetting and ability to refine matching specifications, after a person ends up liking it, and it’s usage becomes routine. You should give users the opportunity to try, because again, its a novel assumption. For the free tier, the 728X90 leaderboard above the chat screen would be highly valuable real estate.
Waterluvian 7y ago
A few thoughts: 1. This is a really neat idea. I love the creativity. 2. But for $5 you're not giving me a whole lot more than what I can get for myself on Reddit, HN, Social Media. What do I get exactly that I can't get by just asking on social media? 3. Call me wrong, I'm not actually sure how I feel on this. But it kind of slightly maybe smells like profiteering. Do you really need $5 per person? Does the price really need to go up if I don't act fast? (I'm anxious enough, thank you) Maybe make it free and ask for server donations? 4. The two bios on the front page feel so fakey fake fake that it turns me right off the service. Maybe that's just me. 5. I really _do not_ want to discourage you. I really hope this feedback is constructive enough.
- simonskoog 7y ago
  It's just a cash grab. Created yesterday, stock photos, a '50% off' deal at $5 since inception with no demo of how it works. A lot of people will pay $5 and just not think more of it, but that can turn out pretty nice in these times. I do like the idea, but I feel that a Discord chat with separate rooms where multiple people can hang out and find eachother again would be cheaper and more useful. Edit: Actually, if someone feels like setting one up, just ping or reply here. I'd love to join and talk to all sorts of devs from all over who are remoting. My best coworker just had his last day today so doubly interesting personally.
  - romes 7y ago
    I'm interested! Just created a brand new empty one, i'm setting it up, join whenever whoever https://discord.gg/CVgKmaZ https://discord.gg/CVgKmaZ
    - tapland 7y ago
      Seems to be taking off, and saving HN users $500. See you there monday.
  - kjaftaedi 7y ago
    I think they're trying to duplicate the startups in this HN post from 2 weeks ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22426063 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22426063 At least the other sites have scheduling systems and calendars. This is literally paying someone 5$ to have a guy send you someone else's email address.
larrywright 7y ago
I wish I could be optimistic that this won’t be abused by creepy guys to show off their junk, but I’m not.
- larrywright 7y ago
  I somehow missed that this was a paid service. That is actually probably enough of a barrier to adoption that it could minimize junk-showing. It also removes the anonymity a bit (credit card), so it could serve to discourage that behavior.
- DonHopkins 7y ago
  But it's only high quality junk that's worth $5 to show off. This guy's junk would definitely qualify: LGR: Exploring a MASSIVE Retro Computer Warehouse! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvM82T3C2Ik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvM82T3C2Ik
FabienHerfray 7y ago
Loving the idea! On a different angle and for a more niche Indie Hacker audience, I've been building https://www.frenl.com https://www.frenl.com around the same concept :)
phnofive 7y ago
Five dollars? Yuck. If it’s a barrier to entry against creeps, it’s got to be higher. Maybe a deposit of some kind? Also - since you made the bizarre choice to directly reference it below the “50% off till Monday” tag - it’s coronavirus or COVID-19, not corona virus.
- KaoruAoiShiho 7y ago
  > barrier to entry against creeps, If they just put this sentence on their homepage the reaction on this thread would be totally different.
  - DonHopkins 7y ago
    All these creepless chat startups could have a price war to see who can charge the most!
eganist 7y ago
https://slack.com/apps/A11MJ51SR-donut https://slack.com/apps/A11MJ51SR-donut for anyone that wants something distantly close to this, but baked into slack. Not mine; I'm just familiar with it from past employers.
itakenaps 7y ago
Neat idea, but unwilling to spend $5.00 on something I don't need. Perhaps use affiliate links or some other type of not intrusive advertising.
waltbosz 7y ago
Hi Pete, Some questions: 1. Is the price $5 for life? Or is that monthly fee? 2. Do you get to switch buddies if it doesn't work out? Also, I enjoyed your interview on the IH Podcast.
yani 7y ago
I like the idea. We will try it out Monday
jadbox 7y ago
For people interested in talking about politics and local community civic projects, I made a chat roulette service to connect people with similar topic interests: https://dinnertable.chat/ https://dinnertable.chat/
- lucb1e 7y ago
  It says you should prepare for the debate with sources and that the next round will start in 1.5 hours... but no topic is given and when I click guest access I get a message saying that dinner is already over. The last tweet is from a few weeks ago, no topic announced there either to gauge whether I'm interested in the first place. Not sure how I should get involved other than showing up unprepared and seeing if anything is going on.
trhway 7y ago
sounds like WFH version of WeWork :)
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
lgeorget 7y ago
10 or 15 years ago it would have been a giganticover-engineered distributed XML-based chat protocol that would have been proposed... Instead we have a down-to-earth simple subscription to a centralized list of email addresses and an automatic pairing service. For 5$. What have become of our dreams... Just kidding. I wish you success but I personally won't pay 5$ for this, even if it's my first time working from home too.
lostgame 7y ago
What? It’s a paid service? Based on one of the crappiest places on the Internet? Get off my HN feed.
Disruptive_Dave 7y ago
Oh man, we did this (MVP style) about 6 years ago, called it Collabo. Tested it with a Facebook group, then we manually connected random people together and scheduled them video chats. We called it "the water cooler for solopreneurs." Really just a fun experiment more than a business. Happy to share whatever learnings I can dig up. Edit: Just found the homepage mock. "A first-of-its-kind virtual water cooler for freelancers and solopreneurs." It was invite only, too. At least at the start.
- azhenley 7y ago
  What happened with it? Why didn't you continue with the concept?
  - Disruptive_Dave 7y ago
    Bunch of reasons - never intended to do anything other than have fun with it, co-founded another startup that ended up catching a little fire, and finally, it was just me (marketer) and a designer doing this. Would love to see it work, though.
- cedricium 7y ago
  Sounds interesting! I, too, would like to know why you didn't continue with this. Also: > scheduled them video chats Does a service exist where you can programmatically schedule a video-chat/meeting for two parties?
arjawn 7y ago
something related (but not real-time like chat roulette) is https://standups.io/ https://standups.io/ “Insta Stories for Remote Workers”
thrownaway954 7y ago
cough IRC cough
- roflchoppa2 7y ago
  what channel we in dawg?
  - thrownaway954 7y ago
    the one where i put on my robe and wizard hat
roflchoppa2 7y ago
everything for money now days. catch me on freenode ##chat
crimsonalucard 7y ago
Make this for groups of people. One on ones are too intense!
iandanforth 7y ago
If you're looking for a reputable service of "someone to help you work" I highly recommend https://www.focusmate.com/ https://www.focusmate.com/ It's not about meeting new people, in fact, socializing is discouraged, but it is about real people helping each other by just being there.
abalashov 7y ago
Don’t know if it’s any good, and there clearly seems to be some controversy about that in this thread, but jibes well with my sentiments over the years, some of which have gathered extensive HN discussion: https://likewise.am/2018/12/01/seven-tough-lessons-from-ten-years-in-bootstrapped-business/ https://likewise.am/2018/12/01/seven-tough-lessons-from-ten-... https://likewise.am/2017/05/19/in-response-to-the-cult-of-remote-working/ https://likewise.am/2017/05/19/in-response-to-the-cult-of-re... Edit: the point isn’t to promote my blog posts, it’s to say that I’m glad this aspect of remote work is finally being recognised in various ways — some good, some bad, but above all else, recognised.
junetic 7y ago
Not designed for random matching, but we're beta testing a free always-on voice app for remote teams for anyone interested - https://www.presence.so https://www.presence.so
Cam_F 7y ago
Hi! Do you already have some paying customers? Best
ThePowerOfFuet 7y ago
> For European users, this website is GDPR compliant. lol. You're collecting PII but not stating uses, identity of the controller, nothing. Nope.

