Parents' Guide to Omegle

This site's barebones design doesn't offer much of a visual experience -- and there are just a couple of ways to connect to other people. Kids can text or video chat with other users on Omegle. College students can talk to each other if they submit an email address that ends in a variation of .edu or .ac to verify their status. Users can also enter a topic they're interested in and the site says it will connect them with someone else who shares that interest -- although it's unclear what kind of vetting and analysis occurs behind the scenes. The other site content primarily involves usage terms, some of which don't seem to be strictly enforced. Users are supposed to be 18 or older, for instance, but there's no real verification process. Text in the Community Guidelines section says threats, hateful conduct, nudity, and sexually explicit conduct are prohibited on the moderated portions of the site. It's unclear how strictly monitored they are, though -- particularly since text on the homepage says "no moderation is perfect." While the site contains a link to an external organization that offers information on parental control measures, Omegle doesn't offer any specific tools to help parents monitor kids' activity on the site.

Chats can be -- and sometimes are -- friendly and kid-appropriate, with conversations surrounding topics like how each person is doing that day. Finding someone to video chat with can, at times, involve a wait. Some text chats end quickly, with the other user exiting moments after it starts. In theory, the site could be a way to have anonymous discussions with other people. Your identity isn't shown, and the other user is just listed as "Stranger" in written chats. The site description says chat users will remain unspecified "unless you tell someone who you are (not recommended!)" -- there's always a risk, though, that more detailed and potentially inappropriate information could be shared. Even more alarmingly, users are told if they're looking for an unmonitored experience, to visit an adult site -- and astonishingly, this site offers a link that leads to one. That aspect alone -- coupled with the other potential issues that could arise from using Omegle -- cancel out any communication skill strengthening benefits the site might otherwise be able to provide.