The online text and video-chat website, Omegle, announced the closure of the site on Nov. 8, 2023, 14 years after its founding. The Omegle homepage now showcases a 15,644-word announcement where Leif K-Brooks, founder of Omegle, explains the sudden shutdown. The end of Omegle has sparked debate regarding personal freedoms on the web, and whether or not Omegle was a positive place on the Internet.
“The premise was rather straightforward: when you used Omegle, it would randomly place you in a chat with someone else. These chats could be as long or as short as you chose. If you didn’t want to talk to a particular person, for whatever reason, you could simply end the chat and – if desired – move onto another chat with someone else. It was the idea of ‘meeting new people’ distilled down to almost its platonic ideal,” K-Brooks explained in his final message.
On paper, Omegle served as a chat site where you could meet people of diverse cultures and be exposed to unique ideas. Or if you are like most teenagers who have used Omegle in the past, it simply could have been a fun site to browse with friends to kill time.
“Over the years, people have used Omegle to explore foreign cultures; to get advice about their lives from impartial third parties; and to help alleviate feelings of loneliness and isolation,” said K-Brooks. “I’ve even heard stories of soulmates meeting on Omegle, and getting married. Those are only some of the highlights.”
Within the first month of uptime, Omegle was accruing 150,000 users per day. As reported by Forbes, as of February, Omegle had achieved 73 million monthly users. Even here at Masuk, Omegle is a name nearly every student will recognize and most likely have used at least once.
“I would use it most of the time when I’m bored. And I’d just record it and post it on YouTube,” said junior Bouba Diaby.
Diaby was an avid user of Omegle with experience running his own Omegle-centered YouTube channel titled “Bouba Btw,” whose posts consisted of comedy-angled content from the site. Diaby and all other Omegle content creators now face their main source of content being taken down.
Freshman Daniel Fontana said, “I see it on TikTok a lot. I’ve used it during sleepovers when I have nothing to do.” For Fontana, like many other Masuk teens, Omegle is now just a memory.
Though the site was intended as a safe space for those who had social struggles, it began accumulating a less desirable crowd of users over time. Racists, political extremists, voyeurs and worse all found a home through the anonymity of Omegle.
“My oldest daughter, who’s 17, was having a sleepover. I did not know what it was. I thought it was just a random kind of stuff, but not really anything harmful,” said Amanda Gallagher, a Masuk English teacher. “She and her friend were on the computer. And what I see on the computer is a strange man… in a state that was not appropriate for them to be watching.”
Though eventually adopting a policy in 2022 that forbade users younger than 18 years old, for much of its lifetime, Omegle was a wild west of inappropriate content that a multitude of children were exposed to.
“I mean, if you were bored it was good, but sometimes old men be on there showing their d—- off,” said Diaby.
Omegle offered a moderated section where admins would attempt to stop misuse, especially regarding nudity. The unmoderated section, on the other hand, attracted a certain category of unsavory individuals on the internet. People and content that children should most definitely not be exposed to.
“There are people on there, putting stuff out there, with this desire of having people watch them,” said Gallagher.
In addition to sexual content that was not suitable for minors, the website was used as a platform to spread messages of hate or other politically charged speech. K-Brooks and Omegle as a whole attempted to combat these widespread communities, but struggled greatly.
K-Brooks stated, “Unfortunately, what is right doesn’t always prevail. As much as I wish circumstances were different, the stress and expense of this fight – coupled with the existing stress and expense of operating Omegle, and fighting its misuse – are simply too much. Operating Omegle is no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically.”
His message ended with a call to action. K-Brooks explained how nearly all Internet services are facing similar challenges and attacks, and implored the reader to “please consider donating to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that fights for your rights online.”
In the end, it is dependent on the individual, as to whether the memory of Omegle is one of nostalgia, or one of disdain.
Masuk Free Press 
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