# Any "virtual happy hours" with STRANGERS available somewhere? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [April 10, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472 "2020-04-10T02:21:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/1 "2020-04-10T02:21:46Z")
Everywhere you look, there are articles about people using FaceTime or Zoom or what have you to engage in “happy hour” with their friends and family. And I have done this a few times. But as a serious extrovert, what I really miss is going out for drinks and striking up conversations with people I’ve\* never met before\*. So far, all the Googling I’ve done about video chat either talks about setting it up with friends or is basically oriented toward cybersexing it up with strangers, stuff kinky people already did before Covid-19. So does this just not exist? It’s a shame if so: I always knew this was part of my personality, but it’s really starting to get driven home how important it was to me to be able to do this. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/2 "2020-04-10T04:16:37Z")
I saw some news coverage of Quarantine Chat which is sort of similar to what you are looking for: [https://quarantinechat.com/](https://quarantinechat.com/) “Talk on the phone with someone else stuck at home.” > **[QuarantineChat Connects Sheltering Strangers](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/30/quarantinechat-connects-sheltering-strangers)** > > As Americans adopt social-distancing practices, an app is helping the homebound to make new friends. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/3 "2020-04-10T04:47:18Z")
Not sure if this is anything like what you’re looking for, but it may cheer you up. It’s an Australian Facebook group called ‘Bin isolation outing’. Be sure to watch the video in the article: [‘I haven’t laughed so much in my life’: the Australians dressing up to celebrate bin night](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/apr/10/i-havent-laughed-so-much-in-my-life-the-australians-dressing-up-to-celebrate-bin-night) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/4 "2020-04-10T08:49:31Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/5 "2020-04-10T14:34:35Z")
I think the problem is, whenever somebody (or a company) tries to set up a friendly, no sex, type of chat forum, it almost always devolves into dick pics. I think there was something called “chat roulette” (or something like that). It was originally meant to be an innocent forum that just hooks you up with a random stranger for a chat. Of course, it didn’t go as planned. And frankly, it’s amusing that anybody thought it would. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/6 "2020-04-10T14:56:26Z")
One of my friend’s brothers is a DJ and he was doing DJ sets for a while on Twitch. It isn’t face-to-face talking but there is a chat and I ended up just listening to the DJ and chatting (mostly about the music) with people I didn’t know. The DJ hasn’t booked another set yet, but [Twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/)has all sorts of live streams from all sorts of people if you want to go pop in to any of their chats. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/7 "2020-04-10T19:14:41Z")
Cool, I will check that out. > [@Grrr](#): > > I think the problem is, whenever somebody (or a company) tries to set up a friendly, no sex, type of chat forum, it almost always devolves into dick pics. > > I think there was something called “chat roulette” (or something like that). It was originally meant to be an innocent forum that just hooks you up with a random stranger for a chat. Of course, it didn’t go as planned. And frankly, it’s amusing that anybody thought it would. This is exactly what I was thinking about, although I couldn’t quite remember the name. It really is unfortunate that this dynamic keeps us from having nice things. :smack: Couldn’t there be some kind of moderation that prevented it, the same way this board or reddit don’t just fill up with porn spam? If I were some kind of tech entrepreneur, I would really try to do it right now when the ratio of people wanting to use it for non-prurient purposes is presumably at its highest. Although I suppose maybe there’s no long-term future in it. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/8 "2020-04-10T19:26:08Z")
The obvious thing to do is set something up for Straight Dope members and guests. Any volunteers? How about Discord? > **[Discord | Your Place to Talk and Hang Out](https://discord.com/)** > > Discord is the easiest way to talk over voice, video, and text. Talk, chat, hang out, and stay close with your friends and communities. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/9 "2020-04-10T20:46:31Z")
Don’t look now, **Slacker** , but you’re in one right now. I’ve been here for an hour, chatting with strangers (and stranger strangers, at that), and it’s been a happy hour (on my second Bourbon ‘n’ Coke). ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/10 "2020-04-11T05:04:03Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > The obvious thing to do is set something up for Straight Dope members and guests. > > Any volunteers? > > How about Discord? > [https://discordapp.com/](https://discordapp.com/) Not a bad idea! ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/11 "2020-04-11T20:18:02Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I think the problem is, whenever somebody (or a company) tries to set up a friendly, no sex, type of chat forum, it almost always devolves into dick pics. What’s up with that? Is the threat of arrest the only thing that keeps men from whipping out their dicks and waving them at strangers? I don’t get it. I’m a dude, and I’ve never had the urge to do that. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/12 "2020-04-11T22:36:10Z")
Right? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/13 "2020-04-11T23:15:19Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > What’s up with that? Is the threat of arrest the only thing that keeps men from whipping out their dicks and waving them at strangers? I don’t get it. I’m a dude, and I’ve never had the urge to do that. Neither have I but if only one in ten thousand are into it, that’s a lot of dudes. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/14 "2020-04-11T23:26:07Z")
True, but for such forums to get overrun with such people there also must be a relatively low number of dudes who are open to just having a friendly chat with people. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-virtual-happy-hours-with-strangers-available-somewhere/851472/15 "2020-04-12T10:36:09Z")
Not really. It only takes a few bad apples to make many women not want to show up. Once the bulk of people in the chat are guys, it turns into a whole different thing. And then the reputation replicates itself. I got the feeling from the OP that you were looking for a video experience. If not, there are some discords in places like [r/casualconversation](https://old.reddit.com/r/CasualConversation/) on Reddit that might work. I’m thinking that the bigger subs would have more populated chats. Or even r/casualconversations itself might prove interesting. OPs are required to answer any comments within a few hours so they move pretty quickly. Since I know you like politics, you might also want to check out if any of your candidates have supporters who congregate online. My candidate’s supporters have a Zoom and a Discord that has an audio subsection. There are a few places to chat with people 1 on 1, but I didn’t get the sense that’s what you’re looking for.