During the age of lockdowns and quarantines, many children have discovered a new way of finding someone new to talk to. A website known as Omegle, and other websites like it, have filled this social gap in many people’s lives. Omegle is considered a ‘roulette’ style website, where users may set interests and get matched with people with the same interest. This can be only a text chat, or it can be a video chat. If you find screen safety issues overwhelming in your family, you’ll benefit from Dr. Bennett’s weekly parenting and coaching videos on our Screen Safety Essentials Course. The most important thing that parents can do is be aware of the potential risks and promote an environment of open communication with your children. In this program, Dr. B offers a comprehensive family program for fostering this kind of communication in her Screen Safety Essentials Course. With this course, your family will learn tons of information about how to create a safer screen home environment while also connecting and having fun as a family. Armed with the right tools, you and your family can learn how to better thrive in today’s digital era. In this GKIS Sensible Guide, we will explain what you should know before letting your child chat away with complete strangers.
How long has Omegle been around, and how popular is it?
Omegle was created in March 2009. Omegle has recently seen over 54 million daily visits.[2] According to Google, searches for the site began to increase during March 2020, with the number of searches quadrupling the week before Christmas.[1] This surge in users isn’t much of a surprise. People were stuck inside their homes for almost a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of that time was spent on the computer, so why wouldn’t a website that allows someone to meet a new person be appealing? Teenagers have also created a ritual of hanging out together in person and going on Omegle as a group.
Omegle does state that to use the website, one must be over the age of 13. This is done with a simple pop-up box that can be clicked away. No date verification is required, so this is easy for children to bypass. As explained in the book Screen Time in the Mean Time, parents should use their best judgment to determine whether or not their child is ready to use a website like this. This GKIS Sensible Guide aims to help inform the parents so they are able to make the best decision possible.
Features of Omegle
Text-Chat
Individuals are prompted to enter optional interests to help match them. There are two options for the text chat: Text or Spy Mode
Text: Users are randomly matched in pairs, either based on their interests or completely at random if no interests were entered. Users are completely anonymous so there is no way to get someone’s information unless they offer it. Even if they offer it, they can (and likely will) lie. Either user may end the chat at any time.
Spy: Three users are matched together, two regular chatters and a spy. The spy prompts the other two with a previously entered question. The spy is unable to contribute to the conversation at all, they may only watch. The chatters focus on answering the question presented. Any user can end the conversation at any time.
There is no option for a ‘filtered’ text option. The website warns against profanity, sexual harassment, or violent threats, but there is no way to filter those statements out. If the user gets matched with someone who does any of these, the website simply says to ‘end the chat’.
The website itself warns that predators have been known to use text/video chat to groom or lure victims. It claims that it cannot control human behavior, and only the person committing these actions should be held accountable.
Video-Chat
Similar to text chat, users are randomly matched based on interests if possible. This can be in pairs or in groups. All user’s webcams will turn on while searching for a match.
This section has an option to report nudity, violent threats, and sexual content in addition to numerous other things one might encounter during chatting. This section does not allow any of these.
This section is aimed at users under the age of 18.
These filters to protect users don’t always work. Even the website itself warns that some things of inappropriate nature might be encountered.
“Unmonitored” Video-Chat
This is a carbon copy of the video-chat section with one crucial difference. No filter is used to prevent users from showing nudity or sexual imagery on their webcam chat.
This section is aimed at users who want a more ‘mature’ chatting experience, as long as they are over the age of 18.
Benefits of Omegle
When used correctly, and age-appropriately, it allows for individuals to talk with someone who has similar interests.
It can help an individual feel less alone and more connected in a quarantined world.
Risks of Omegle
The filters in place for the monitored section have inconsistent results. Some users still report encountering things that they shouldn’t several times in a row.
Children are more susceptible to believing an individual who may be lying. This may result in them giving information they shouldn’t to a complete stranger.
This website has the potential to expose children to sexual imagery, violent threats, phishing scams, and numerous other dangers.
None of the age checks are secure. Your child can easily access a section of the website that they shouldn’t with one simple click, no verification needed. This poses both a giant risk for the child and a giant temptation for them.
Throughout its lifetime Omegle has proven to be a constant source of controversy. This led GKIS to consider Omegle to be a red-light app, meaning that it is not recommended for anyone under the age of 18. The possible exposure to explicit material is too hard to control, and the fact that the website itself warns that predators do use this website to target victims were two of many factors that led us to this decision. If you think that your child may be using Omegle or other social media apps, consider our Social Media Readiness Course to help them stay safe.
Thanks to CSUCI intern, Dakota Byrne for researching Omegle and co-authoring this article.
I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.
Four out of five GKIS interns this semester admit to visiting dangerous video chat sites as middle schoolers despite parent warnings. Could that mean it’s common these days? After surveying friends, we think so. Parents have no idea what kids are actually seeing and doing during these online chats. Today’s GKIS article is the real story from the mouth of a millennial, where I discuss how we worked around parent supervision and what actually happens in popular chat rooms. Learn what video chat rooms are, the dangers associated with them, red flags to look out for, and just how simple it is for your child to access them. With this information, you can parent smarter and prevent digital injury … our GetKidsInternetSafe mission.