123 points by Pete-Codes 7y ago

I thought I'd put something together for people working from home. I've been working remotely since July and honestly, the lack of social contact gets old fast.

trwhite 7y ago
By that do you mean you dislike the lack of social contact? I started a remote role in November and I'm just starting to appreciate how much I miss spending my day in the company of others.
vasco 7y ago
Working remotely for almost 4 years here. Whenever I join a call with co-workers to "hang out" there's no work being done. If someone is there I will speak to them or I'll want to hear what they're saying. And if we're just quiet, my work just becomes the same as if I weren't on the call except I can't have Spotify on. I think there could be a demographic for this tool, but I'd wager not a lot of work will be done while connected to it.
- ryneandal 7y ago
  We leverage pair programming to alleviate this issue. It works incredibly well, but YMMV
Seth_Goldberg 7y ago
Did you choose the stock photos for your front page profiles? Are they random? Are you trying to be all 'modern' and 'diverse'? I'm always curious about those ones.
jyriand 7y ago
I usually just have a twitch programming stream running in the background. I can participate in the discussion via chat if i feel like it or just focus on my work while hearing someone typing in the background. Not sure why but it gives me a sense that I’m not totally cut off.
- mey 7y ago
  I have also found Twitch to be a great way to feel a social connection while WFH as a freelancer working solo.

gczh 7y ago

Love how this might create a positive spin in light of all the pessimism in these trying times. You're awesome Pete!

yingw787 7y ago

How many people have signed up so far? Honestly, just having a Zoom call going for the entire day, with different breakout rooms and multi-person screenshare, would go a long way towards companionship. You don't even need your own platform! $15 / mo. for 100 people for a 24 hour long session :D If it's something like that, and you have DevOps and Full-stack people signed up, and we can switch breakout rooms by host request, I think I'd sign up!

itsangaris 7y ago

Our team ended up creating a Discord voice channel that we can each chime in on as needed. It gives us a "ambient chat" as one of my colleges put it and helps simulate working in the same environment.

