You may be taking your Skype instant messaging and video calls or your iPhone FaceTime for granted, but way back before the standalone IM client was even an idea, there was one major solution: IRC (Internet Relay Chat).

I’m not even going to pretend. I was 5 or 6 years old back in 1995 so this is well before my time, too. In the age of social networking and Internet 2.0, web-based chat rooms are practically dead. They’re all but done with; on the endangered list. Still, IRC is the most popular server/client chat protocol in the world. Maybe the rooms aren’t as active as they were 10+ years ago, but we’ve still got a pulse!

Some boredom and curiosity mixed well together and I’ve rediscovered IRC just recently. Now, I’d like to show you how to use my favorite IRC client, HydraIRC. There are a lot of multi-IM clients (like Trillian) that support the IRC protocol, but nothing really beats the efficiency and oldschool feel of a standalone chat client. You’ve probably heard of mIRC, the most popular IRC client, but here’s a few reasons why I love Hydra:

• It is portable. Download the ZIP and extract it to wherever you like. Put it in your Dropbox or on a flash drive. Portable applications beat out self-installing packages every day of the week.
• It is lightweight. mIRC is a little bulky for me.
• It is free. Everyone loves things that are free.
• It supports everything that you need in an IRC client: multiple servers, DCC, event logs, channel monitoring, an extremely flexible GUI, and more.

You can check out some more, official screenshots at the official HydraIRC website.

Anyway, rusty IRC legend or complete newbie, let’s get you started. Get HydraIRC downloaded. Next step is to figure out where you want to chat and what about, right? You want to go into the File menu, then New Server. Hydra comes preloaded with loads of the most popular IRC servers.

Now it’s on you to pick the network (and associated server) that you want. You can either query up Google and learn a bit about each, or experience can guide you. FreeNode has tons of channels for coding, tech support, general hacking, networking, and things of that nature. EFNet is your oldschool “general” server. QuakeNet and GameSurge are for gamers, and so on.
For this example, let’s go ahead and go on GameSurge. Double click GameSurge, click the IRC server that expands beneath it, and then click OK to connect.

Every server consists of many channels (or rooms). Upon connecting, the Channel List window will pop up. If it doesn’t, you can click into the Channel menu and then Channel List. Click Populate List and after a second, you’ll have a list of every channel on the server. Click the Users header once and you’ll have sorted the channels by the most users. Scroll through, see if there are any you may be interested in, and then click Join.

This is how you join an IRC server and a channel (the easy way). There are hundreds and hundreds of servers out there and thousands of channels. There’s probably an active channel for just about any subject that comes to mind. It’s good to have it sitting in your taskbar for idle moments in between tasks.

If you need any help or want to dive deeper into the subject, let’s chat in the comments. If you really like IRC chatting, consider setting up your own IRC channel and read our post on that.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/centerim-icon.png" alt="linux chat" />Chat from the command line. Whether you use Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Chat, AIM, Jabber or some combination of the above, CenterIM lets you talk with your buddies in your Linux terminal. We’ve previously highlighted a few href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/instant-messaging/">instant messaging programs, but nothing quite like CenterIM. That’s because this Linux chat program runs entirely from the command line, but still gives you access to the features you expect.

Is this just a novelty? Perhaps for some, but there are other reasons to use command line software. It’s easy to use via href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/ssh/">SSH, for one thing. It’s also light on resources. It works in your full-screen terminal, allowing you to chat without the distractions provided by the web. And an efficient series of keyboard shortcuts makes chatting quick for those who dislike the mouse.

More than that, though, CenterIM is just plain effecient. Get to know this program’s keyboard shortcuts and you just might come to love it, even if you don’t usually go for terminal applications.

Setting Up

You can launch CenterIM from the command prompt by typing centerim and hitting enter. Of course, like all instant messaging programs, it doesn’t do much out of the box. You need to configure it to work with your various services.

First you will be presented with some general options:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/centerim-initial.png" alt="linux chat" width="580" height="335" />

Browse up and down with your up and down arrow keys, and change a particular setting by hitting enter and making the appropiate changes. Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything here; the defaults all work well and you can change them later.

Press right to switch to the “Done” button, then click enter. You’ll be given the chance to enter your IM information:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/centerim-accounts.png" alt="linux command line chat client" width="581" height="423" />

It most cases all you need is a username and password. Configure as necessary.

You may notice there is no option here for Google Talk. Don’t worry, you can use Jabber to connect to Google Talk. CenterIM suggests you use these settings:

jab_nick yourGmailAddress@gmail.com

jab_pass yourPlaintextPassword

jab_server talk.google.com:5223

jab_prio 4

jab_ssl 1

jab_status o

You can add this information within CenterIM, or you can edit the “config” file in “~/.centerim” and add the above text manually. Both processes worked for me, but be warned – using CenterIM messed up the names of my contacts for some reason. I’m not sure why, but don’t add Google Talk to CenterIM if this is something you care about.

Using CenterIM

Using CenterIM is easy, if you know how to follow directions. I say this because at the bottom of every CenterIM window is a list of keyboard shortcuts:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/centerim-talking.png" alt="linux chat" width="580" height="347" />

Follow these instructions to switch between conversations, start new ones and configure the software. It might seem clumsy at first, but use this for a while and you might wonder why you ever chatted any other way.

Installing CenterIM

As always, Ubuntu users can href="apt:centerim">simply click here to install CenterIM. All Linux users can also check their package manager for “centerim” becuase it’s almost certainly in there.

Conclusion

I love learning href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-websites-to-learn-cool-linux-command-line-tricks/">cool command line tricks for Linux, like href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/read-google-reader-terminal-textonly-browser-elinks-linux-mac/">reading Google Reader from the command line. CenterIM is quickly becoming another command-line favorite for me. Will it for you? Let’s talk about it in the comments below!

