Omegle, the notorious 14-year-old online anonymous chat website, has been shut down. The founder of this platform, Leif K-Brooks, has made such a decision due to the overwhelming stress and financial strain that running the website and fighting against misuse have put on him.

Founded in 2009, Omegle enabled conversations without sign-up to the site, using which its users could chat with random people across the world. But as the site gradually gained popularity and features, it received criticism for hosting bad, destructive, and even illegal pedophilic elements prowling over minors, associated with which a number of governments investigated the site.

In an emotional blog post, Brooks released his reasons for discontinuing Omegle, stating, “The stress and expense of this fight, coupled with the existing stress and expense of operating Omegle and fighting its misuse, are simply too much.” He expressed dread of succumbing to health issues as a consequence of the continuous pressure.

Omegle was supposed to act as a place where cultural gaps could be bridged among strangers and friendships could be formed. Instead, it was subjected to misuse over the years, in which there were inappropriate or even criminal interactions. With its daily active users of more than 3 million, it poses problems in acting as a safe place for people using the platform. Attempts to counter misuse included monitored chat options and several safety features but were continuously targeted by persistent attacks, which ultimately led to its closure.

Now, the Omegle site carries a message by Brooks explaining what happened that led to the closure of the service. Truly, it was the end of an era for a site that had been famous for instigating random conversations between strangers.