Airtime: Napster team launches video-based social network

Napster founder Sean Parker has launched a video based social network called Airtime, which connects people based on their Facebook interests.

The social network has been in development for the past year. In an official statement, the Airtime team claims that it “is not just a product, it’s a network service designed to create live shared experiences online, between two sets of people: those that you know and those who you want to know”.

“The service,” it claims, “allows you to share live experiences through content, and expand beyond your social graph to discover new people through similar interests in an environment that is collaborative, fun and safe”.

The “safe” part’s especially encouraging as it distinguishes Airtime from the likes of Chat Roulette, where you never knew when you were going to be confronted with a penis.

All you need to get Airtime going is a webcam and a Facebook profile. From there, the service connects you to people you do, and do not know based on your Facebook interests.

Parker recently teased Airtime at AllThingsD’s D10 conference, saying that it would break through the constraints of the social graph:

“Why is nobody doing anything with the interest graph — it’s all used to target ads and not being used to do anything interesting to connect people.”

Considering the heavy Facebook integration in Airtime, as well as Parker’s history with the social network, it’s perhaps ironic that he told the crowd at the launch that “Facebook isn’t helping you build new connections.”

The company is financed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and joined by other great partners, including existing and new investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Accel Partners, Google Ventures, and Social + Capital