Where to find people to chat with via text or online?

August 6, 2013 9:02 AM

I'd like to chat with more people but not face to face.

I enjoy casual conversation. Ideally I'd like to text but understand that it might take some time to get to that level. Years ago when AOL chat rooms were new, I was able to get my chat needs filled and made some good friends from that. What are some resources that people use today? I'm not a gamer but may be able to learn an online game if its easy and doesn't involve too much strategy. Are there any decent chat rooms out there? I have a bunch of interests but don't know where to look for online conversation.

posted by PeaPod to Human Relations (8 answers total)

Metafilter Chat
posted by Wordwoman at 9:05 AM on August 6, 2013 [9 favorites]

Best answer: I've found OKcupid is good for this. I look for people who want long distance pen pals and go from there. It might take a bit to get to the level you would like, but it is definitely doable.
posted by josher71 at 9:29 AM on August 6, 2013

What about IRC (Internet Relay Chat)? The protocol's been around forever. There's tons of servers/networks, and channels on each. I bet you could find a few that you like.

Edit: you can use a web-based client like Mibbit to hop right into IRC.
posted by destructive cactus at 10:09 AM on August 6, 2013

IRC? I met a lot of people via this back in the day. I think there are a bunch of networks still running but you'd need to poke around to find any channels according to your interests, which may be tough to find now.

Otherwise maybe something like IMVU or Second Life-- or an avatar site of some kind may have people you can talk to. Second Life can both be nuts and really fun, if you find a good community you're interested in, it might be good to meet people with. I used to meet people on Gaia Online when I was younger, but it skews really young and relatively immature. I haven't been on any of these in years though so I can't really vouch for them too much.

Edit: Ah man, destructive cactus beat me to it.
posted by Dimes at 10:11 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

I have recently been turned on to WeChat. It is heavily Chinese but I have met people from many countries via this app.
posted by Tanizaki at 10:17 AM on August 6, 2013

Perhaps finding an active facebook group related to your interests?

I recently joined a few groups on facebook that seem to have a lot of good conversations happening in comments, and I became friends with a few people and chat with them regularly. Having an interest in common makes it easy to start conversations. Seeing what people say in comments gives you a pretty good idea of what they're like sometimes, and you can add them as a friend and start chatting if they seem like someone you'd enjoy talking to.
posted by SugarAndSass at 11:08 AM on August 6, 2013

If you are into music at all, Turntable.fm is pretty chat-centric. Basically you just log into a public room that matches your musical tastes, optionally play music for other people, and optionally chat in the chatroom. It probably varies a lot from room to room, but the rooms I hang out in have very friendly people who have casual conversations all the time. If you spend a lot of time in a given room you'll start to recognize the "regulars" and it feels like more of a community than a lot of other sites that have social aspects.
posted by burnmp3s at 11:21 AM on August 6, 2013 [2 favorites]

Skyrates, a cute world of flying, talking animals in ww2 style propeller planes is a fun chat room with a good, if simple, game attached. And we are having an event now!



(Also, I feel its tradition to espouse Skyrates every so often since I found it on.. Meta..)
posted by Jacen at 1:19 PM on August 6, 2013