Sean Parker Relaunches airtime, A Social Media Platform Based on Live Video Chat

In 2011 Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and first president of Facebook, launched his chat roulette program airtime player, perhaps at a time when the world wasn’t ready for it quite yet. Today, the entrepreneur relaunches the app as an unconventional method of social media. Unlike “broadcast” social media, which serves you a linear feed you can scroll down and throw likes at,  “people can have the expectation of privacy, intimacy, and closeness – a kid of humanity rather than everything having to be some form of theater or performance,” says Parker. With the capacity to add even 250 participants in one conversation, the chat room becomes a third-space for you and your friends online to share media as well as your reactions together. Users can video chat with up to six friends at once with each person’s live thumbnail visible on your screen. Find friends through your contact and address book, rather than your Facebook friends, and make any room private or discoverable in your settings. In addition to live video chat, the platform is able to share videos from YouTube Live, YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, Giphy, Vimeo, IHeartRadio, TED, and Vevo, as well as your own photos from your camera roll, and your location.

Airtime is now available for iOS and Android. Do you think the world is ready for Airtime?