EGreg 7y ago
Can someone recommend some good Discord channels to hang out with on diff intellectual subjects?
- kjaftaedi 7y ago
  What you're asking for is wholly separate from what the person you are responding to is saying. The point of stuff like what this thread is about is mostly silent companionship to help focus on a work-related task. Engaging in active discussion, you're never going to get any work done that way.

NikolaeVarius 7y ago

This thread has so much optimism considering what chatroulette is/was/became.

thrwaway69 7y ago
exactly my thought.
crusty 7y ago
Immediately thought... So I'm chugging along with work and ready for a little endorphin hit from a social interaction and Bam, a penis. Skip, Bam, an A-hole screaming the N-word at the top of his lungs. Why again did I... People suck, I don't even want my to work anymore.
shaneprrlt 7y ago
This tool upgrades #metoo for the remote workforce era.
hocuspocus 7y ago
Interestingly, Chatroulette's founder is trying to reboot his platform. He built a small team over here in Switzerland and named a new CEO.
kjaftaedi 7y ago
The author just wants you to think there is a video roulette system to pretend that there is technology behind this. He's literally just sending you e-mail addresses and expecting you to figure it out from there.

Wmamouth 7y ago

Should probably make it free to use to get a faster test on your assumptions. It is a very novel assumption that people will actually use this as intended and return everyday. I see more revenue opportunity for advertising, partnerships, and affiliate relationships than a flat membership fee. You can have a premiere membership that has special features like improved vetting and ability to refine matching specifications, after a person ends up liking it, and it’s usage becomes routine. You should give users the opportunity to try, because again, its a novel assumption. For the free tier, the 728X90 leaderboard above the chat screen would be highly valuable real estate.

Waterluvian 7y ago

A few thoughts: 1. This is a really neat idea. I love the creativity. 2. But for $5 you're not giving me a whole lot more than what I can get for myself on Reddit, HN, Social Media. What do I get exactly that I can't get by just asking on social media? 3. Call me wrong, I'm not actually sure how I feel on this. But it kind of slightly maybe smells like profiteering. Do you really need $5 per person? Does the price really need to go up if I don't act fast? (I'm anxious enough, thank you) Maybe make it free and ask for server donations? 4. The two bios on the front page feel so fakey fake fake that it turns me right off the service. Maybe that's just me. 5. I really _do not_ want to discourage you. I really hope this feedback is constructive enough.

simonskoog 7y ago
It's just a cash grab. Created yesterday, stock photos, a '50% off' deal at $5 since inception with no demo of how it works. A lot of people will pay $5 and just not think more of it, but that can turn out pretty nice in these times. I do like the idea, but I feel that a Discord chat with separate rooms where multiple people can hang out and find eachother again would be cheaper and more useful. Edit: Actually, if someone feels like setting one up, just ping or reply here. I'd love to join and talk to all sorts of devs from all over who are remoting. My best coworker just had his last day today so doubly interesting personally.
- romes 7y ago
  I'm interested! Just created a brand new empty one, i'm setting it up, join whenever whoever https://discord.gg/CVgKmaZ https://discord.gg/CVgKmaZ
  - tapland 7y ago
    Seems to be taking off, and saving HN users $500. See you there monday.
- kjaftaedi 7y ago
  I think they're trying to duplicate the startups in this HN post from 2 weeks ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22426063 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22426063 At least the other sites have scheduling systems and calendars. This is literally paying someone 5$ to have a guy send you someone else's email address.

larrywright 7y ago

I wish I could be optimistic that this won’t be abused by creepy guys to show off their junk, but I’m not.

larrywright 7y ago
I somehow missed that this was a paid service. That is actually probably enough of a barrier to adoption that it could minimize junk-showing. It also removes the anonymity a bit (credit card), so it could serve to discourage that behavior.
DonHopkins 7y ago
But it's only high quality junk that's worth $5 to show off. This guy's junk would definitely qualify: LGR: Exploring a MASSIVE Retro Computer Warehouse! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvM82T3C2Ik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvM82T3C2Ik

FabienHerfray 7y ago

Loving the idea! On a different angle and for a more niche Indie Hacker audience, I've been building https://www.frenl.com https://www.frenl.com around the same concept :)

phnofive 7y ago

Five dollars? Yuck. If it’s a barrier to entry against creeps, it’s got to be higher. Maybe a deposit of some kind? Also - since you made the bizarre choice to directly reference it below the “50% off till Monday” tag - it’s coronavirus or COVID-19, not corona virus.

