# Omegle, the alternative view. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 21, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079 "2014-09-21T13:24:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knowledgable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@Knowledgable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowledgable)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/1 "2014-09-21T13:24:59Z")
OK. I know this is going to be weird but here it comes… Omegle, the website we all know. It’s the second Chatroulette. It is basically a website in which people who are complete strangers to each other click a button to connect to another person’s computer on Omegle. After connection is made, there is a chat box, where people can chat and on the upper-left corner, the camera box. People who allow Omegle to use their cams can chat with each other in a kind of way Skype lets them. Although, this might seem cool, Omegle is infamous for one feature of its, masturbating males around 19-24. Every 1 person in 5 in Omegle (I can tell from experience) masturbates and does nothing else. Now, here comes the TWIST! I am no IT expert and what I’m about to say might sound ridiculous but, what if: People who connected to Omegle and allowed access to their cams got their IPs or computers registered into an Omegle archive, where Omegle sends malware to these computers to access their webcams without their consents and there were porn sites, with were Omegle proxies which, in some way accessed your webcam and started broadcasting you masturbating to porn, not aware of you’re being watched and broadcast on Omegle! This would surely affect everyone. I want to hear what you Dopers think about this, has anyone considered this possibility before? I know it’s a slim chance and I’m no conspiracy theorist but come on! ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/2 "2014-09-21T13:52:16Z")
Sounds very illegal and likely to end up in a lawsuit putting Omegle out of business, if not in jail. Better to just accept the young 'baters. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/3 "2014-09-21T14:15:36Z")
> [@Knowledgable](#): > > Omegle, the website we all know. Never heard of it. Now that I have, I can see why. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/4 "2014-09-21T14:20:49Z")
Where is the free chatroulette website with masturbating females around 19-24? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/5 "2014-09-21T14:20:56Z")
> [@Knowledgable](#): > > Omegle, the website we all know. Your world is…_different_ from ours, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/6 "2014-09-21T14:49:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Your world is…_different_ from ours, I think. Yeah, I was just going to say that. I think you may have been operating based on mistaken assumptions regarding SDMB demographics. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/7 "2014-09-21T22:25:19Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Your world is…_different_ from ours, I think. [Eric Cartman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWEWCWljaBU): Kyle, this is the way the world works - if you wanna find some quality friends, you gotta wait through all the dicks first. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/8 "2014-09-21T22:56:48Z")
Wait - the OP is asking, what if people who go online to masturbate in front of the world were given malware so that the world could see them masturbate online? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/9 "2014-09-22T02:21:22Z")
How do these guys manage to masturbate for hours? Wouldn’t it get boring, or sore? Or are there just that many random masturbating dudes out there on omegle at any random time and date? ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/10 "2014-09-22T02:26:43Z")
> [@grude](#): > > How do these guys manage to masturbate for hours? Wouldn’t it get boring, or sore? > > Or are there just that many random masturbating dudes out there on omegle at any random time and date? Not that I have ever used Omegle, but I believe it’s the latter. As in, some troll-ish dude decides “hmm, I want to fap, let’s hop on Omegle and terrorize some people!”. They’re probably getting off on the exhibitionism. So, even though they’re only on for 5 minutes, there’s enough of them to be noticeable. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/11 "2014-09-22T05:22:00Z")
> [@Knowledgable](#): > > This would surely affect everyone. Not _everyone_. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/12 "2014-09-22T06:05:01Z")
If any of these masturbating-in-front-of-camera people are prominent politicians, they could use their bully pulpits to go after the malware makers. And the NSA. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/13 "2014-09-22T07:08:22Z")
> [@Knowledgable](#): > > Omegle, the website we all know. Nope, not me. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/14 "2014-09-22T17:03:38Z")
Very unlikely. That would be a lot of effort and risk to commoditize something people can get for free. On Omegle, ironically enough. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/15 "2014-09-22T18:14:15Z")
So I guess the business plan is: [ol] [li]Trick a million dudes to jerk their junk online on camera[/li][li]???[/li][li]Profit[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/16 "2014-09-22T19:46:39Z")
I met my (eventual) wife on Omegle. We met in 2009, married last year, and she’s moving to the States in 2 weeks on a green card. Not really relevant but I saw Omegle and wanted to share. 😛 Ironically, neither of us was looking for any sort of partner and we were both not single at the time. I had gone there after a night of college drinking at the encouragement of a friend to “have fun messing with random people.” I think I started every conversation with a pasted message. Something like “No dick picks here. 22/m/pa. College student. Don’t care if you’re male or female. What’s shakin’” The rest, as they say, is history. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/17 "2014-09-22T20:42:17Z")
> [@Knowledgable](#): > > Omegle, the website we all know. It’s the second Chatroulette. I’ve never heard of either website. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/18 "2014-09-22T20:49:00Z")
I am actually surprised so many people haven’t heard of Omegle. It’s extremely well known in the under 30 crowd. C’mon dopers, you’re not that far behind the times, are you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/19 "2014-09-22T21:09:52Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > I am actually surprised so many people haven’t heard of Omegle. It’s extremely well known in the under 30 crowd. C’mon dopers, you’re not that far behind the times, are you? 😉 I just heard about Rebecca Black’s hit song “Friday.” It’s really catchy! I’m sure word of Omegle will reach my social circles soon. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079/20 "2014-09-22T21:16:12Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > I am actually surprised so many people haven’t heard of Omegle. **It’s extremely well known in the under 30 crowd.** C’mon dopers, you’re not that far behind the times, are you? 😉 Emphasis added. According to a self-reported poll of 600 members that describes less than a [quarter](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=554352) of the user base ;). And that was in 2010. We skew decidedly middle-aged around here. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omegle-the-alternative-view/699079.md?page=2)