Blog

Occasional writing about online friendship, chat, and why so much of the social internet feels the way it does.

Apps to make friends: an honest field guide

An honest field guide to friendship apps - what each kind is actually good for, why so many feel like dating apps in disguise, and how to pick the right one for you.

In praise of 1-on-1 chat

Group chats are where conversation goes to perform. Why talking with exactly one person is a different - and much better - experience, online or anywhere.

Sites like Omegle for text chat

Looking for sites like Omegle for text chat, minus the chaos? What to demand from any text chat site, what the clones get wrong, and where the good conversations went.

Whatever happened to pen pals?

Pen pals didn't die - they scattered. Why thoughtful 1-on-1 correspondence with a faraway stranger is still worth having, and what it takes to make it work online.

Why random chat turns sleazy

Can random chat work without the creeps? Why Omegle-style chat turns sleazy, what a safer design needs, and how Wusoup keeps stranger chat friendly.

Chat without dating

Want to just talk to people online - no flirting, no agenda? Why that's so hard to find, and what a chat community with a hard no-dating rule feels like.

Online friendships, not romance

Why every "friendship" app keeps turning into a dating app, what platonic-first design actually requires, and where real online friendships still happen.

How to make friends online as an adult

Yes, adults really do make close friends online - but almost never where the big apps say. An honest guide to what actually works, and what doesn't.

What old chat rooms got right

What 90s chat rooms got right about text and serendipity, what they got wrong about safety, and where old-school chat still survives.