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Joint-300x300.png" alt="twitter hashtags" />If you’ve been on Twitter a while and tried out all of the toys, you might have noticed one little tool missing – group chat. While some of you might be wondering how on earth that works or why you’d want it, some of you will already be itching to know more.

Essentially, href="http://joint.im/">Joint is a service which lets you turn a Twitter hashtag into an off-Twitter chatroom, enabling people who really want to chat in-depth to do so without flooding their followers with tweets. It also lets you follow and chat live on Twitter using a regular tweet if you want to go back to the public conversation. In short, Joint is a quick way to switch between a public chat and a more private chat on the same topic.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Joint-Group-Chat-For-Twitter.png" alt="twitter hashtags" />

How To Chat On Twitter

Signing up with href="http://joint.im/">Joint is simple and it involves a log in to your Twitter account. Joint has an introductory “How does Joint work?” page you can view at anytime if you get lost and forget how to chat on Twitter with Joint.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Joint-How-To-Use.png" alt="twitter hashtag chats" />

Joint suggests popular chatrooms to you according to the number of people in the chat at the time, but you can also join or create your own rooms based on any hashtag you like. The chatroom is considered on standby if no-one is currently in the room on Joint.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Joint-On-Air.png" alt="twitter hashtag chats" />

href="http://joint.im/">Joint chatrooms resemble href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-create-your-own-irc-chat-channel">IRC in a way, however they’re not connected to any IRC servers and will only work via the Joint website.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Joint-GooglePlus-Chat-Room.png" alt="twitter hashtag chats" />

Joint will notify you with a beep whenever there’s action in the chatroom, but you can adjust your preferences at any time if you don’t like it.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Joint-Preferences.png" alt="chat twitter hashtag" />

All your favourite hashtags will appear alphabetically on the left-hand side and will show you a person icon when there are other people present in the chatroom. From each chatroom, you’ll also be able to see public tweets using the same hashtag. Next to each person who has tweeted publicly, you’ll see an icon enabling you to quickly invite that person to the Joint chat conversation. It’s also possible to share the location of the chat room with Twitter easily.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Joint-Announce.png" alt="chat twitter hashtag" />

Twitter Hashtag Use In Chat

Whether you want to chat publicly or privately, Joint is equally useful. It’s just a matter of composing your message in the correct box on the page, in the centre at the bottom for private chat or the top right for public chat.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Joint-Public-Hashtag-Timeline.png" alt="twitter hashtags" />

You will also see the public Twitter timeline for the hashtag on the right-hand side of the chatroom, meaning you don’t need to use multiple Twitter tools.

Use Joint To Follow A Hashtag On Twitter

Since you can see and make public tweets for a given Twitter hashtag from within Joint, and you have all your favourite hashtags stored for quick use, it makes Joint the ideal go-to place to follow your favourite hashtags. Just head straight to Joint whenever you’re feeling particularly chatty and let it serve you the best conversations.

More Twitter Tools

You’re obviously keen on Twitter, so here’s a bit more to read:

• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-great-twitter-tools-simplify-twitter-reading/">3 Great Twitter Tools To Simplify Your Twitter Reading
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-tools-cross-promote-google-shares-twitter-facebook-chrome/">3 Tools To Cross Promote Google+ Shares On Twitter & Facebook (Chrome)
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-tools-twitter-people-search/">3 Tools For Twitter People Search
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-cool-tools-find-tweeting-twitter-hashtag/">3 Cool Tools To Find Out Who’s Tweeting Any Twitter Hashtag

How do you currently track Twitter hashtags? Is a slightly less public hashtag chat like href="http://joint.im/">Joint something you would you use or not? Why?

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/helpden-icon.png" alt="website visitor chat" />Integrate online chat on your website and start a conversation with your readers. Maybe you want to help people visiting your site by answering basic questions, or maybe you want to turn visitors to your site into customers? Either way, HelpDen gives you a direct way to talk with people visiting your website.

A good website gives plenty of information, but sometimes all the quality copy in the world can’t solve people’s problems. That’s when class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat/">chat comes in. People like the feeling of connecting with an actual human being. It lets them cut through the clutter and ask the precise question they’re thinking about. Combine the right software with a good chat strategy and you can offer something other websites can’t.

How It Works

If a process isn’t simple people will never use it. This applies to chat as much as anything else on the web. HelpDen, I think, is simple enough that people will use it.

To begin with, we have a light bulb:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/helpden-bulb.png" alt="website visitor chat" width="291" height="125" />

The bulb is lit when you’re online; when it’s not lit they can send you an email. The user clicks the bulb and is asked for a bit of information:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/helpden-info.png" alt="chat with website visitors" width="580" height="236" />

Once they fill this information out they can start talking to you, if you’re online. The chat interface is simple and easy to use:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/helpden-chat.png" alt="chat with website visitors" width="580" height="317" />

How helpful this is to your site’s visitors is, of course, determined by how helpful you are. Answer questions well and point people in the right direction and you might be able to make them happy. Or, if your goal is to sell your goods and services, help recommend the things they’re looking for.

The Backend

So now you know what the customer sees, what do you see? The HelpDen backend is simple but effective. The dashboard contains your current chat; there is no limit to how many people can talk to you at once (except for how many you can keep up with, of course).

You’ll see a chat interface similar to the one above, but with more options for sending messages:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/helpden-response.png" alt="chat with website visitors" width="628" height="139" />

As you can see it’s possible to send standard messages and to send files. You can manage both the standard messages and the files in this interface. Here is the file uploader:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/helpden-upload.png" alt="chat with website visitors free" width="404" height="477" />

There doesn’t seem to be any limits to file size; I uploaded a 10MB file without any problems.

