Start your first chat room.

Gibbet has two flavors of chat room — open public rooms and screening rooms built around a video or stream. Here’s when to use each, and how to spin one up in the app.

The two room types

Both live inside a community. Pick based on whether the chat is the point — or whether you’re gathering around something to watch.

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Public chat room

An always-open conversation anyone in the community can join.

A public chat room is a free-form group chat tied to your community. Anyone in the community can drop in, read the history, and start chatting. You set the topic, the rules, and the vibe — Gibbet handles the rest. Public rooms are great for ongoing conversations that don't need a host.

Best for: General chat, off-topic, support, niche subtopics — anywhere conversation should be persistent and open.

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Screening room

A live watch-along room around a video or stream.

A screening room is a chat room built around something you're watching together. Drop in a video link or a stream, and members can react and chat alongside it in real time. When the screening ends, the chat history sticks around so people who missed it can catch up.

Best for: Premiere parties, watch-alongs, debrief threads, anything where the conversation orbits a single piece of content.

Opening a public chat room

Public rooms are the everyday workhorse — ongoing chats anyone in your community can read and join.

1
Open your community
In the app, navigate to the community where the chat room will live. You need to be a member — and to create the room, the community needs to allow member-created rooms (or you need to be a moderator).
2
Open the Chats tab
Inside the community, switch to the Chats tab. You'll see any existing public rooms here, plus a + button in the corner to start a new one.
3
Tap + and pick "Public chat room"
The room creator slides up. Pick the public chat room option (the other option is a screening room — see below).
4
Name it and describe it
Give the room a short, clear name (e.g. "art-feedback" or "Tuesday game night") and a one-sentence description so people know what they're walking into.
5
Set the rules and create
Choose who can post (everyone vs. moderators only) and whether replies are threaded. Tap Create — your room opens immediately and is listed in the community's Chats tab.

Opening a screening room

Screening rooms gather everyone around a single video or stream, with chat alongside it.

1
Start from a community
Screening rooms also live inside a community. Open the community, go to the Chats tab, and tap +.
2
Pick "Screening room"
Choose the screening room option in the room creator. The form changes to ask for the content you're screening.
3
Add the link
Paste a YouTube link, a Twitch stream URL, or any supported video source. Gibbet pulls the title and thumbnail so people know what they're joining.
4
Pick a start time (optional)
You can open the room right now, or schedule it for later. Scheduled screenings show up in the community feed so members can RSVP.
5
Open the room
Hit Create. The screening room opens with the video pinned at the top and chat below. Invite members from the share sheet — or just let them find it in the Chats tab.

Tips for hosting a good room

Name it for what happens there. “art-crits” tells people what to expect; “general” doesn’t.
Pin the rules. The first message in a fresh room sets the tone — use it.
Show up early. Rooms feel alive when the host is around for the first hour. Stop in, react, welcome people in.
For screenings, schedule ahead. A scheduled time gives people something to RSVP to and lands in the community feed.
Don’t over-create. One healthy room beats five quiet ones. Add new rooms when the existing ones are too busy, not before.