Thursday, May 1, 2008

Post Secret

I've known about post secret for quite some time and am always surprised with how popular it continues to be. I think that a lot of the popularity stems from the fact that anyone can submit a postcard and it is completely anonymous. In our technology culture, anonymity can almost always exist. People can use pseudonyms so that other people do not know who they are. Because of this, we tend to be less open in real life because we are used to having our voice heard while still being invisible. Post Secret satisfies all the needs of the modern day user. What I find even more interesting is that Facebook has added the Bumper Sticker application (which I find myself spending too much time sifting through), which has statements similar to those on Post Secret. The only difference is that either you post it to your own profile, which links it to you, or a friend can send you a bumper sticker. People are using these as a way to identify themselves to the Facebook sphere.

2 comments:

Emily B said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Emily B said...

Post Secret fascinates me. I feel like it acts as a confessor - enabling people to get things out of their minds and into the world at large. I would completely agree with the appeal of anonymity. This forum creates a community of people who are somehow unable to speak in their actual lives and through an act of anonymous writing are given freedom. I think this community is actually more real than most internet interactions. Anonymity gives a person the freedom to actually interact without lies or deceit. I would be interested to see how this can be successful on Facebook - where popularity, not anonymity, is the goal.