Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are provided for pairing users for electronic communications over a network. In accordance with one implementation, a method is provided for pairing users that request a chat encounter or other form of electronic communication. The operations of the method include receiving a request from a first user and calculating a plurality of pairing scores, each pairing score based on a collaborative filtering score. The method further includes selecting a second user based on the plurality of pairing scores and pairing the first user with the second user to enable electronic communications.