Random Chat Topics: 50 Things to Talk About With Strangers

The cursor is blinking in an empty text box and a stranger is waiting on the other side. You know what you meant to say. Somehow all that comes out is "hi" and then nothing. Most random chats do not end because two people disliked each other. They end because both ran out of things to say around the first minute. This list is for that moment: fifty random chat topics, grouped by how you are chatting.

How to Use This List

Do not read the questions out like a quiz. Three habits make them work.

• Answer first. Say your own answer in a sentence, then ask. It shows how much detail you are happy to share and makes it feel like a chat rather than an interview.
• Pick two, not ten. Choose two that sound like you. The rest of the chat comes from following up on what the other person says.
• Leave when it is not working. If the replies stay one word long after two tries, skip. Not every match is a fit, and that is normal.

10 Openers for Any Random Chat

These work in every mode because they are tied to the moment you are both in. Pick one and send it right after hello. If you are still choosing a way to chat, the random chat page explains the three modes.

1. Where are you chatting from, and what time is it there?
2. What brought you here tonight?
3. What does your evening look like right now?
4. Is it morning, afternoon or the middle of the night for you?
5. Quick one: tea, coffee or something stranger?
6. What are you listening to at the moment, if anything?
7. What is the weather doing where you are?
8. Do you have a go-to snack for nights like this?
9. How long have you been awake today?
10. What is one good thing that happened today, however small?

15 Topics That Work Best in Text Chat

In random text chat you have time to think, so playful and game-like topics shine. Short answers are fine, and a good question can be answered in a line.

1. Two truths and a lie: want to play?
2. Describe your day using only three emojis.
3. Is there a word in your language that English cannot translate?
4. What is the best app on your phone that nobody talks about?
5. What is your most-used emoji, and what does it say about you?
6. Pick one: a week in the mountains or a week by the sea?
7. If your life had a soundtrack, what would the opening song be?
8. What was the last thing you searched for online?
9. What is a harmless opinion you would defend to the end?
10. Which book, show or game would you press into a stranger's hands?
11. Does your family have a small tradition nobody else would understand?
12. What did you want to be when you were ten?
13. What is your most useless talent?
14. Which season does your city do best?
15. If you could learn any skill instantly, which would you pick?

15 Topics for Voice and Video Chats

When you can hear or see each other, tone and surroundings do some of the work. These topics lean on things you can only share live: sounds, languages, stories and the room you are in. They fit voice chat with strangers and video chat alike.

1. Can you teach me one phrase in your language?
2. What does your street sound like right now?
3. What is the most interesting thing within arm's reach of you?
4. Is there a family recipe I would never guess?
5. What does your hometown have that tourists always miss?
6. What have you been practising lately?
7. If we swapped places for a day, what should I know?
8. What is the best story you tell at parties?
9. Which song makes you stop whatever you are doing? Can you hum it?
10. Do you have a pet, and what is it like?
11. What is the funniest misunderstanding you have had in a second language?
12. What is a place you hope to see someday?
13. What does your morning routine look like?
14. What is the oldest thing in your room?
15. What are you most looking forward to this month?

10 Rescue Topics When the Chat Goes Quiet

Every chat has a silent moment. Do not apologise for it. Pick one of these and carry on, or let the silence sit for a few seconds, which is often fine.

1. Want to hear a random fact?
2. What is the last thing you learned?
3. What is something you have changed your mind about?
4. What is the most useful advice anyone has given you?
5. What would you do with a completely free Sunday?
6. What was a small win for you this week?
7. What would you tell your younger self?
8. What do people often misunderstand about where you live?
9. Which place has surprised you most?
10. What are you curious about right now?

What Not to Ask a Stranger

Good topics are light and easy to answer. Skip anything that asks someone to hand over personal information: surname, phone number, address, school, workplace or social handles. Skip anything sexual, anything about money, and anything that pressures the other person. Politics and religion are not banned, but they are a lot to take on in the first minute with someone you have just met.

The same applies in reverse. Keep your own details to yourself until you really know someone, and leave any chat that makes you uneasy. The safety page lists the red flags worth ending a chat over and explains skip, block and report.

The Short Version

Start small, answer your own question first and let the chat wander. If it is not working, the next match is one tap away. Ready to try one of these? You can start without signing up, and it takes one tap.

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