Every bit of text this service outputs to users at various points can be changed; this allows you to customize the experience for your users quite a bit:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/helpden-forms.png" alt="chat with website visitors free" width="477" height="343" />

Exploring the options is easy to do, so check them out. You can tweak things quite a bit.

HelpDen keeps track of the people who visit your site, and whether they want to hear from you more in the future. Head to the Leads section to see a list of everyone you’ve chatted with:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/helpden-leads.png" alt="chat with website visitors free" width="580" height="134" />

Follow-up with people. It just might end up bringing you business or solidifying your reader base.

Installing Help Den

Adding HelpDen to your website is easy. You can easily find class="vt-p" href="http://www.helpden.com/add-ons.php">find HelpDen addons for WordPress, Joomla and Drupal, so you’re set if you use any of those content management systems for your website. I myself prefer WordPress – adding chat to a WordPress site was simple.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/helpden-wordpress.png" alt="website visitor chat" width="580" height="265" />

Alternatively you can use the embed code to put the button wherever you like. This means you can use HelpDen on any website, whether you use a CMS or not. Even if you use a CMS you might want to use this code in order to place the bulb precisely where you want it.

Limitations

You can use HelpDen for free, but there are some limits to the free version. You cannot brand your chat window, for example, and you can only have one person logged into chat responding to peoples questions at a time. Check the class="vt-p" href="http://helpden.com/pricing.php">HelpDen pricing sheet if you want more.

Conclusion

This isn’t the only chat tool you can integrate into your website. We have  previously profiled  class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/chat-live-website-visitors-zopim/">Zopim, which lets you live chat with your website visitors. HelpDen, however, seems uniquely focused on the needs of businesses. The ability to track potential leads is a big deal, as is being able to offer files.

But I’m sure you guys have some input to offer. What do you think of HelpDen? Will you be using it on your site? If not, what will you use? Let us know in the comments below.

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/0_chatbox.jpg" alt="chatbox for dropbox" /> class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox/">Dropbox is one of the most useful applications out there as far as I am concerned. I have it installed on nearly every device I own and it’s very helpful when it comes to reaching my most important documents. Whether I need to class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/print-files-mobile-phone-dropbox-windowsmac/">print an important document on the fly or just want to share a file with someone who is technically challenged, Dropbox simplifies the process.

One great thing about an application as useful as Dropbox is that other people – like us here at MUO – find interesting ways to utilize it and make it even more useful for others. For instance, you can use Dropbox to class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/tools-dropbox-users-share-receive-files-faster-easier/">share files, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-tools-managing-photos-dropbox-mac/">manage your photos, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-applications-dropbox/">sync files on various platforms, and cut time off your class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-reasons-why-students-should-be-using-dropbox-as-a-study-tool/">school work. You can even class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/recover-lost-files-dropbox/">recover your lost files with it. Now I’m going to show you how to chat with it as well.

What Is Chatbox?

class="vt-p" href="http://chatboxapp.com/">Chatbox is a free application that adds project collaboration features to the already handy Dropbox. You can use it for commenting and annotating files or for simple project collaboration around folders with relevant files inside. Chatbox stores everything inside Dropbox, which makes installing the app extremely simple as it does not even require you to register an account.

“Chatbox makes it easy to discuss or comment on files shared over Dropbox. Install it, right click on any files / folders inside Dropbox, and start conversations with people you shared the Dropbox folder with.”

If you share a folder in your Dropbox with other people, whether it be your family members at home, a group of friends, or your co-workers at the office, you can essentially comment on important files so that the others know what is going on with them and they are kept up-to-date. Or alternatively, you can just have a playful chat around the files in your Dropbox.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/1_chatbox.png" alt="chatbox for dropbox" width="304" height="599" />

Chats can occur around specific projects with Chatbox, which can be especially helpful if you’re collaborating on a large project that incorporates a lot of different files.

How Do I Use Chatbox?

To get started using Chatbox, head over to their class="vt-p" href="http://chatboxapp.com/">website and download the app for OSX. Right now Chatbox is only available for Mac but you can sign up on the site to be alerted via email once Windows and Linux versions become available.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2_chatbox.png" alt="chatbox dropbox" width="268" height="122" />

Once you install the app, using it is as simple as right-clicking on files in Finder and selecting Show Chatbox. This begins a conversation on any file in your Dropbox instantly. As stated earlier, your comments and conversations are stored inside Dropbox, so you won’t ever lose them, and they barely take up any room, in case you were worried about that.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/3_chatbox.png" alt="chatbox for dropbox" width="267" height="127" />

If you share your folder with others you can invite them to join the chat as well.

Conclusion

Chatbox (beta) is pretty light on features in its current state, but it gives you a simple way to communicate with others sharing the same Dropbox folder as you, which is pretty useful, and it is poised to get better. From installation to usage, I was impressed with how easy the whole process was. It will be interesting to see what other features the team adds in the coming weeks to make this app even more of a necessity.

What do you think about Chatbox? Do you like the idea of using Dropbox as a chat utility? />
/> href="http://www.supertintin.com/">SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder /> Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use.

/>

 

Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/collaborate-projects-chat-chatbox-dropbox-mac/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

 

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More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat/" title="chat" rel="tag">chat, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/collaboration/" title="collaboration" rel="tag">collaboration, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox/" title="dropbox" rel="tag">dropbox, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/project/" title="project" rel="tag">project, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/project-management/" title="project management" rel="tag">project management />

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/0_chatbox.jpg" alt="chatbox for dropbox" /> class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox/">Dropbox is one of the most useful applications out there as far as I am concerned. I have it installed on nearly every device I own and it’s very helpful when it comes to reaching my most important documents. Whether I need to class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/print-files-mobile-phone-dropbox-windowsmac/">print an important document on the fly or just want to share a file with someone who is technically challenged, Dropbox simplifies the process.

