Feb
27
Questions about PostSecret
February 27, 2015 | 3 Comments
I found PostSecret to be a fascinating picture blog. Perusing the site generated three questions as I was scrolling down the posts.
1. Why do people feel the need to anonymously post things that don’t seem to be controversial or embarrassing? I did not consider any of the posts to be oversharing.
2. Do the people that post these things keep these thoughts to themselves? For instance, the picture that illustrates that his or her boyfriend needs to shave his pubes. That seems like a reasonable request that any good boyfriend should acquiesce to, has it been asked?
3. How anonymous are these posts? Could an expert hacker find out the indentities of these people?
I would be interested in what all of you think of these or any other questions that may have occurred to anyone else during their viewing of PostSecret.
-Frank
Comments
3 Comments so far
I have been following PostSecret in its earlier days. The idea of having actual people share their deepest, and sometimes darkest, secrets to the world, without declaring their identity, is PostSecret’s appeal. I think as a sharer, the person wants the audience to know about the content, but depending on what that content is, the sharer may not want to get traced back. As a viewer, I may sympathize with the sharer’s secret. At times, I may even empathize with the sharer. We’re able To build a sense of connection without having a face-to-face interaction or even knowing how the other person looks like. It’s almost like a I know-she knows (my secret)- but she doesn’t know who I am kind of scenario. It makes sharing information less intimidating. I think this speaks to Andre Moore’s point about technologies being able to create a certain drive that satisfies human impulses. Here, the impulse is to share, but why? I don’t think the concern is whether or not these secrets are “truths”. PostSecret encourages people to share parts of their life, and dump this info somewhere, in the “spirit world” (Berdlent). It gives the sharer a sense of community and belongingness. If and when people look at it, I think it becomes an overshare, because if it’s suppose to be a secret, then no one is supposed to find out in the first place.
-Maple
With regard to the third question, I believe the project was conceived around protecting the anonymity of its contributors. Participants create physical postcards and send them to the headquarters, where they are scanned and posted to the site. This intermediary step–as well as the non-digital format of the cards themselves–is meant to mediate the risk for participants and create a safe space to unburden themselves. (Their app is a relatively recent development and, I believe, meant to compete with Whisper.)
I do not think any of these “secrets” are oversharing, since this is a website for sharing whatever is on your mind, whether this is a serious concern or a lighthearted discussion. That being said, I believe that anything can be an embarrassment or bring shame to a person. Some people may be shy to admit that they are on a diet, while others will divulge all their eating disorders.