A songwriter who recorded himself singing to strangers on Omegle and amassed millions of fans with his impressive voice marked the end of an era with the platform’s closure.
Francis Karel appeared on TikTok and Instagram sharing clips of himself performing for random audiences, belting out hits from artists like Katy Perry, Adele, Bastille and Rihanna.
His incredible voice elicited heartwarming responses from random Omegle users who linked up with him on the site designed to team up with strangers for conversations. Instead, users were given a glimpse of his singing talent, with Karel later posting the interactions to his social media.
The songwriter, who lives in California, today has more than 2.3 million followers on TikTok and nearly 800,000 on Instagram after the videos became wildly popular.
Francis Karel gained over three million followers on Instagram and TikTok by impressing Omgele users with his incredible voice
His moving videos show how strangers react when they hear him sing for the first time
Sitting with a guitar on his lap and often with a hood over his head, Karel waited to be paired with another Omegle user. As soon as they asked for a song or agreed to hear one, he started singing a moving acoustic version, which amazed his chat guest.
His content has proven to be a gateway to his music, which has garnered over 25 million plays on Spotify and opening opportunities for big names like Andy Grammer.
But following an announcement that Omegle has now closed, Karel posted an update to acknowledge the platform’s retirement and thank its supporters.
“Well folks, that’s the end of the omegle singing era,” he further wrote Instagram.
‘I just wanted to thank everyone who has enjoyed and supported me through Omegle videos so far 🙂
“It’s crazy to think that so many of you have followed me through it, and I hope you’ll be patient with me and stick with me because I have SO MANY new things to share with you.”
While Karel used Omegle for good and shared hilarious interactions to spark joy, the platform was hit with a series of damning accusations.
On Wednesday, founder Leif K-Brooks, who founded Omegle in 2009 at the age of 18, explained the decision to close the site in a blog post, which featured an image of the site’s logo on a gravestone.
“As much as I wish the circumstances were different, the stress and costs of this battle – coupled with the existing stress and costs of running Omegle and combating its abuse – are simply too high,” said the Mr Brooks.
“Operating Omegle is no longer sustainable, financially or psychologically.
The singer who uses Omegle with his voice has now said goodbye to the platform
Karel’s voice often elicited overjoyed responses from the random strangers he was paired with
“Honestly, I don’t want to have a heart attack when I’m 30.”
In a world where lengthy online installation procedures are common, using Omegle was relatively easy. All people had to do was go to omegle.com on their phone or computer and click “start a chat” or “video” to be matched with a stranger.
Each user chatted anonymously using the names ‘you’ and ‘stranger’, although nothing stopped them from exchanging their real names and other personal details.
Users of the site were told that they had to be 18 years or older, but this did not stop children under this age from visiting the site.
People were told that they were “solely responsible for their behavior while using Omegle,” while another warning even read: “Predators have been known to use Omegle, so be careful.”
Omegle founder Leif K-Brooks announced the decision in a blog post with this image of the logo on a gravestone
Omegle is fighting a lawsuit filed by an American woman named Alice, who worked with Canadian pedophile Ryan Fordyce about ten years ago, when she was eleven.
During their first video chat, Fordyce convinced her to share personal messaging details that would allow him to control and coerce Alice into sending intimate images for three years.
During a documentary shown in February, the woman told the BBC that there was “a community of predators and pedophiles thriving on Omegle.”
“They use it as a way to repeatedly and consistently access children,” she said.
In the documentary – ‘Omegle: Matched With My Abuser’ – BBC cyber correspondent Joe Tidy tracks down the founder of Omegle, but is denied an interview outside his Florida home.