One great thing about an application as useful as Dropbox is that other people – like us here at MUO – find interesting ways to utilize it and make it even more useful for others. For instance, you can use Dropbox to class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/tools-dropbox-users-share-receive-files-faster-easier/">share files, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-tools-managing-photos-dropbox-mac/">manage your photos, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-applications-dropbox/">sync files on various platforms, and cut time off your class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-reasons-why-students-should-be-using-dropbox-as-a-study-tool/">school work. You can even class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/recover-lost-files-dropbox/">recover your lost files with it. Now I’m going to show you how to chat with it as well.

What Is Chatbox?

class="vt-p" href="http://chatboxapp.com/">Chatbox is a free application that adds project collaboration features to the already handy Dropbox. You can use it for commenting and annotating files or for simple project collaboration around folders with relevant files inside. Chatbox stores everything inside Dropbox, which makes installing the app extremely simple as it does not even require you to register an account.

“Chatbox makes it easy to discuss or comment on files shared over Dropbox. Install it, right click on any files / folders inside Dropbox, and start conversations with people you shared the Dropbox folder with.”

If you share a folder in your Dropbox with other people, whether it be your family members at home, a group of friends, or your co-workers at the office, you can essentially comment on important files so that the others know what is going on with them and they are kept up-to-date. Or alternatively, you can just have a playful chat around the files in your Dropbox.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/1_chatbox.png" alt="chatbox for dropbox" width="304" height="599" />

Chats can occur around specific projects with Chatbox, which can be especially helpful if you’re collaborating on a large project that incorporates a lot of different files.

How Do I Use Chatbox?

To get started using Chatbox, head over to their class="vt-p" href="http://chatboxapp.com/">website and download the app for OSX. Right now Chatbox is only available for Mac but you can sign up on the site to be alerted via email once Windows and Linux versions become available.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2_chatbox.png" alt="chatbox dropbox" width="268" height="122" />

Once you install the app, using it is as simple as right-clicking on files in Finder and selecting Show Chatbox. This begins a conversation on any file in your Dropbox instantly. As stated earlier, your comments and conversations are stored inside Dropbox, so you won’t ever lose them, and they barely take up any room, in case you were worried about that.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/3_chatbox.png" alt="chatbox for dropbox" width="267" height="127" />

If you share your folder with others you can invite them to join the chat as well.

Conclusion

Chatbox (beta) is pretty light on features in its current state, but it gives you a simple way to communicate with others sharing the same Dropbox folder as you, which is pretty useful, and it is poised to get better. From installation to usage, I was impressed with how easy the whole process was. It will be interesting to see what other features the team adds in the coming weeks to make this app even more of a necessity.

What do you think about Chatbox? Do you like the idea of using Dropbox as a chat utility? />
/>Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

/>

 

Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/collaborate-projects-chat-chatbox-dropbox-mac/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

 

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More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat/" title="chat" rel="tag">chat, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/collaboration/" title="collaboration" rel="tag">collaboration, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox/" title="dropbox" rel="tag">dropbox, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/project/" title="project" rel="tag">project, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/project-management/" title="project management" rel="tag">project management />

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View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/0_chatbox.jpg" alt="chatbox for dropbox" /> class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox/">Dropbox is one of the most useful applications out there as far as I am concerned. I have it installed on nearly every device I own and it’s very helpful when it comes to reaching my most important documents. Whether I need to class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/print-files-mobile-phone-dropbox-windowsmac/">print an important document on the fly or just want to share a file with someone who is technically challenged, Dropbox simplifies the process.

One great thing about an application as useful as Dropbox is that other people – like us here at MUO – find interesting ways to utilize it and make it even more useful for others. For instance, you can use Dropbox to class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/tools-dropbox-users-share-receive-files-faster-easier/">share files, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-tools-managing-photos-dropbox-mac/">manage your photos, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-applications-dropbox/">sync files on various platforms, and cut time off your class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-reasons-why-students-should-be-using-dropbox-as-a-study-tool/">school work. You can even class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/recover-lost-files-dropbox/">recover your lost files with it. Now I’m going to show you how to chat with it as well.

What Is Chatbox?

class="vt-p" href="http://chatboxapp.com/">Chatbox is a free application that adds project collaboration features to the already handy Dropbox. You can use it for commenting and annotating files or for simple project collaboration around folders with relevant files inside. Chatbox stores everything inside Dropbox, which makes installing the app extremely simple as it does not even require you to register an account.

“Chatbox makes it easy to discuss or comment on files shared over Dropbox. Install it, right click on any files / folders inside Dropbox, and start conversations with people you shared the Dropbox folder with.”

If you share a folder in your Dropbox with other people, whether it be your family members at home, a group of friends, or your co-workers at the office, you can essentially comment on important files so that the others know what is going on with them and they are kept up-to-date. Or alternatively, you can just have a playful chat around the files in your Dropbox.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/1_chatbox.png" alt="chatbox for dropbox" width="304" height="599" />

Chats can occur around specific projects with Chatbox, which can be especially helpful if you’re collaborating on a large project that incorporates a lot of different files.

How Do I Use Chatbox?

