Views on Social Network Anonymity

Excerpts - Feb 7, 2014 - NY Times - Entering the Era of Private and Semi-Anonymous Apps

... a slew of new apps — including Wut, Secret, Confide, Popcorn and Telegram — that have come out in recent months are intended to let users either talk secretly with people they know, or blurt out random comments to total strangers.

Telegram offers private chatrooms where you can set a “timer” and all the text vanishes after a set period of time — usually one to five minutes.

But there are some that go beyond just messaging and are created to be social. The idea of an “anonymous social network” might sound as ridiculous as a puppy that doesn’t like going outside for walks. Yet that’s how this new crop of social apps work.

Secret, which seems to be relishing its 15 minutes of fame, allows you to gossip anonymously about whatever you want. It’s unclear if the “secrets” being shared are fact or fiction or from whom they came.

In an email message, David Byttow and Chrys Bader, co-founders of Secret, said the app was not intended to be full of spite, but rather to increase authenticity and empathy between people online.

The new social app called Wut is a bit like Facebook with only your friends’ status updates and nothing more. It’s dead simple. When you send a message, only your friends will see it, yet they will have no idea the note came from you unless you say.

While it may sound totally bizarre, it’s also incredibly fun, and because you know it’s just your friends on the network, it’s surprisingly personal. Wut feels intended to make people feel good, not bad.

Mr. McKellar said Wut is intended to be “a very lightweight and very casual social network.” He said there was “no doubt or fear with what you’re posting; there’s no anxiety.”

Additionally, Wut’s alerts are silent, so your phone doesn’t vibrate or ding loudly when someone sends a message on the network.

Then there is Popcorn Messaging, which allows you to privately chat with anyone in a one-mile radius of your smartphone. The app hopes to enable people to anonymously talk with other people at local events, including sports games, or to just find people to banter in the area.

Mar 18, 2014 - NY Times - New Social App Has Juicy Posts, All Anonymous