Popular video chat website Omegle shut down on Nov. 8 after a young woman filed a lawsuit against them, according to the article “Video chat site Omegle shuts down after 14 years — and an abuse victim’s lawsuit” by National Public Radio.
Unsolicited exposure to other users was a common occurrence on Omegle, making it more difficult for the creator to moderate the website, senior Alanna Le, who has used Omegle various times, said.
“I feel like a lot of these men look to take advantage of young naive girls,” Le said. “Thankfully, I did not fall into that trap or do anything with them, but there are some victims out there (…) Maybe they felt pressured or they were in a negative headspace at the time and just wanted someone to talk to.”
Senior Omar Padilla has used the website more than 20 times in an attempt to have fun with others, he said. However, Padilla was flashed with nudity many times, he added. “I think the purpose of Omegle
was to connect people from all around the world to get to know each other, but I think it did fall
into the wrong hands with some people,” Padilla said.
Le visited the site with friends, as going on Omegle alone wasn’t a good idea, she said. When Le was
younger, briefly chatting with random people seemed fun, she added.
“I’ve experienced racism and sexual harassment, or noncon-sensual sexual activity on the website, as it is known for,” Le said. “There were many racial slurs used against me and a lot of people.”
Senior Kayton Nguyen witnessed underage drug use and indecent exposure from multiple
people, he said. It was common on Omegle to “have people being mean, and also have some select individuals exposing themselves specifically to children,” Nguyen said.
Although Nguyen has had many negative experiences with Omegle, he also had positive interactions with others using the site, he said. “I actually met the manager of AutoZone on Omegle, and he’s
been offering me a job, but I’m not taking it,” Nguyen said. “That manager, we’ve been friends for
years now.”
Padilla had genuine and positive conversations with users on the website as well, despite the unsafe circumstances at other times, he said. “I do feel kind of sad; I wish I went on it one more time just to say goodbye, you know,” Padilla said. “But I feel like it’s for the better because a lot of people
were getting exposed to a lot of disgusting things.”
Overall, Le has some nostalgic and sad feelings about the site shutting down, she said.
“I feel like for our generation, it’s really nostalgic for us with all the YouTube content and all the
memories we have on it,” Le said. “But I do understand why it shut down as so many minors were on their website, and there were so many unsolicited activities that shouldn’t be happening.”