To get started using Chatbox, head over to their class="vt-p" href="http://chatboxapp.com/">website and download the app for OSX. Right now Chatbox is only available for Mac but you can sign up on the site to be alerted via email once Windows and Linux versions become available.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2_chatbox.png" alt="chatbox dropbox" width="268" height="122" />

Once you install the app, using it is as simple as right-clicking on files in Finder and selecting Show Chatbox. This begins a conversation on any file in your Dropbox instantly. As stated earlier, your comments and conversations are stored inside Dropbox, so you won’t ever lose them, and they barely take up any room, in case you were worried about that.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/3_chatbox.png" alt="chatbox for dropbox" width="267" height="127" />

If you share your folder with others you can invite them to join the chat as well.

Conclusion

Chatbox (beta) is pretty light on features in its current state, but it gives you a simple way to communicate with others sharing the same Dropbox folder as you, which is pretty useful, and it is poised to get better. From installation to usage, I was impressed with how easy the whole process was. It will be interesting to see what other features the team adds in the coming weeks to make this app even more of a necessity.

What do you think about Chatbox? Do you like the idea of using Dropbox as a chat utility? />
/>Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

/>

 

Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/collaborate-projects-chat-chatbox-dropbox-mac/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

 

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View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/fring-video-chat-promo.jpg" alt="mobile group chat" /> href="http://www.fring.com/">Fring takes video chat up a notch with the world’s first group video chat for Android and iPhone, connecting up to four friends at a time. What’s more, it’s for free! That’s something most of use could make use of, for sure.

If you’re an avid Android or iPhone user, you’ve probably already heard about Fring. It’s a free application that lets you chat with your friends from all your other favourite href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/msn-yahoo-aim-icq-in-one/">chat clients, including Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Chat, Twitter, and many more. It has offered free video chatting since 2009, but has only just released the group video chat, which is available right now for all Fring users to use on their smartphone.

What’s Fring?

For any href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/fring-free-mobile-calls-chat/">Fring friend you wish to contact, Fring lets you chat via text, voice or video call wherever there is an Internet connection available, WiFi, 3G or 4G. You don’t even need a SIM card for it to work. If you want to contact someone who doesn’t use Fring, you can make calls at 1c/minute. There’s no restrictions worldwide regarding who can use Fring and who you can call. Neat, huh?

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Fring-Out.png" alt="mobile group chat" />

Fring’s video chat service uses their own proprietary technology to enable all video chat users to experience the best possible video quality possible.

Here’s a demo video on href="http://youtu.be/8nUhMEPHSHE">how Fring works.

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8nUhMEPHSHE?fs=1&hl=en_US" /> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="430" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8nUhMEPHSHE?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always">

Get Fring

You can get your own copy of Fring for href="http://market.android.com/details?id=com.fring">Android, href="http://itunes.apple.com/app/fring/id290948830?mt=8">iPhone and href="http://store.ovi.com/content/9356?cid=ovistore-fw-bac-ftr-acq-na-fringsite-g0-na-1">Nokia Ovi from the respective stores or by visiting href="http://m.fring.com">m.fring.com.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Fring-Splash.jpg" alt="mobile chat video" />

Fring automatically finds some of your friends via your address book, but you can navigate to Menu > Add-Ons to manually link your account to other chat services and find more contacts to chat to this way. Fring actually started out as a multi-client chat service, so it’s nice to see that this feature still exists within Fring.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Add-Your-Friends.png" alt="mobile chat video" />

How To Use Fring Group Video

Group video chat is just as simple as any other chat via Fring. Just find the first person you want to call, click group chat and keep adding friends. Easy!

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/fring-promo-photo.jpg" alt="mobile group chat" />

Here’s a groovy href="http://youtu.be/v8WbBaMo6GY">video showing roughly how Fring mobile group chat works in action.

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v8WbBaMo6GY?fs=1&hl=en_US" /> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="430" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v8WbBaMo6GY?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always">

Considering that alternatives like Skype group video chat on the desktop are not yet available to all users, having group video chat available on smartphones is a massive step forward. Most video chat enthusiasts have been waiting for free group video chat facilities for the desktop or mobile phones. Fring have jumped right to the top of the game by offering mobile group video chat so quickly. Now everyone can enjoy group video chat from wherever they can get Internet access on their phone.

More Video Chat

If you love to use href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/video-chat/">video chat software and want a few more applications to try, read on with these articles:

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Have you tried Fring group video chat? What did you think? Will you use it often or not? Let us know in the comments! />
/>Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to target="_blank" href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/tag/share-share-share-spread-word/">share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. />
/>

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/fring-video-chat-promo.jpg" alt="mobile group chat" /> href="http://www.fring.com/">Fring takes video chat up a notch with the world’s first group video chat for Android and iPhone, connecting up to four friends at a time. What’s more, it’s for free! That’s something most of use could make use of, for sure.

If you’re an avid Android or iPhone user, you’ve probably already heard about Fring. It’s a free application that lets you chat with your friends from all your other favourite href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/msn-yahoo-aim-icq-in-one/">chat clients, including Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Chat, Twitter, and many more. It has offered free video chatting since 2009, but has only just released the group video chat, which is available right now for all Fring users to use on their smartphone.

What’s Fring?

For any href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/fring-free-mobile-calls-chat/">Fring friend you wish to contact, Fring lets you chat via text, voice or video call wherever there is an Internet connection available, WiFi, 3G or 4G. You don’t even need a SIM card for it to work. If you want to contact someone who doesn’t use Fring, you can make calls at 1c/minute. There’s no restrictions worldwide regarding who can use Fring and who you can call. Neat, huh?

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Fring-Out.png" alt="mobile group chat" />

Fring’s video chat service uses their own proprietary technology to enable all video chat users to experience the best possible video quality possible.

Here’s a demo video on href="http://youtu.be/8nUhMEPHSHE">how Fring works.

