It wasn’t too long ago that the internet was abuzz with stories about random chatting. TV, radio, and newspapers constantly reported on this newest social toy. And all the attention inspired others to create sites like Chatroulette.

Since then, many random chat sites have come and gone. But several sites continue to be the leaders in one-on-one video broadcasting.

First, Chatroulette.com has made numerous improvements to their site since first opening their doors. Initially, the site attracted society’s craziest and most mischievous. But since then Chatroulette has cleaned things up a lot. Their safe mode option is no longer valid. And from the looks of it, these efforts have succeeded in removing all the unsavory characters. Well… at least the unclothed ones.

Omegle.com continues to be a popular site like Chatroulette, but it resembles Chatroulette when it first became notorious. Usually, you can find more than twenty thousand participants on the site.

Campzam.com also continues to enjoy a successful following. They have a lot of users from Morocco and Turkey. Unlike Chatroulette and Omegle though, there are few women on this site.

Those three sites make up the bulk of the best random chat sites. Following are other sites that are similar to Chatroullette but without the exceptional web traffic:

www.webchatfan.com
www.stickam.com/shuffle.do
http://flipchat.com
http://bazoocam.org

Airtime has officially released their start date as June 5th. The much anticipated social chat site has gone through several conceptual transformations since its inception.

Initially named SupyoInc, the website is now called Airtime. This new site is a hybrid of Chatroulette and Stickam. Basically it’s purpose is very similar to a site called Rounds.com, but unlike Rounds it’s about four years too late to the party.

It’s been proven that certain companies achieve market dominance when first they’re the first ones in the market. Look at eBay for example. Their name is synonymous with online auctions. Airtime doesn’t really differ much from existing sites, so they probably won’t be able to build huge traffic sources like Rounds or Chatroulette.

But on June the 5th Airtime will go live. Airtime is representing itself as different because management intends to cater to talented musicians. It’s doubtful that this one aspect is enough to keep new visitors coming back.

Additionally, about 5,000 beta users were privy to the site before the official launch date. Their lukewarm reviews don’t bode well for Airtime’s future success.

You can apply for an early application through their site: https://www.airtime.com/

If you’re familiar with Chatroulette, then you’ve probably been exposed to some of its really weird culture. Who can forget the grown man with a three o’clock shadow, casually lounging about in his unflattering bra and panties? There’s also more than one video of overweight men proudly letting it all hang out. Yuck!

But now a new site harnesses the peculiar behavior of video chatters and tries to make it the norm. A site called Dance Cam Shuffle randomly matches people together for online dancing.

Who thought it could get any weirder?

In all seriousness, this does seem like a fun site. Unfortunately there were not a lot of participants available when I logged on, but the ones that were there seemed to be really enjoying themselves.

The site has three primary areas: The Homepage, The Shuffle, and Dance Video Uploads. You can vote and be rated by other members. These voting statistics are made available to the public on their homepage.

One major drawback to the system is that the shuffle is constant. You can’t stop and dance with someone who you like. But this is only a minor issue, and the overall experience is a positive one.

If you think you got some decent dance moves, then record yourself and share it in the Dance Video Uploads section. But if you aren’t talented don’t let that stop you. It hasn’t stopped a lot of the other members.

You can start your communal dancing at: www.dancecamshuffle.com

Most people access sites like Chatroulette and Omegle because they’re bored. Well, web chatting just reached a new boredom low with Cleverbot.

But having said that, I still can’t decide if I’d rather be bored on Chatroulette or the Cleverbot site. It’s a whole different kind of bored that makes you choose one over the other.

Cleverbot is an artificial intelligent bot that hypothetically that lets you communicate with a computer app. This is a literal communication, not some code that serves as a conduit for communication.

Following is my brief conversation with the app:

Me: What is the difference between meat and fish?

Cleverbot: What is the difference between subatomic particles?

Me: No meat and fish.

Cleverbot: I bet you love meat.

Me: Are you coming on to me?

Cleverbot: Not in the least. Relationships take a long time to develop. But I am enjoying getting to know you somewhat.

Me: Do you mind if I quote you?

Cleverbot: No.

Me: Do you want to go out to dinner sometime?

Cleverbot: Yes, except you aren’t even real.

The strangest part of this experience wasn’t even my conversation, it was the stats for the amount of people online. There were over 10,000 people participating in the same pointless chatting as myself. And according to Wikipedia, Cleverbot has held over 65 million of these types of conversations since 1997.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleverbot

If you’re bored, get your chat on with Cleverbot.

http://cleverbot.com/