[netsharc]

Serendipity makes me think of Omegle. Which makes me think of a "Speed-Dating" app: you get connected to a random person like Omegle, but there's a time limit, say 3 minutes, and at the end of it you can decide to either extend the conversation or record a "nice talking to you, but I didn't feel any spark" video (a recording makes rejecting them less confrontational).

Users can give feedback whether the opposite user was rude or offensive, and the service should be quite strict about bans.

I wonder if it'd be a turn-off though, if you spend 30 minutes to talk to ~10 people you don't find attractive. Maybe there should be a Tinder-esque selection process, so when you're online, you'll get offered other profiles which are also online, and if you both swipe right you'll get to a video-chat within seconds.

Ouch, imagine the pain if you're online, swiping right, but never get connected to anyone. Another problem is that the hot people will always be in a conversation and their profiles will only rarely show up (since they won't be instantly available).

[jmye]

> I wonder if it'd be a turn-off though, if you spend 30 minutes to talk to ~10 people you don't find attractive. Maybe there should be a Tinder-esque selection process, so when you're online, you'll get offered other profiles which are also online, and if you both swipe right you'll get to a video-chat within seconds.

And here I was going to one up this - make it a three minute convo without video. If both people choose to continue, the video starts afterwards.

I think a not-insignificant number of people will find someone who was fun to talk to more attractive then they might at first glance. Might still be some misses, and the number of people who’d sign up is probably low, but I think you’d see more successful matches.

[IAmBroom]

I think that would produce a lot of false positives, and therefore a lot of disappointment for physically unattractive people. Some people aren't particularly motivated to pick only 9s & 10s; most people accept people in their own range or higher; and sure, some people who are 6s end up happy with 2s. But "We're really hitting it off!" followed by "Um, oh, sorry, I just remembered I left a pot on the stove BYE" is much worse than just not getting any "likes" at all.

[toomuchtodo]

n=1, a friend met their husband on Omegle on opposite sides of the world. Might be on to something.

[thatguymike]

Harder to swipe in the bathroom as well. I reckon the meta would mean you have to be dressed nice and put on makeup just to sit down and scroll this app, which isn't usual app behavior.

[netsharc]

This app should've launched during Covid times, it'd be a replacement to getting dressed and going out on a Friday night. Well one would still dress up...

During Covid, friends had their work send them cocktail preparation equipment and have Zoom dates making cocktail with colleagues.

[fragmede]

maybe that app wouldn't need to support that use case. if you're not comitted enough to find a relationship, maybe that's why they're not in one.