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Show HN: Bored People Chat – Anonymous global chat room (boredpeoplechat.com)

6 points by syc-bpc ↗ HN
Bored People Chat is a minimal, anonymous global chat room inspired by the old internet that doesn't have sign-up, ads or bots. With a goal of cleaning up the bad reputation of previous anonymous chats, it’s a tiny website that has a single public global room. I purposefully didn't implement the ability to DM in here, and added moderation and filtering for anything that looks like personal information. Only a global public room exist where there are eyes of others.

I built this because I personally wanted a space where I can always come back to, to meet and talk with strangers but also feel safe. It is mostly from nostalgia from old chat rooms and MMORPGs where I was able to make real deep connections online with people I haven't really seen faces of.

I already see a few people who regularly start coming back because they feel lonely, bored or just curious. Some might've just moved to a new place, or have other reasons why it is difficult to meet people in real life. It has really meant a lot to be able to provide a small space like this for people to gather, feel the presence of others and talk about their life.

My main focus is on the safety and moderation so I can continue to provide a safe space to talk. I believe this is achievable with help of modern AI agents that can automate the flagged chats and repeat offenders.

I’d really appreciate some genuine feedback. Thanks.

15 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 36.4 ms ] thread
JauntyHatAngle
This is barrens chat 2.0.

Just a constant slew of racism and US politics.

jonplackett
Seems to be mostly full of people hurling racist abuse - this should surprise no one.
supern0va
It's currently broke people chat.
isoprophlex
Open the page... Loading tooltip says "a campfire, not a stage".

750 msec in and I feel a rising tide of "this is llm slop, it's probably not something thoughtfully created; not something that sparks joy".

Not a good initial response. Your coding agent put that there and you probably didn't even think about it much so it got left in, even though it's a trite slopism that doesn't convey anything apart from a vague feeling of cosyness. Just "loading" would have been enough, or a first-load modal where you explain the purpose.

Okay, I'm a sourpuss, I know. Lets go on. So, the chatbox renders... but every API call 503's, so there is nothing to see or do. Apart from staring at a header with another slopism to pick at, like an itching little scab that's been there forever because you can't seem to leave it alone even though you should:

"One room. Everyone. No accounts. No ads. No AI."

   - one room. everyone. 
   Yes we can see that 

   - no accounts
   Yes indeed this is obvious from the autogenerated username

   - no ads
   Thanks for telling me, otherwise I wouldnt have noticed their absence

   - no ai
   Citation needed lol
The idea is good, or at least seems to come from a genuine place. but for fucks sake run a human pass over the copy. Or just ask the clanker to do it for you. LLM text in user interfaces is like tailwind css, linkedin broetry and hustle culture had a demented lovechild.
EmanuelB
”Could not load chat. Check your connection and refresh.”
KennyBlanken
I loaded the site and within 3 seconds an antisemitic slur appeared and then a few seconds later a slur about asian people appeared.

Predictable, tiresome, cliche.

syc-bpc
Yeah that was a real moderation gap, honestly didn't expect this much traffic from HN. I'm working on improving the moderation asap as this is unacceptable.
ad_hockey
I'd get rid of the animated emotes, they're a bit obnoxious. They pop up right over the part of the screen you're trying to read and don't add any value.
vanillameow
The tagline is literally "No AI" but this is a clearly Claude-designed website and you say you use AI for moderation, so what does the "No AI" even refer to? That the people you talk to aren't AI? What reason do I have to believe this, given the project's remaining track record?

Also IRC still exists.

spwa4
You're probably violating 1000 laws with this. But very cool!
neuroticnews25
I got banned by a stupid fucking AI for explaining to someone how he can use javascript: url on mobile to execute code without remote dev console.
syc-bpc
Hey HN! Thank you for trying out the app and the feedbacks provided. I honestly didn't expect this much traffic from this post from last night. I mean I think this was a really good thing, and it just revealed what I should focus on next, early in the process.

To answer some of the questions/concerns:

1. Why does it say no AI?: When I wrote that copy, I meant there aren't AI bots automatically sending messages acting as humans (at least from the site's perspective). I'm going to change that as I realize that is confusing.

2. Showing racism/slurs/abusive words: Totally unacceptable and enhancing the automatic moderation is going to be my top priority over next few weeks.

3. Chat going 503 after large connections: Last night's stress test really revealed some bugs/gaps in terms of cleaning up stale connections. This was fixed, but yes, it was something I should've stress tested before.

Really appreciate everyone for checking this out. It has given me a realization of the difficulty and importance of safety and moderation in anonymous chats.

VCFundedGenYer
This can't exist in 2026. Sorry. It's just going to be AI bots claiming they're not AI bots, racist/awful posts, or just dangerous activities.

It's not the 90s anymore.

htimsenna
Hoping this is what I'm looking for