The closure of the well-known social media platform Omegle, which had been using the Internet for years to bring people together grabbed news headlines on Thursday.
14 years after its launch in 2009, the video chat website that allowed users to meet new people from all around the world shut down.
This was revealed by the Chief Executive Officer Leif K-Brooks, who said that the “battle” to keep the service afloat “has been lost.”
In the announcement, which included a picture of a gravestone with the word “Omegle” written on it, K-Brooks emphasized that the service had achieved a number of noteworthy milestones over the years, chief among them being the creation of strong global relationships.
However, he also mentioned that some people used the site to “commit unspeakably heinous crimes”.
The statement read in part, “Over the years, people have used Omegle to explore foreign cultures; to get advice about their lives from impartial third parties; and to help alleviate feelings of loneliness and isolation. I’ve even heard stories of soulmates meeting on Omegle, and getting married. Those are only some of the highlights.
“Unfortunately, there are also lowlights. Virtually every tool can be used for good or for evil, and that is especially true of communication tools, due to their innate flexibility. The telephone can be used to wish your grandmother ‘happy birthday’, but it can also be used to call in a bomb threat. There can be no honest accounting of Omegle without acknowledging that some people misused it, including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes.