Cyber safety educator sends parents important warning about a popular social media app, Omegle
"This is not a safe platform"
Cyber safety educator warns parents about Omegle platform.
Technology is constantly changing and teens are usually ahead of the curve when it comes to the newest tech on the block. Many parents are asking their children how apps work or using their teens as in-home tech support for anything technology related, so it's not a surprise when parents are two steps behind in warning their children about a problematic app or unsafe trend.
Think about being a teen in the late 90s and our not-so-smart greeting of "ASL" (Age, Sex, Location) for AOL chatrooms full of strangers that used to offer to pick us up for parties. Most of our parents didn't know how to get past the Ask Jeeves screen, let alone navigate to an AOL chatroom to see who we were talking to. In many ways, teens today are doing the exact same thing but with a faster internet connection, more platforms and high-definition cameras. But now, we're the parents trying to Ask Jeeves what Omegle is.
I'll give you a hint: Jeeves doesn't know, but this cyber security educator does, and she's sending out massive smoke flares to get parents' attention.
Tiana Sharifi, a cyber security educator, replied to a question asked on her TikTok page. The commenter asked if Sharifi thought Omegle was inappropriate and was given an in-depth answer about the dangers of the app for children.
"I educate parents but I also educate kids and teens, and what I will tell you is that when I go into these presentations, from grade six and upwards, they've all heard about Omegle," Sharifi says. "When I say, 'Have you heard of Omegle?' everybody's hands go up. But when I ask parents in parent nights, you get maybe two or three hands go up. This is not a safe platform."
Omegle is a video platform that essentially allows you to video chat with strangers for a few minutes at a time. Sharifi explains it as webcam chat roulette where the only safeguard is a box that you click saying you're 18. No math required to try to guess the correct birth year, just a box to check. There are no moderators and you can't choose the rooms you get dropped into, so kids can and do get paired with adults, and not always safe adults.
"If you want to do an experiment, you can go on Omegle yourself and you will see within five seconds of being on the platform, there will be a lot of inappropriate nakedness," Sharifi reveals.
@tianasharifi Replying to @eveybevy70 #parenting #parentingtips #onlinesafety #childsafety
But if you think kids being dropped into random rooms with anonymous strangers is the worst part, Sharifi drops a bomb that most parents aren't ready to hear.
"The most alarming part is that the kids are being recorded without their knowledge," the educator shares.
Since the platform is live-streamed, the kids believe the interaction is completely temporary, unaware that the adult could be filming them. If a child decides to engage with the naked individual in any way, including in a way that's inappropriate, these screen-recorded interactions are then uploaded to inappropriate adult entertainment sites, according to Sharifi. But there's no extortion or blackmail, so neither the kids nor parents ever find out their children are on these sites that are specifically frequented by people looking for sexual content involving minors.
Teens aren't aware of the recordings and their parents aren't aware of the sites, so Sharifi bringing this to light on a public platform that teens and parents both frequent could make a positive impact.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
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Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."