Last night my friend Lise took me to the PostSecret App Launch Party sponsored by Flavorpill. PostSecret is Frank Warren’s creation, his third project involving postcards. For one project, he released 52 bottles, one every Sunday, into a lake. Each bottle had a hand shaped postcard with quotes. The project was so mysterious, it was covered by Fox News.
The PostSecret Project was started six years ago when Warren started handed out postcards with his personal secrets to strangers in the street, saying if one wanted to share secrets anonymously with him, to send it to his address. Six years later, he receives between 100 – 200 postcards a day. The picture at the top of this post is from his basement.
The beauty of PostSecret is that while Warren started it, it’s very much a project where the success depends on the PostSecret Community (anyone who has offered a secret or wants to be involved with the project). What has evolved is truly a rarity in a world where everything you gave done is traceable: a place where people can share their secrets anonymously with the world. It has found itself aligned with suicide prevention. It found itself in the current MOMA exhibit Talk to Me. Now, there ‘s an app for all that.
As our world is becoming more social, Warren felt it was time to create an app that removed himself as a barrier for one person’s secret to be shared anonymously with the world. We are at a turning point in culture where people are more personal, especially with the element if anonymity. The app is available on iPhone (soon Android) and costs $1.99 in order to refrain from the team’s need to sell ads. The app allows you to share a secret when you please. Just take a photo, upload it and tag your location. In the meantime, you can also discover other people’s secrets who live in your community.
In a world where status updates can seem like self-promotion (Oh im checking in at The Standard with @dens), there is a place for the rare community where people are sharing things they would rather keep secret, but sharing with the world is the best manner to get yourself heard.
My Name Is Reb 