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What is Omegle? How to join the chat app where former One Direction singer Liam Payne dropped in unannounced

It's unclear if the singer-songwriter is still chatting with fans, so if you want to find out more about Omegle and quickly head over for a potential chat, we've got you covered

Former One Direction singer Liam Payne is trending on Twitter today (December 18) after he made a surprise visit to an unexpected social media chat site. Payne dropped in on Omegle unannounced with his fiancée, Maya Henry, and sent fans into a frenzy after sharing a conversation with them, which is likely to be the highlight of their day, if not their year. Omegle claims it is a free online chat room that allows users to socialize with others without the need to register.

Starting off the mad rush to chat with Payne several tweets asking if the news was true. "IS LIAM PAYNE ON OMEGLE RIGHT NOW?" asks a fan in all caps, adding, "SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME IF THIS IS REAL DID I JUST MEET @LiamPayne PLEASE LET THIS BE REAL #LIAMPAYNE."

Soon, replies started flowing in as an overjoyed fan who chatted with the star shared screenshots and wrote, "This is like a christmas present to me like the best early christmas present ever AHHHH TYYY @LiamPayne #liampayne #omegle." Another fan shared, "Subtle flex, i met #liampayne on #omegle #help" along with a video of their chat. In the clip, Payne and Henry both serenaded the fan. 

Payne was also heard singing to some of his fans as one lucky person who received the gift of Payne singing lines from 'I Want To Write You A Song' stated. One fan actually skipped the potential chat with Payne by mistake, writing, "Ya so I accidentally skipped over Liam and Maya. My life is over I hate everything @LiamPayne #maya #omegle say a prayer for me." We feel you.

It's unclear if the singer-songwriter is still chatting with fans, so if you want to find out more about Omegle and quickly head over for a potential chat, we've got you covered.

What is Omegle?

Omegle is an online chat website that allows users to socialize with others - the best part: it's free and users don't have to register. The service randomly pairs users in one-on-one chat sessions where they chat anonymously using the names "You" and "Stranger" or "Stranger 1" and "Stranger 2" if utilizing the featured Spy mode.

The site was founded by Leif K-Brooks of Brattleboro, Vermont, when he was all of 18 years and was launched on March 25, 2009. In less than a month after its launch, Omegle pulled around 150,000 page views a day. Comparisons have been made to early-1990s AOL, or Tinychat and Whisper.

Features

For those inclined to using webcams and microphones to add to their chat experience, Omegle also implements a video conferencing mode to pair with text chatting. 
There is a Spy Mode, in which users have two options: to be the "spy" and ask a question of two strangers or to discuss a question with another stranger. If you prefer to be the spy, you can input any question for the two strangers to answer or discuss and you're able to view the discussion as a third party. The two strangers can continue their chat if the spy decides to quit at any time.

For both text and video modes, an option to input "interest" tags is available. Adding interests lets users be paired with a stranger who has something in common with the user. If a user with common interests isn't matched, the user will be paired with a random stranger.

In 2014, Omegle began experimenting with a "Dorm Chat" mode, which requires users to provide an email address ending in ".edu" to verify that they are associated with a college or university. Dorm Chat allows users to chat with their classmates and colleagues on Omegle.

Where is it?

If you're ready to get chatting, it's as easy as heading to the official website here.