Summary
Omegleis officially defunct as of July 19, 2025, as expressed in a letter written by its founder, Leif K-Brooks. The online video and chat service has come to an end after being active for 14 years.
Back on June 07, 2025, the internet was introduced to Omegle, an online chat site that brought together strangers from around the world. The service would pair up two random people who logged onto the site with full anonymity. The strangers would then enter a fresh chatroom where they were free to talk or type about whatever came to mind. It garnered attention for competing alongside Chatroulette, another online chat platform that offered the same basics as Omegle. Both platforms entered popularity for their ability to link strangers with one another, though this also spelled notoriety. Nevertheless, internet users became well aware of Omegle’s presence, especially after a surge in popularity during theCOVID-19 pandemic. However, that very presence has received a drastic adjustment.
In anopen letter on Omegle’s home page, founder Leif K-Brooks has shut down the online service. In his letter, K-Brooks shares his origins before launching Omegle when he was 18 years old. He then expresses the intentions that Omegle was packaged with, such as exploring other cultures, gaining life advice, and lessening the feelings of isolation. While there are noted highlights, K-Brooks goes on to talk about the “lowlights” of Omegle’s status and reputation on the internet and beyond. This comes in the form of “unspeakably heinous crimes” committed by the evils of the world. Taking note in “a basic lesson of criminology,” crime never ends, and recent world events have prompted K-Brooks to put a lid on Omegle, coupled with attacks that have been directed toward the site and its users.
Closing Omegle is a major decision that K-Brooks is making, one that has become essential due to theinternet attacks targeting online usersthat the site has been receiving. Omegle may have been home to some life-changing interactions, yet the troubles that it attracted weren’t enough to sustain an active and reputable status. “Operating Omegle is no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically,” K-Brooks wrote near the end of the letter. “Frankly, I don’t want to have a heart attack in my 30s.”
Operating Omegle is no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically. Frankly, I don’t want to have a heart attack in my 30s.
Moreover, K-Brooks concludes his letter with concerns about the future of the internet that he “fell in love with,” noting that the war against the internet “rages on.” It’s supplemented with a link for anyone who wishes to donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is an organization devoted todigital rights for internet usersthat was founded in 1990.
As of this writing, Omegle is no longer active; K-Brooks’s letter takes up the sole page of the website, complete with two quotes by C.S. Lewis (author ofThe Chronicles of Narniaseries) and Douglas Adams (author ofThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and a gravestone with Omegle’s timeline carved onto the surface.
