Chat With Strangers by Text, Camera Off

Stranger chat by text has one big advantage: you control how much of yourself you show. Your face, voice and surroundings stay private until you choose to share them. For shy people, people in shared spaces and people on a bad-skin day, that matters a lot.

It also gives you time. In video you answer in real time. In text you can read the message twice, pick the words and pause for a drink. A slower conversation is often a more honest one.

1. 1
   Pick text in the lobby

   After you tap start, the match screen lets you choose between video, audio and text. Choose text.

2. 2
   Get paired

   You join a queue and the first available person is matched with you. Nobody else sees the conversation.

3. 3
   Chat, skip or switch

   Keep typing, skip to someone new, or move to video if you both want to.

Matching works the same way as in random video chat, so you get the same quick start.

Starting is free. You get free matches to try ChatMatch, and the Free ×N badge on the start button shows how many are left today. Longer or premium sessions can use coins, and the rate is shown before you spend. It is the same model as any free video chat here: free first, coins later.

Expect a mixed bag. Some people type "hi" and vanish, others stay for an hour and tell you about their hometown. That is the nature of random chat. Treat the short ones as practice and the long ones as the reason you are here.

• Open with something answerable. "Hi" gives the other person nothing. "What's the weather like where you are?" does.
• Match the pace. If they write short messages, do not send paragraphs. If they write paragraphs, answer in kind.
• Keep personal details back. Your surname, address or workplace stay private, whatever the vibe.
• Leave politely or just leave. A "nice chatting, going to skip now" is kind; a silent skip is fine too.

For a longer list of icebreakers, read how to start a conversation with a stranger.

If a text chat is going well, you can move to a video match whenever you like. A good sign is when you are both laughing at the same things; a bad sign is when one person keeps steering you somewhere you do not want to go. You never have to move to video. The conversation is allowed to stay in text forever.

When you do switch, give yourself a minute to set up light and sound. The setup list for free cam chat takes about a minute.

Text is not a lesser version of video. It suits different people on different days.

• The shy starter. Typing gives you time to think, and nobody sees you blush.
• The language learner. Reading a reply twice is easier than catching it live, and mistakes are less embarrassing in writing.
• The tired one. After a long day, a few relaxed messages can feel better than putting on a camera face.

And if a text conversation turns into something you want to keep, the slow path to make friends online starts exactly like this: one comfortable chat, then another.