Omegle is a fast-growing chat platform that has been making real inroads into the social media market in recent months. At its heart, the big selling point for the service is the lack of a need to share personal information, and that anonymity is both a selling point and a point of contention for many.
There is particular concern from parents who are fearful of the way their children might be approached on the site, though Omegle does attempt to offer types of protection in this area, and these concerns are as apparent on the likes of Facebook and Instagram, albeit those platforms require registration and Omegle does not.
So, What is Omegle?
Omegle is a chat-based site that connects you with other individuals via the internet, but the key element here is the random nature of the contacts you make. You enter basic information about your interests, and you are then linked with a random stranger, and then you are left to see where it goes in terms of conversation.
It was initially just a plain text chat site but has expanded to include video calling as well as other features; this has further driven the growth of the service. The main selling point for most of those who use Omegle is the fact that anonymity is preserved by its users.
No registration occurs, and you don’t have to supply any information to take part, and that’s very attractive to those who feel that the likes of Facebook are effectively using their users as infinite data farms to sell to the highest bidder.
Omegle has strict rules with regard to the content and behavior that occur between its users, and anyone who breaks these guidelines is promptly blocked; they do this using high-end automated software that tracks your location and IP and endeavors to stop you from using the service if you try to re-enter.
Who Uses Omegle?
Omegle is very much a youth geared platform, and much of its user base are 18 or younger, and this is often due to the connection between Omegle and TikTok; evidence of the connection between the two services can be seen by the fact that the #omegle hashtag on TikTok has over 5 billion views.
The site is very popular in the US, UK, and India. As discussed earlier, parents have concerns about the service, and many investigations, including a high-profile expose produced by the BBC, found that the service has received warnings from a number of governments who felt that the site didn’t offer sufficient protection to the youngsters who used it.
The site doesn’t have any parental controls as such, merely warnings prompting users to respect Omegle’s terms of service.
Why Might You Get Banned by Omegle?
There is a raft of reasons Omegle might ban you. One such cause can be the use of copyrighted music on videos you share on the platform, and of course, you can avoid such a suspension by using great royalty-free music to partner your visuals.
Omegle operates with a very strict set of terms of service; in a way, it has to because of the very nature of being a site that doesn’t require registration. Therefore, it’s very common for users to transgress, deliberately or otherwise, and end up being banned.
These bans can be for reasons ranging from sexual harassment to threatening messages; also, as alluded to above, they do not allow the use of music tracks being played during video calls, as they are keen not to be embroiled in copyright lawsuits. Even if there happens to be music playing in the background during one of your calls, this could lead to you being banned.
Users can report others for breaking terms of service, and there isn’t really much scope for a reply as these conversations and communications occur between two parties who are not registered in the first place.
If your internet service is poor and your calls and chats are affected, this can also lead to a ban, as Omegle can read this as a potential spam bot attack. The problem is that sometimes bans are legitimate and automatically use the software. The ban can be done accidentally and innocent Omegle users are unable to access the platform.
Bans handed to you on Omegle for technical reasons are next to impossible to appeal, but the other types of bans can be reversed. A suspension can be for as little as a week or up to six months. The length of the ban relates to the reasons you were banned, severe penalties leading to longer bans.
A ban from Omegle, as you may have guessed, is very hard to enforce. Clearly, they will ban your IP, but many services, such as a basic VPN service, will mean you can get back on the site fairly quickly. Because Omegle bans users using their IP address, you can be unbanned from Omegle by changing your IP address.