KaoruAoiShiho 7y ago
> barrier to entry against creeps, If they just put this sentence on their homepage the reaction on this thread would be totally different.
- DonHopkins 7y ago
  All these creepless chat startups could have a price war to see who can charge the most!

eganist 7y ago

https://slack.com/apps/A11MJ51SR-donut https://slack.com/apps/A11MJ51SR-donut for anyone that wants something distantly close to this, but baked into slack. Not mine; I'm just familiar with it from past employers.

itakenaps 7y ago

Neat idea, but unwilling to spend $5.00 on something I don't need. Perhaps use affiliate links or some other type of not intrusive advertising.

waltbosz 7y ago

Hi Pete, Some questions: 1. Is the price $5 for life? Or is that monthly fee? 2. Do you get to switch buddies if it doesn't work out? Also, I enjoyed your interview on the IH Podcast.

yani 7y ago

I like the idea. We will try it out Monday

jadbox 7y ago

For people interested in talking about politics and local community civic projects, I made a chat roulette service to connect people with similar topic interests: https://dinnertable.chat/ https://dinnertable.chat/

lucb1e 7y ago
It says you should prepare for the debate with sources and that the next round will start in 1.5 hours... but no topic is given and when I click guest access I get a message saying that dinner is already over. The last tweet is from a few weeks ago, no topic announced there either to gauge whether I'm interested in the first place. Not sure how I should get involved other than showing up unprepared and seeing if anything is going on.

trhway 7y ago

sounds like WFH version of WeWork :)

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

lgeorget 7y ago

10 or 15 years ago it would have been a giganticover-engineered distributed XML-based chat protocol that would have been proposed... Instead we have a down-to-earth simple subscription to a centralized list of email addresses and an automatic pairing service. For 5$. What have become of our dreams... Just kidding. I wish you success but I personally won't pay 5$ for this, even if it's my first time working from home too.

lostgame 7y ago

What? It’s a paid service? Based on one of the crappiest places on the Internet? Get off my HN feed.

Disruptive_Dave 7y ago

Oh man, we did this (MVP style) about 6 years ago, called it Collabo. Tested it with a Facebook group, then we manually connected random people together and scheduled them video chats. We called it "the water cooler for solopreneurs." Really just a fun experiment more than a business. Happy to share whatever learnings I can dig up. Edit: Just found the homepage mock. "A first-of-its-kind virtual water cooler for freelancers and solopreneurs." It was invite only, too. At least at the start.

azhenley 7y ago
What happened with it? Why didn't you continue with the concept?
- Disruptive_Dave 7y ago
  Bunch of reasons - never intended to do anything other than have fun with it, co-founded another startup that ended up catching a little fire, and finally, it was just me (marketer) and a designer doing this. Would love to see it work, though.
cedricium 7y ago
Sounds interesting! I, too, would like to know why you didn't continue with this. Also: > scheduled them video chats Does a service exist where you can programmatically schedule a video-chat/meeting for two parties?

arjawn 7y ago

something related (but not real-time like chat roulette) is https://standups.io/ https://standups.io/ “Insta Stories for Remote Workers”

thrownaway954 7y ago

cough IRC cough

roflchoppa2 7y ago
what channel we in dawg?
- thrownaway954 7y ago
  the one where i put on my robe and wizard hat

roflchoppa2 7y ago

everything for money now days. catch me on freenode ##chat

crimsonalucard 7y ago

Make this for groups of people. One on ones are too intense!

iandanforth 7y ago

If you're looking for a reputable service of "someone to help you work" I highly recommend https://www.focusmate.com/ https://www.focusmate.com/ It's not about meeting new people, in fact, socializing is discouraged, but it is about real people helping each other by just being there.

abalashov 7y ago

Don’t know if it’s any good, and there clearly seems to be some controversy about that in this thread, but jibes well with my sentiments over the years, some of which have gathered extensive HN discussion: https://likewise.am/2018/12/01/seven-tough-lessons-from-ten-years-in-bootstrapped-business/ https://likewise.am/2018/12/01/seven-tough-lessons-from-ten-... https://likewise.am/2017/05/19/in-response-to-the-cult-of-remote-working/ https://likewise.am/2017/05/19/in-response-to-the-cult-of-re... Edit: the point isn’t to promote my blog posts, it’s to say that I’m glad this aspect of remote work is finally being recognised in various ways — some good, some bad, but above all else, recognised.

junetic 7y ago

Not designed for random matching, but we're beta testing a free always-on voice app for remote teams for anyone interested - https://www.presence.so https://www.presence.so

Cam_F 7y ago

Hi! Do you already have some paying customers? Best

ThePowerOfFuet 7y ago

> For European users, this website is GDPR compliant. lol. You're collecting PII but not stating uses, identity of the controller, nothing. Nope.