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8nUhMEPHSHE?fs=1&hl=en_US" /> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="430" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8nUhMEPHSHE?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always">

Get Fring

You can get your own copy of Fring for href="http://market.android.com/details?id=com.fring">Android, href="http://itunes.apple.com/app/fring/id290948830?mt=8">iPhone and href="http://store.ovi.com/content/9356?cid=ovistore-fw-bac-ftr-acq-na-fringsite-g0-na-1">Nokia Ovi from the respective stores or by visiting href="http://m.fring.com">m.fring.com.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Fring-Splash.jpg" alt="mobile chat video" />

Fring automatically finds some of your friends via your address book, but you can navigate to Menu > Add-Ons to manually link your account to other chat services and find more contacts to chat to this way. Fring actually started out as a multi-client chat service, so it’s nice to see that this feature still exists within Fring.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Add-Your-Friends.png" alt="mobile chat video" />

How To Use Fring Group Video

Group video chat is just as simple as any other chat via Fring. Just find the first person you want to call, click group chat and keep adding friends. Easy!

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/fring-promo-photo.jpg" alt="mobile group chat" />

Here’s a groovy href="http://youtu.be/v8WbBaMo6GY">video showing roughly how Fring mobile group chat works in action.

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v8WbBaMo6GY?fs=1&hl=en_US" /> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="430" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v8WbBaMo6GY?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always">

Considering that alternatives like Skype group video chat on the desktop are not yet available to all users, having group video chat available on smartphones is a massive step forward. Most video chat enthusiasts have been waiting for free group video chat facilities for the desktop or mobile phones. Fring have jumped right to the top of the game by offering mobile group video chat so quickly. Now everyone can enjoy group video chat from wherever they can get Internet access on their phone.

More Video Chat

If you love to use href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/video-chat/">video chat software and want a few more applications to try, read on with these articles:

• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-video-chat-alternatives-bored-chatroulette/">3 Video Chat Alternatives If You Get Bored With Chatroulette
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-apps-video-chat-facebook/">5 Apps That Let You Video Chat With Facebook Friends
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/imoim-text-video-chat-im-platforms/">Imo.im : Text and Video Chat with your IM Buddies Online
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-own-free-disposable-chat-room/">How To Create Your Own Free Disposable Chat Room

Have you tried Fring group video chat? What did you think? Will you use it often or not? Let us know in the comments! />
/>Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to target="_blank" href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/tag/share-share-share-spread-word/">share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. />
/>

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Shutterstock-YinYang.jpg" alt="chat symbols"/>We need symbols. We might have progressed through alphabets to cultured forms of languages, but the internet age has brought us right back to where we started off as cave dwellers. Complete or incomplete sentences are fine, but sometimes nothing expresses an emotion better than an emoticon or a symbol.

There are lots of online places which do not support graphic symbols or picture emoticons. Facebook is a prime example. But that shouldn’t keep you away from communicating more warmheartedly. A lot of online platforms might not support graphic symbols, smileys, and emoticons; but then you have the entire Unicode character set to play around with. If you care to explore the Character Map installed on your system, you can literally use the special characters to speak a language of your own.

But that can be a chore. So, let’s go online.

These five simple online apps save you from rummaging through the Character Map on your system and give you one click access to communicate more animatedly.

href="http://thenextweb.com/2008/09/16/twitterkeys-enhance-your-twitter-conversations/">TwitterKeys

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Symbols01.jpg" alt="chat symbols" width="580" height="404" />

Twitter may be just about 140 characters, but even in that brief space, a symbol or two can brighten up a tweet. This Unicode character map available as a bookmarklet aims to do just that with its online chart of Unicode characters which you can use with your tweets. All you have to do is to pick from the different symbols available and decorate your tweets with a simple copy and paste. The best thing is that you don’t have to give access to any third party app.

Also try out the href="http://panmental.de/symbols/">Unicode Symbol Map.

href="http://fbsym.com/">FBSym

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Symbols02.jpg" alt="chat room symbols" width="580" height="488" />

If Twitter is there, can Facebook be far behind. Facebook Symbols is a neat little chart of Unicode symbols that you can double click and paste on your Facebook profile. You can also use it as a bookmarklet on your browser’s bookmarks toolbar. This character chart also works with Twitter and chat apps. Of course, in both the limitation is that you cannot format it beyond the paste. It just appears as it is.

Interchangeably, you can use the href="http://www.twsym.com/">Twitter Symbols chart.

href="http://www.facebook-symbols.com/">Facebook Symbols

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Symbols03.jpg" alt="chat room symbols" width="580" height="288" />

This is a blog which lists all symbols and emoticon codes you can expect to use on Facebook and other platforms like chat clients, forums, MySpace messages etc. This is a well compiled collection of cool Unicode characters and the author has taken the pains to categorize the different symbols under distinct heads.  Also handy are the other sections which point to text art generators, text combos as symbols for Facebook, cool letters for Facebook and MSN.

href="http://www.copypastecharacter.com/">CopyPasteCharacter

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Symbols04.jpg" alt="chat room symbols" width="580" height="283" />

Use a single click to copy a character from the smorgasbord on display.  The copied character is saved on the Clipboard and you can then simply paste it into your email message, chat program or social account. You can also view its corresponding HTML code. The web service also has an iPhone app which you can use to spice up your text communication. (See href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/copypastecharacter-cut-and-paste-special-characters/">Directory mention)

href="http://www.typeit.org/">TypeIt

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Symbols05.jpg" alt="chat symbols" width="580" height="383" />

This very useful Javascript app covers 18 European languages and their unique character sets that include currency symbols and other special symbols. You can use the virtual multi-language keyboard to type in complete messages and then simply copy and paste it in any message. The languages can be loaded from the side columns.