Video Chat Rooms, Sites, and Apps
Video chat is a way to interact face-to-face with anyone around the world through webcams. Video chat rooms are on multiple platforms including online websites and apps on your child’s smartphone, computer, gaming system, or tablet.
To place a video chat call, all your child needs are internet access and a webcam. Video chat sites and apps can also include alternative ways of communication such as instant messaging and chatting through sharing photos. Video chat sites and apps randomly pair your child with another user.
The Most Popular Video Chat Websites and Apps
There are hundreds of video chat websites and apps that are easily accessible. Many video chat sites and apps are free, while others require purchase. The most popular sites include; Omegle.com, DirtyRoulette.com, ChatRandom.com, and Chatroullette.com.
Video chat sites accumulate millions of users a month, with the most popular being Omegle.com with a whopping 34,000,000 monthly visitors.[1] The most popular video chat apps for Android and IOS devices include Badoo, Telegram, and Azar. Similar to video chat websites, these apps are used by millions of people. The most popular video chat app is Badoo, with over 460 million users.
Why We Did It
Kids love discovery and novelty. Just as they would visit random neighborhoods in town if they could drive, they love to browse random neighborhoods on the internet if they have access. Get them with their friends and they’re even more reckless and bold. That is why we offer our GKIS Screen Safety Toolkit. Parents told us they felt overwhelmed by the number of parent-management tech options, so we made it easy for you. The GKIS Screen Safety Toolkit is a family-tested, outcome-based resource guide with our best recommendations, how-to information, and links to our favorite easy-to-onboard parental control systems. With the toolkit, you’ll be set to create the custom screen safety toolkit for your unique child. Managing your child’s access is a first step toward protecting them from dangerous choices.
Our parents didn’t have these resources. That’s why we were video chatting with strangers by middle school. When I was thirteen years old, using Omegle and Chatroulette was the fun thing to do. My friends and I would go on during sleepovers and after school hangouts. Occasionally, I would even access it late at night when I was alone in my bedroom.
We did it because it was funny and exciting. We were kids having face-to-face conversations with complete strangers; it was interesting to us. We felt like we were the ones in control, and we always felt relatively safe. Disgustingly, a majority of the random connections would connect us to older males masturbating in front of the webcam. They would continue touching themselves even when they could clearly see just how young we were.
In my personal experiences, whenever a creepy man would be touching himself, my friends and I would quickly hit the skip button in hopes to be connected with a clothed person we could talk to. But there were also times when we would chat with one of those perverts and let them know how disgusting it was.
Now that I’m in my 20s, I realize just how dangerous and repulsive our online experiences were. Luckily, nothing horrible happened to us. But if I or a friend would have shared enough information or decided to meet up with someone we met from Omegle or Chatroulette, it could have been devastating.
Dangers of Video Chatting with Predators
Psychological injury can result from children viewing sexual behaviors or being groomed by predators online. It’s not uncommon for kids to be coerced to reveal identifying information like where they live, where they go to school, and who their friends are. From there, some predators will persuade their victims to meet up in person, which can lead to a number of dangerous possibilities.
Red Flags That May Signal Risk
Your child interacting with a predator may go unnoticed, but there are a few red flags that you can look out for. For example, your child may be at risk if they
become secretive about what they were doing online or change screens the minute you walk into the room,
regularly deletes their browser history or their browser is typically on private browse,
spend a lot of time on the phone or computer, or
seem nervous when asked if the parent can check their history or search their phone.
For a more comprehensive list of child red flags, check out our Cybersecurity Red Flag Supplement. Three-tools-in-one, this supplement to your free Connected Family Agreement offers:
Our GKIS CYBERSECURITY SUPPLEMENT – Did you know that kids are the #1 targeted population for identity theft? That’s because the cybercriminal can benefit from fraudulent charges for years before the victim discovers it. Protect your family from hacking, scamming, malware, and phishing with our cybersecurity setup guide and best practices checklist (at home and while traveling).
PLUS
Our GKIS ONLINE SAFETY RED FLAGS FOR KIDS & TEENS – Parents in my clinical and coaching practices frequently ask me to teach their kids the red flags that may alert them to the tricks of online predators, hate groups, and cyberbullies. I offer you my clinical teaching list so you can educate your kids. Knowledge and assertiveness coaching are key elements of child resilience and good judgment online.
PLUS
Our GKIS ONLINE SAFETY RED FLAGS FOR PARENTS – Parents need to know the behavioral red flags that may signal their child is suffering a digital injury. This tool teaches parents what child behaviors to look for that may signal they are at risk – a tool I created from 25+ years of clinical practice. Being able to recognize behavioral red flags in your child may be the difference between stopping risk after one exposure versus not recognizing dangerous relationships and exposures until it’s too late.
With parent management tech tools, cybersecurity awareness, child education, and parenting tools to recognize risk, you are far better equipped to block anonymous strangers from predating on your kids.
Thanks to CSUCI intern, Remi Ali Khan for researching video chat websites and apps for this article.
I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.
Onward to More Awesome Parenting,
Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com
Photo Credits
Photo by Andrea Piacquido from Pexels
Photo by Julia Cameron from Pexels
Works Cited
[1] ChatHub. (2020, February 13). Top 12 Sites Like Omegle in 2020 (Ordered by popularity). Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://blog.chathub.cam/top-12-sites-like-omegle/
