Omegle was a free online service that allowed strangers to chat online via messages and video calls. The platform was insanely popular as it did not require any registration and users could quickly jump on a one-on-one chatroom with complete anonymity.
After 14 long years, Omegle is officially shutting down and ceasing all operations. The website is currently not functional and displays a message that Omegle has been discontinued.
Omegle Shuts Down After 14 Years
The founder of Omegle, Leif-K Brooks, has announced that Omegle is officially shutting down. The platform was made by Brooks in 2009 from his bedroom when he was 18 years old.
The idea behind Omegle was to allow strangers to meet online, and discover other people with diverse cultures. The founder mentions that he was not socially active during his college days, which pushed him to create the online chatting website.
The platform quickly started gaining popularity as it was free to use and did not require any sign-up or registration process. Omegle would randomly pair two users on a video call, where users could interact with each other. It also had an option to send text messages between the two.
When either one of the users left the video call, Omegle would quickly pair the remaining user with a new random stranger, and the cycle continued. Hence, the platform became an instant hit because it kept users engaged. Omegle had over 3 million daily active users.
Omegle then introduced a monitored chat option, where users were instantly kicked out of the chats if they violated the rules of the platform. The portal also started implementing safety features to prevent the misuse of the platform.
In the past, Omegle has also helped police officials to track down crimes by submitting evidence to the officials. The founder says that multiple people have been sent behind bars as they were caught committing crimes on the video feed of the platform.
Omegle reported that it started receiving a barrage of attacks on its communication services tools, which made it extremely difficult to keep the platform online. Omegle wanted to keep its platform as safe as possible for its users, but the attacks kept increasing as mentioned by the founder.
Hence, as a last resort, Omegle decided to shut down its online services. The Omegle website now shows a heartfelt message left by the founder explaining the entire situation in detail.
Brooks also added that people on the internet should not attack each other in keyboard fights. The founder says that people need to be more considerate and show humanity over the internet.
Omegle has been online for over 14 years now. The shutdown of the platform is surely a setback for the internet, especially for the millions of active Omegle users.