Using symbols to spice up your online conversations will make you seem like a pro. It will also put a lot of fun back into an otherwise drag conversation. If you think that chat symbols and special characters speak a thousand words, try out some of the previous posts we have covered –

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/15-popular-codes-for-smiley-faces-their-meanings/">15 Popular Codes For Smiley Faces & Their Meanings

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-keyboard-techniques-to-create-cool-symbols/">10 Keyboard Techniques To Create Cool Symbols

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-create-copyright-and-trademark-symbols-via-keystrokes-windows/">How to Create Copyright and Trademark Symbols via Keystrokes

Are you a symbol whiz? Tell us if you think these href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/tag/symbols/">symbol apps are useful for quick texting.

Image Credit: rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-63293203.html?src=6f555f2d061f759dd69a59e63a312ddf-1-21">Shutterstock

 

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More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat/" title="chat" rel="tag">chat, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat-tips/" title="chat tips" rel="tag">chat tips, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/emoticons/" title="emoticons" rel="tag">emoticons, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/fun/" title="fun" rel="tag">fun />

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative08.png" alt="chatroulette alternative" />Almost everyone these days owns a webcam. title="Skype" href="http://www.skype.com">Skype has killed long distance phone calls and title="Chatroulette" href="http://www.chatroulette.com">Chatroulette has been a breakthrough for web-based video chats. The idea of Chatroulette is to match random strangers for a one on one video chat. It’s a dream come true for exhibitionists and people with too much time on their hands, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/protect-chatroulette-shuffle">if they know what they are getting into.

If you’re bored and tired with Chatroulette or if the site happens to be down, you should check out some of its alternatives. The video chat services I will introduce here however, are not deserted Chatroulette clones. They all offer something unique and are backed up by a community, which has made them attractive destinations for Chatroulette refugees.

id="more-67777">

title="Rounds" href="http://www.rounds.com/">Rounds

Rounds is a Facebook application and a hybrid of the social network and Chatroulette. You can video chat with friends on Facebook who also use Rounds, meet new people, and make new friends. To participate in a ‘random Round’ you must have at least 100 friends on Facebook. This and the fact that chatting on Rounds is not anonymous, considerably reduces the amount of NSFW content seen on Chatroulette.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative02.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative" />

As an active user of Rounds you collect title="Rounds Coins" href="http://blog.rounds.com/coins/">coins, for example for taking and publishing snapshots, publishing your round link, or inviting friends. You can spend your coins on gifts, effects, skins, games, and other activities. The point is to have fun and interactive chats with your friends.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative01.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative sites" />

title="Stickam" href="http://www.stickam.com">Stickam

Much like Rounds, Stickam is a social network built around video chat, only that it is independent of Facebook and really focuses on the video chat aspect. While many of the Chatroulette alternatives appear to be deserted, Stickam is buzzing despite or maybe because of the login requirement. It’s a lively community with a lot to discover, for example live musicians, live radio, and shuffle games.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative07.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative sites" />

When you join the Stickam Shuffle, you are gently reminded that Stickam has a zero tolerance policy regarding obscenity and nudity. This makes it a fun and safe place to meet people and chat and the boys have a much better chance of meeting a girl than on Chatroulette.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative06.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative sites" />

Stickam was also featured in this article: title="Listen To A Live Music Band" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-websites-listen-live-music-band/">7 Websites Where You Can Listen To A Live Music Band.

title="TinyChat" href="http://tinychat.com">TinyChat

On TinyChat you can easily create your own chatroom, but you can also browse and join dozens of existing chatrooms.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative03.png" border="0" alt="video chatroom" />

The live directory shows a preview image of the person that established the chatroom and you can see how many people are broadcasting and viewing the room. However, you don’t know what you’re getting into until you join.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative04.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative" />

You can connect with MySpace, Twitter, or Facebook, or simply type a nickname. In other words, you don’t have to sign up to join a chatroom. To share your webcam, click the Start Broadcasting button in the top left of the chatroom page.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative05.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative" />

TinyChat was also featured in this article: title="Video Chat on Facebook" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-apps-video-chat-facebook/">5 Apps That Let You Video Chat On Facebook.

Conclusion

Chatroulette remains the non plus ultra of anonymous one on one chat shuffling. None of its contenders has a big following and thus cannot compete. However, there are a few services that engage users with unique features and a fun community. The alternative video chat sites not only let you meet random strangers, but you can also connect with people and make friends.

If you love to chat, also check out these articles:

• title="Create Free Disposable Chat Room" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-own-free-disposable-chat-room/">How To Create Your Own Free Disposable Chat Room
• title="Best Online Meeting Tools" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-free-online-meeting-tools-collaborate-team/">The 6 Best Free Online Meeting Tools to Collaborate With Your Team
• title="Chat With a Random Stranger" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-sites-to-chat-with-a-random-stranger/">3+ Sites To Chat With A Random Stranger
• title="Add Chatroom to Website" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-six-best-chat-rooms-for-your-site/">The Six Ways To Add A Chat Room To Your Website
• title="Online Instant Messaging Services to Chat with Friends" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-download-free-ways-to-im/">5 Online Instant Messaging Services to Chat with Friends

What is your favorite instant messenger or online chat room? Do you video chat a lot?

Image source: title="Videochat" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=chat+video&search.x=0&search.y=0&search=Search&search_group=&orient=&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&commercial_ok=&color=&show_color_wheel=1#id=53185939&src=7ee7a4fbe680ae998517a51c83e894ce-1-62">sellingpix />
/> Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

/>

 

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More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/better-alternatives/" title="better alternatives" rel="tag">better alternatives, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat/" title="chat" rel="tag">chat, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat-client/" title="chat client" rel="tag">chat client, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat-tips/" title="chat tips" rel="tag">chat tips, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/social-networks/" title="social networks" rel="tag">social networks />

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative08.png" alt="chatroulette alternative" />Almost everyone these days owns a webcam. title="Skype" href="http://www.skype.com">Skype has killed long distance phone calls and title="Chatroulette" href="http://www.chatroulette.com">Chatroulette has been a breakthrough for web-based video chats. The idea of Chatroulette is to match random strangers for a one on one video chat. It’s a dream come true for exhibitionists and people with too much time on their hands, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/protect-chatroulette-shuffle">if they know what they are getting into.

