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And I get miserable at dinner parties. What I want is a platform where I can randomly chat with people who have common interests. Think Omegle, but without 95%

by blagie 6y ago

And I get miserable at dinner parties. What I want is a platform where I can randomly chat with people who have common interests. Think Omegle, but without 95% of the userbase being teenage boys who, for some reason, think it's a good way to meet women and get laid. Think of hallways conversations at conferences. I like conferences -- including well-run virtual ones -- and I'd like to be able to drop in on them anytime. I like my coworkers, including former ones. Think of the watercooler at work. When I want to chill, I sign on, and I get connected to a random someone, but a random someone who has something interesting to talk about. I wouldn't even mind being able to designate a few people I want to hook up with, in the intellectual sense. If we happen to sign on around the same time, we'll chat. I'd build it, but I'm busy.

monort 6y ago
I want this too! How will this service match you with interesting people? Something like okcupid compatibility algorithm with less focus on relationship?
- blagie 6y ago
  I don't think it's be rocket science. I'd put in my interests. I might even put in where I work, what conferences I go to, and what hobbies I have. If there were a way to do so privately, I'd love if it worked from my web browsing, Youtube, etc. history as well -- things I did recently. If I just read an awesome article about the war between Azerbaijan an Armenia we all missed among COVID19, of if I just spent a few hours playing with Webcomponents, I wouldn't mind chatting with someone who did the same. I think a service like this would quickly learn how to peer people for fruitful conversations. A key would be to keep this multidimensional; if you line up 65% with software engineers, and 55% with cricket players, you should get peered with both (or have a choice). A lot of the recommender systems seem to bucket me in just one place. I explicitly want zero focus on relationships. This should not be a dating service. The instant anything like that shows up, things go south very quickly. The standards should be the same as e.g. in your work environment.
dublinben 6y ago
Dinner parties aren't the only kind of gathering you can plan to socialize with people you know, they're just a common format. You can meet a friend for coffee just to talk and catch up. You could even just schedule a phone call, so you don't even have to be physically together. Many people will play online multiplayer games together to have an excuse to talk with friends.
- blagie 6y ago
  That presumes friends and time. I have friends, but little time. My friends have little time too. The odds of us having time to schedule together at the same time are close to zero. The same thing was actually true in college too -- I went to an intense school -- but we had lounges in the dorm. When I was tired or burnt out, I'd drift into a lounge. There was usually someone else in one of the lounges. That's kinda what I want. Only virtually.

by blagie 6y ago

monort 6y ago

I want this too! How will this service match you with interesting people? Something like okcupid compatibility algorithm with less focus on relationship?

blagie 6y ago
I don't think it's be rocket science. I'd put in my interests. I might even put in where I work, what conferences I go to, and what hobbies I have. If there were a way to do so privately, I'd love if it worked from my web browsing, Youtube, etc. history as well -- things I did recently. If I just read an awesome article about the war between Azerbaijan an Armenia we all missed among COVID19, of if I just spent a few hours playing with Webcomponents, I wouldn't mind chatting with someone who did the same. I think a service like this would quickly learn how to peer people for fruitful conversations. A key would be to keep this multidimensional; if you line up 65% with software engineers, and 55% with cricket players, you should get peered with both (or have a choice). A lot of the recommender systems seem to bucket me in just one place. I explicitly want zero focus on relationships. This should not be a dating service. The instant anything like that shows up, things go south very quickly. The standards should be the same as e.g. in your work environment.

dublinben 6y ago

Dinner parties aren't the only kind of gathering you can plan to socialize with people you know, they're just a common format. You can meet a friend for coffee just to talk and catch up. You could even just schedule a phone call, so you don't even have to be physically together. Many people will play online multiplayer games together to have an excuse to talk with friends.

blagie 6y ago
That presumes friends and time. I have friends, but little time. My friends have little time too. The odds of us having time to schedule together at the same time are close to zero. The same thing was actually true in college too -- I went to an intense school -- but we had lounges in the dorm. When I was tired or burnt out, I'd drift into a lounge. There was usually someone else in one of the lounges. That's kinda what I want. Only virtually.