Omegle
Featured Episode
About
Omegle was an online social media platform where users would be connected by video chat to a random person also browsing the site. The chatting was anonymous and one-to-one. Omegle was highly popular spawned many memes and trends. However, the site was controversial throughout its existence because of used by child predators, the alt-right and other unsavory characters.
History
Omegle was founded in 2009 by then-18-year-old Leif K-Brooks, living in Vermont. Within a month, the site drew over 150,000 page views per day and was featured in publications such as The New York Times.[1]
Throughout the 2010s, Omegle grew in popularity. It was widely discussed on platforms including 4chan, Reddit, and Twitter where videos of unhinged Omegle behavior and chatroom memes like I Own A Horse were shared and commented on.
The site saw increased user activity and traffic during the Covid-19 pandemic, as people in lockdown took to online platforms to find companionship.[5] Influencers and others posted videos of themselves using Omegle and hosted meet-and-greets on the site.
Legal Troubles
Omegle was a notorious site because child predators and others took advantage of the anonymous video chatting and the frequent presence of minors to groom and manipulate children. Several court cases were launched against the site for not offering enough protections of children, including a notable case in which a girl who had been matched with an abuser on Omegle during a sleepover while in primary school sued the site.[2]
Omegle was also controversial for the presence of racist trolls who would anonymously torment other users of the site and later post footage taken during their conversations online.[3]
Shutdown
Omegle was shutdown by its founder Leif K-Brooks after fourteen years of operation on November 8th, 2023. In a message posted to the site, K-Brooks explained his reasoning and lamented the rise of an internet that was increasingly regulated and the demise of unstructured online spaces such as Omegle.
Features
Omegle was a simple website that after an age verification checkbox brought a user (labelled "You") into an anonymous video chat with another labelled as "Stranger." Users could move from chat to chat, leaving one stranger and going to talk to another one. At the site's peak, it was estimated that up to 23.5 million people from around the world (but particularly from English-speaking countries like the United States and India) visited Omegle every week.[4] The site also allowed users to text chat anonymously.
Users could select tags in order to chat about particular topics. For many years, Omegle was also distinguished by having anti-CCP and pro Hong Kong democracy movement messages on its homepage.
Related Memes
Omegle Rizz
Omegle Rizz, also known as Omegle Rizzing, is a slang term and genre of Omegle prank videos in which men try to "rizz" the stranger in a video chat by switching camera angles and using prerecorded edits. The trend became prevalent on TikTok and YouTube in late 2023 and was started by TikToker and YouTuber SlowSush. Going into September 2023, the edits in the trend became increasingly elaborate, such as edits that referenced Omar the Ref, also known as "You Alright Ladies?"
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7266558224587853099
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7262054119404260650
Search Interest
External References
[1] New York Times – Tired of Old Web Friends? A New Site Promises Strangers
[2] BBC – Suing the website that matched me with my abuser
[3] Anti Defamation League – Extremist Trolls are Targeting Omegle Users with Virulent Racism, Antisemitism
[4] HelpLama – Omegle Statistics.
[5] New York Times – Oh, So We’re Doing Random Video Chat Again?
