Emerald was created to help people meet each other with similar interests in real-time, one-on-one text, video, and group chats. Users create a profile with their “flair color,” gender, bio, pictures, and interests. Other users can see other users’ profiles when they become friends with the other users. The website matches users based on their interests, gender, and “karma rating”. Users give or deduct “karma points” to other users based on their chats. Emerald says the difference between their product and other instant chat sites, like Omegle, is that they take great caution to prevent bots on their site.

“Whether it's just friends you’re looking for or something more, you can find it on Emerald at the click of a button”. The website says users must be over 18 years old to use the platform, but there is no age verification process other than simply clicking a button acknowledging the user is over 18. Their rules include anti-harassment, anti-spam and advertising, not allowing illegal/explicit content. Moderators and deep learning technology work to identify users breaking the rules and ban users.

Chat websites are not a new risk for children and young people. Several of these apps have become popular in recent years, such as Omegle and Monkey. The main purpose of these platforms is for users to engage in ‘anonymous’ interactions with strangers. As Emerald Chat is directly marketing itself as “the new Omegle”, it is worth mentioning that the same risks present themselves in both platforms. However, as Omegle has a downloadable mobile app, it may be more accessible to children and young people, increasing its risk.