SayHello

Stranger Chat

6 min read

Stranger chat is a one-on-one conversation with a person you have never met, picked for you at random. On SayHello it is text only and for adults: press Start talking, wait in the lobby while the search runs, then talk privately. No account is needed, and your partner learns only what you write.

A conversation with one person you have never met and probably never will. How it works, what the other side learns about you, and how to make it go well.

People have typed to strangers since the first chat rooms, and the reasons have hardly changed: a free half hour, a question you cannot ask anyone you know, a language to practise, or company at night. This page covers what stranger chat is, why text suits it, how it works on SayHello and how to keep it pleasant and safe.

What is stranger chat?

Stranger chat is a conversation between two people who know nothing about each other and were matched by a site, not by choice. There is no profile to study and no friend list. Either side can end it at any moment, and when it ends, nothing ties you together: no follow, no contact, no history.
  1. One person. Not a room and not a feed: everything you write goes to one reader.
  2. Chosen by the queue. You set a few preferences, and the site does the picking.
  3. No strings. No follow, no friend request, no contact left behind.
  4. Short is fine. Two minutes is a normal conversation. So is an hour.

Why do people talk to strangers?

The reasons are ordinary, and you can see them in any stranger chat within an evening. Someone you will never meet cannot repeat your words to your friends, so it is easier to be direct. A new person has no picture of you to live up to. And sometimes you simply want to talk, and nobody you know is awake.
  1. An outside opinion on something you cannot ask friends or family about.
  2. Company late at night, when the people you know are asleep.
  3. Practice in another language with someone who actually speaks it.
  4. Curiosity: what someone in another country thinks about the same thing.
  5. A conversation that ends when it ends, with nothing to keep up afterwards.

Why text and not video?

Video stranger chat shows your face and your room the moment a match connects, and the first seconds go on appearances. In text, the first thing the other person sees is what you wrote. Text also works on a weak connection, on a bus, in an office and at night with the sound off.
  1. No camera or microphone permission to grant, or to forget about.
  2. You can take a moment, reread and answer when you are ready.
  3. Nobody sees where you are or who is in the room with you.
  4. If seeing the person matters to you, a video site is the right choice. SayHello has no video.

How stranger chat works on SayHello

SayHello has one button. You press Start talking and the search begins. While it runs, you wait in the lobby, where everyone is Guest plus four digits. When a match is found, a private one-on-one chat opens. These are all the steps, from the button to the next conversation.
  1. Press Start talking. There is no form; gender and age are optional, in search settings.
  2. Pick a room: Talk for anything, Flirt for adult subjects by consent.
  3. Wait in the lobby. Write to everyone there, or tap a message to invite its author to talk one-on-one.
  4. Matching looks for someone who shares your language first. Any language widens the search.
  5. In the private chat, messages in another language are translated automatically, with the original underneath.
  6. Next ends the chat and takes you back to the lobby with the search on.
  7. If your partner's connection drops after you have both written, the chat waits up to three minutes for them.

What does your partner learn about you?

This is the question that matters most in stranger chat. On a social network or a dating app, the other person sees a profile before you say a word. In video roulette, they see you. On SayHello, they see only what you choose to show. The table compares the three.
Social network or dating appVideo rouletteSayHello
NameUsually, on the profileDepends on the siteNo. In the lobby you are Guest plus four digits
FaceProfile photosYes, live on cameraNo. There is no camera
PhotosWhatever is on the profileWhatever is in the frameOnly a photo you send, and it arrives blurred
TownOften on the profileSometimes visible in the frameOnly if you write it
LanguageOn the profileHeard when you speakYes, in the chat header
Gender and ageOn the profileSeen on cameraOnly if you set them
HistoryPosts and friendsNoneNone. Chats are deleted 24 hours after they end

Five rules for a good stranger chat

Stranger chat goes well more often when both people keep a few habits. None of them is complicated, and together they cover most of what goes wrong: personal details handed out too early, money requests, links in the first messages, and the person who keeps pushing after a no.
  1. Open with something real: a question, an opinion, what you are doing right now. “Hi” on its own often ends the chat.
  2. Keep your full name, town, workplace and social accounts to yourself. Country and language are fine.
  3. No money, ever: loans, investments, gift cards, paid photos. That is the end of the conversation.
  4. Leave when you want to. Next takes one tap and owes nobody an explanation.
  5. Use Report. Three reports from different people within an hour close that person's search in the room for an hour.

Questions people ask

Is stranger chat free?

Yes. SayHello has no paid features. A guest gets five conversations a day, and a free account removes the limit.

Do I need an account?

No. Press Start talking and the search begins. An account takes an email and a password, and you can create one later.

Can I choose who I talk to?

You can set gender, age and language in search settings. For the first ten seconds of a search they work as requirements, then as preferences, so you are not left waiting.

What if nobody is around?

You wait in the lobby and can write to the people who are waiting too. The search runs for five minutes, then one tap starts it again.

Is it only for adults?

Yes. The whole site is 18+. The Flirt room is for adult subjects by consent, and Talk is for everything else.

Are there bots?

No. Only real people.

What happens to the conversation?

It is deleted 24 hours after it ends. If someone reports the chat, it is kept until the report is reviewed, and never longer than 30 days.

Articles

Say hello to someone new

Text only, adults only, no account. Press the button and the search starts.