TinyChat launches its own group version of Chatroulette

TinyChat has launched a new video chat service that's very clearly inspired by the booming Chatroulette phenomenon. It's called TinyChat Next, after Chatroulette's "next" button, and offers a similar opportunity to chat via webcam with a random selection of strangers. TinyChat Next may not have the same level of wackiness and nudity that Chatroulette is quickly becoming known for, but it does have something CR doesn't: a "room" feature.

TinyChat Next lets anyone start a room that other users can enter. Your selection of chat partners will still be random, but you'll chat with random people in the same room. This sounds like it simulates the effect of going to a party or one of those annoying networking events and talking to the people you see there. Chatroulette seems like more of a fun, wacky, free-for-all than this room business, but grouping things up by topic helps give TinyChat more legitimacy, and might reduce your chances of seeing something unpleasant.

I can see why rooms exist, but they defeat the purpose of a Chatroulette-style service by narrowing down the pool of people you could potentially chat with. It'll be interesting to see if this turns out to be a brilliant idea, or just an attempt to capitalize on the already-ingenious Chatroulette concept.

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: chatroulette, random, rooms, strangers, tinychat, tinychat next, TinychatNext