Downloader: RandomDorm: Chatroulette goes to college

Sunday, March 28, 2010

RandomDorm: Chatroulette goes to college

RandomDorm is a new site that's following in the footsteps of the explosively popular random video chat service Chatroulette, but adding its own twist: it's for college students only. To use RandomDorm, you need a .edu email address or a Facebook account with a .edu address as the primary email. RandomDorm is also limited to the US right now (it's "geotarded," as Lee is fond of saying).

Despite the word "Random" in the name, RandomDorm definitely offers a much smaller variety of characters than Chatroulette. Half the fun of Chatroulette is meeting pranksters and talking to folks in other countries. Randomdorm is definitely about as heavily male as Chatroulette, but so far I've noticed much less full frontal male nudity. I consider this a plus, but tastes may vary.

What might really help RandomDorm take off is the dating angle. Chatroulette has gained unexpected traction as a matchmaking site, with people even posting Chatroulette missed connections all over the web. Well, take that and narrow the pool to college students ... it's bound to be a dating goldmine. No surprise, then, that RandomDorm was developed by the creators of GoodCrush, a matchmaking site.

[via NYTimes]