Update: As of August 2023, this chat server has been deleted - meaning all the information below is completely useless.
Thanks for your interest in joining Gossip Land – a place online to chat with friends and friends of friends.
Get started (PC/Mac)
If you are on a computer, it’s easy:
Go to join.gossip.land and register an account.
Your username will be @name:gossip.land so choose wisely. And bookmark the page to use Gossip Land on your computer.
There are also apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Get started (from your mobile)
This has two key steps. First, install the app. Then click a link.
- Install the Element app for iOS App Store / Google Play / F-Droid
- Before you register, click this link.
Clicking the link should take you to the Element app and add all the geeky settings you need to get started on Gossip Land.
What is Gossip Land?
Imagine WhatsApp meets chat rooms of the early 2000s.
You can start video or voice calls, or send messages to your friends and family. It’s all end-to-end encrypted so only you and the person you are messaging can read the message.
There are also many chat rooms to join too. Maybe you are interested in #football or #technology? You can join existing rooms or create your own on any topic imaginable.
Why not just use WhatsApp / Snapchat / Telegram?
Well, you could use both. Not all your friends will be on Gossip Land.
Most messenger apps are owned by big companies looking to track what you do online and advertise back to you or sell your information. Gossip Land is a small community and free to use, paid for and ran by your friend (or a friend of your friend) Matt Vestengen-Cox.
On the face of it, Gossip Land should just be a fun way to chat with people. Beneath the surface, it should be more secure and private than other messenger apps.
Want some technical details?
If you are more tech minded you might want to know more about what Gossip Land is and how it works. Well, put simply, it’s a server running Matrix and you can read a lot more about Matrix on their website.
The server is owned and run day-to-day by Matt Vestengen-Cox, but some of the more complicated tech stuff is maintained by Element.io.
Both Matt and Element cannot view or access your data or conversations. True decentralised end-to-end encryption means only the devices involved in the conversation can read the data.
The only exception to “data collection” is that the server saves your IP address when you sign into a new device. This is to help identify spam or fraudsters trying to log in on your account.