After great success in the U.S. with its iOS version, the Secret app has been launched for Android at the international level and is available for download. More than a social network, I’d be wont to call it a “social experiment,” as it lets you read and share small phrases and photos completely anonymously and share them with your friends, who will never be able to identify you or find out who writes each post.
What is Secret?
The structure of the app is very simple. After registering with an email address and telephone number (exclusively used to be able to invite other contacts, and encrypted), you can visit the two main sections: in the Explore section you can view anonymous messages from all over the world, although if you activate the geolocation system on your phone, those messages will appear from people near you.
The other timeline is made up of “secrets” sent by your contacts, although they can’t find out exactly who wrote each nor is there a name or image to identify them. For all practical purposes, and unless they can detect your writing style, you’re under a blanket of anonymity and nobody can know who’s who.
There are only two ways to interact with other people’s posts, which in their simplicity bring to mind Instagram: You can give Likes, and with it share the post with your mysterious friends or make anonymous comments that will only be identified with a random avatar so that other users can follow the thread of conversations as they develop.
The success of the app
Considering the repercussions of the app, we can judge it a success in reaching its goals: employees of large companies criticizing their internal operations or important Silicon Valley people leaking details of upcoming products are now the order of the day, and always through the lens of uncertainty, since nobody can be sure that the information shared there is actually true, not to mention the many posts that reek of marketing.
What’s clear is that, leaving aside debates about each user’s privacy, we’re looking at an original experiment where anybody can express their worries totally freely and with no possibility of being recognized. A network where interesting content is rewarded with going viral undercover, where you can see how many people vent or share their deepest feelings without fear. Sure, there are also those who insult and criticize under their blanket of anonymity, but in the end, that’s the problem with the entire Internet, right?
Salman akmal