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Azar She has facilitated more than 100 billion video chats using her app, which connects random strangers around the world. But until recently, the Seoul-based app — which Match, its parent company, shares with Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid — was not available in the United States.
The US market may be difficult to penetrate. For millennials who grew up with access to platforms like Omegle and Chatroulette, random video chat apps were like Ouija boards. But instead of conjuring up jump-inducing ghost signs, these apps have become known for unexpectedly producing men without pants, a horror that’s perhaps even scarier than the supernatural.
Omegle was shut down last year as part of a settlement in $22 million sex trafficking lawsuit. However, Chatroulette technically still exists South Park He disparaged the site as a haven for sexual predators, and a salon to praise in 2010 (“Cause of Death: Penis”).
However, with a mostly Gen Z user base, Azar is tapping into what younger web surfers don’t remember. More importantly, Azar at least tries to avoid unwanted nudity with a combination of human moderation and artificial intelligence.
“Automated tools are run first, whether it’s an inappropriate image, whether it’s audio, whether it’s in text, and then they’re run to a human moderator,” CEO Linda Kim told TechCrunch. “So human moderators are notified immediately to investigate and take necessary action.”
Kim moved from the United States to Seoul two years ago to head Azar, the lead producer of Hyperconnect, a video company that also runs a live streaming service called Hakuna Live. Match acquired Hyperconnect for $1.73 billion in 2021.
Despite being part of a dating powerhouse like Match, Azar is not explicitly a dating app, although some people use it for that purpose. The app, which works on web and mobile, is free to use, but with in-app purchases, users can switch who they want to see based more precisely on gender and location. The Azar app may match people who don’t speak a common language, but its text chat feature automatically translates messages.
“Our main user is mostly the younger generation, Generation Z,” Kim said. “They really want to have a spontaneous, real-time conversation and meet someone.”
Kim has seen firsthand that the user base skews among younger people. She uses the platform herself, sometimes to get travel tips for places she plans to visit, like Taiwan.
“Actually, I never disclose that I’m the CEO of the company or anything, so I just pretend that I’m just another user,” she said. “Sometimes they say, ‘Oh, you’re an old person.’ What are you doing on this platform?
Kim is not like that old, As her rude chat partners tell her, she’s experienced enough to work in global developer relations at Apple when the App Store first launched in 2008. She was then the Games and Social Category Manager at the App Store before moving on to another position. To Zynga. Her experience varied a bit from there, taking her to makeup and diaper companies, but now she’s back on social apps.
Apps like Azar cater to Generation Z because it is a generation that is plagued by it Feeling lonely. Amy Wu, founder of the AI-based mental health app Manifest, recently told TechCrunch that “unicorns will emerge…to address the loneliness epidemic.”
However, the prospect of engaging in a face-to-face conversation with a stranger may seem intimidating to some people. Users can apply augmented reality features to hide their faces, although when I used one of these filters to hide myself, my chat partner said: “I don’t want to talk to a zebra.” fair enough.
As Azar seeks to establish a foothold in the United States, the app will have to overcome the questionable reputation surrounding random video chat apps.
“Safety is actually a concern in the American market,” Kim said. “I think given the focus we have on safety, and the mission we have of really investing in safety… I really think the U.S. market will embrace Azar.”
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