If you’re bored and tired with Chatroulette or if the site happens to be down, you should check out some of its alternatives. The video chat services I will introduce here however, are not deserted Chatroulette clones. They all offer something unique and are backed up by a community, which has made them attractive destinations for Chatroulette refugees.

id="more-67777">

title="Rounds" href="http://www.rounds.com/">Rounds

Rounds is a Facebook application and a hybrid of the social network and Chatroulette. You can video chat with friends on Facebook who also use Rounds, meet new people, and make new friends. To participate in a ‘random Round’ you must have at least 100 friends on Facebook. This and the fact that chatting on Rounds is not anonymous, considerably reduces the amount of NSFW content seen on Chatroulette.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative02.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative" />

As an active user of Rounds you collect title="Rounds Coins" href="http://blog.rounds.com/coins/">coins, for example for taking and publishing snapshots, publishing your round link, or inviting friends. You can spend your coins on gifts, effects, skins, games, and other activities. The point is to have fun and interactive chats with your friends.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative01.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative sites" />

title="Stickam" href="http://www.stickam.com">Stickam

Much like Rounds, Stickam is a social network built around video chat, only that it is independent of Facebook and really focuses on the video chat aspect. While many of the Chatroulette alternatives appear to be deserted, Stickam is buzzing despite or maybe because of the login requirement. It’s a lively community with a lot to discover, for example live musicians, live radio, and shuffle games.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative07.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative sites" />

When you join the Stickam Shuffle, you are gently reminded that Stickam has a zero tolerance policy regarding obscenity and nudity. This makes it a fun and safe place to meet people and chat and the boys have a much better chance of meeting a girl than on Chatroulette.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative06.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative sites" />

Stickam was also featured in this article: title="Listen To A Live Music Band" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-websites-listen-live-music-band/">7 Websites Where You Can Listen To A Live Music Band.

title="TinyChat" href="http://tinychat.com">TinyChat

On TinyChat you can easily create your own chatroom, but you can also browse and join dozens of existing chatrooms.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative03.png" border="0" alt="video chatroom" />

The live directory shows a preview image of the person that established the chatroom and you can see how many people are broadcasting and viewing the room. However, you don’t know what you’re getting into until you join.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative04.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative" />

You can connect with MySpace, Twitter, or Facebook, or simply type a nickname. In other words, you don’t have to sign up to join a chatroom. To share your webcam, click the Start Broadcasting button in the top left of the chatroom page.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ChatrouletteAlternative05.png" border="0" alt="chatroulette alternative" />

TinyChat was also featured in this article: title="Video Chat on Facebook" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-apps-video-chat-facebook/">5 Apps That Let You Video Chat On Facebook.

Conclusion

Chatroulette remains the non plus ultra of anonymous one on one chat shuffling. None of its contenders has a big following and thus cannot compete. However, there are a few services that engage users with unique features and a fun community. The alternative video chat sites not only let you meet random strangers, but you can also connect with people and make friends.

If you love to chat, also check out these articles:

• title="Create Free Disposable Chat Room" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-own-free-disposable-chat-room/">How To Create Your Own Free Disposable Chat Room
• title="Best Online Meeting Tools" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-free-online-meeting-tools-collaborate-team/">The 6 Best Free Online Meeting Tools to Collaborate With Your Team
• title="Chat With a Random Stranger" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-sites-to-chat-with-a-random-stranger/">3+ Sites To Chat With A Random Stranger
• title="Add Chatroom to Website" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-six-best-chat-rooms-for-your-site/">The Six Ways To Add A Chat Room To Your Website
• title="Online Instant Messaging Services to Chat with Friends" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-download-free-ways-to-im/">5 Online Instant Messaging Services to Chat with Friends

What is your favorite instant messenger or online chat room? Do you video chat a lot?

Image source: title="Videochat" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=chat+video&search.x=0&search.y=0&search=Search&search_group=&orient=&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&commercial_ok=&color=&show_color_wheel=1#id=53185939&src=7ee7a4fbe680ae998517a51c83e894ce-1-62">sellingpix />
/> Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

/>

 

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More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/better-alternatives/" title="better alternatives" rel="tag">better alternatives, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat/" title="chat" rel="tag">chat, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat-client/" title="chat client" rel="tag">chat client, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chat-tips/" title="chat tips" rel="tag">chat tips, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/social-networks/" title="social networks" rel="tag">social networks />

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/poll2.png"/>Last week, we asked href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/hate-friends-smartphones-hang-makeuseof-poll/">if it annoyed you when your friends use smartphones while you hang out. It turns out you’d better be doing something that involves everyone or you will probably annoy people a lot.

With a total of 310 votes, the split was as follows: 43% think smartphone use when hanging out is only okay if you’re involving everyone (like finding a new venue to try); 32% of people are simply annoyed at smartphone use at gatherings, regardless of the reason; 25% readers have no problem with smartphone use while you’re hanging out. That’s 75% of people unimpressed if you get your smartphone out for a purpose that doesn’t involve everyone.

Full results and this week’s poll after the jump.

id="more-67614"> /> So, remember when you get your phone out at social gatherings, you’d best be doing something useful with it that involves everyone or you’re likely to annoy almost everyone!