I remain non-plussed about the majority of Chatroulette competitors. Then I heard about RandomDorm.
RandomDorm takes the thrilling serendipity of being paired with an anonymous stranger in a video chat room and limits it to college campuses. Participants need a college e-mail address to access the Web service. Alternatively, they can sign in using Facebook as long as the primary e-mail address tied to that account ends with an .edu.
Josh Weinstein, creator of RandomDorm. “We hope to emulate that simplicity and ensure a degree of community and security.”
I talked to Josh a few weeks ago about his other startup, GoodCrush. Unlike other “missed connections” style sites tied into dating sites, GoodCrush is entirely based on real missed connection a la Craigslist.
However, I had to laugh at “Community and security”. Right, they’ll monetize the heck out of this anyway they can, and they raunchier it is the more money they will make. If I were them I’d look at how Woome pairs up conversations, create a leaderboard and watch the ad revenue pour in.
More at the New York Times.
This is interesting, Chatroulette Clone software starting at $99.
Come to think of it, Userplane could have done this years ago. Sometimes it takes a 17-year old Russian kid to change the world, at least for a few months.
