

With New Anonymous Social App Secret, the Merit Is in the Message - chrysb
http://recode.net/2014/01/30/with-new-anonymous-social-app-secret-the-merit-is-in-the-message/

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jobu
What could possibly go wrong...

Anonymity + Audience = [http://www.penny-
arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19)

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joyeuse6701
Postsecret is a pretty good counter example.

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gms7777
Post-secret differs in a few important respects I think.

1) Its curated. There is someone to separate out the drivel. And because its
curated and people know that, they're less likely to send in complete crap.

2) It relies on physical media. It takes some level of effort to make a card
and send it in not to mention a small but non-zero cost. It also means that
its not instantaneous like most things online.

3) There is no real feedback. There is no direct comment system, so theres no
way to feed the trolls.

~~~
chrysb
Hi, I'm one of the founders. Secret also has some important aspects worth
discussing:

1) It's curated. By your friends. The posts you see are things that your
friends are sharing.

2) Conversations are all within your circle of friends. As a result, we don't
see much real trolling at all. The communities that are forming have been
remarkably interesting and kind.

3) The penny arcade example is also not entirely applicable here. Again,
because it's within your circle of friends. The equation is different.

You're probably noticing a recurring theme: We believe that by scoping
anonymous sharing to your friends, the content will be much more positive and
helpful. So far, this has remained true, and we're inspired to see the good
come out in people when they're given the privilege of anonymity.

~~~
joyeuse6701
Do you think that, because it is in a circle of 'friends' that there is some
self filtering done before people post?

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Zikes
I think it would be extremely easy for me to identify my friends or for them
to identify me based on writing style.

One of my closest friends is dyslexic, several others are in separate
countries, and we've all got various tics and tells we might not even be aware
of.

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danielrhodes
I've been beta testing the app for awhile now. At first there was a strong
curiosity to know who posted what. It turned out to be harder than I thought
(and even then, it was only ever a guess). Over time, I found myself not
wondering anymore.

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syntheticnature
Didn't the PostSecret guy lend his name to an app, only to discover that the
interaction aspect wound up being used for bullying (and he therefore got it
shut down)?

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joyeuse6701
Hmm, I didn't think about that. That's probably likely. It's one thing to make
a statement and leave it there, another to see how people react to your deep
secrets. They are secrets for a reason I suppose and society may not welcome
it.

On the other hand, if this is with 'friends' and not completely random
audience things may manifest quite differently.

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EricaJoy
Going with a .ly domain is risky, so much so that YC startups are advised not
to depend on them.

Source:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1764475](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1764475)

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EGreg
So basically this is an anonymous forum with one topic? Or is it basically a
forum with no reputations and each post is on is own?

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runnerd
Yeah.. anonymous admissions.. right.

