When the Internet debuted in the early 1990s, it was a hotbed of anonymity. People created alter-egos in chat rooms and avatars in games. However, as social media became mainstream and your mom was just as likely to be on Facebook as your best friends, that age has passed, leaving some longing for the days of anonymity. Enter secret-sharing apps like Whisper and Yik-Yak .
Created in 2012, Whisper made serious headlines in early 2014 when they posted a juicy piece of celebrity gossip: Gwyenth Paltrow's alleged new beau. However, the main focus of the app are secrets of a tamer variety: work-related woes, wishes about one's love life or funny anecdotes. Users type out their Whisper, select a stock image and then share. They can be tagged with locations, up-voted and are then featured on the main site or app.
Posted anonymously, users can also add their own comments or feedback. And while some of the posts deal with more serious issues like this one:
Many posts are an outlet for people's mundane confessions. A recent article in Fast Company explains the rising trend:
Whispers range from disturbing to heartwarming, from enlightening to asinine. You can reply with your own Whisper or even have private chats with other Whisperers. It's a smartphone confessional that's caught on with millions of millennials, who now flip through an eye-popping 6 billion Whispers per month.
One demographic who loves Whisper? Moms.
And it is this confessional tone and high user interaction that has investors clamoring, according to this recent article in The Guardian :
The growth of Whisper shows that people do want to share confessions, or read about others. The site gets around three billion page views a month, and touts high engagement. The company claims that every day, 45 per cent of users upload a Whisper, and the average user spends 25 minutes a day on the site.
The numbers impress investors. In May, Whisper received another round of venture funding, worth $36-million (U.S.). In total, it has raised $60-million, and the latest funding valued the company around $200-million. The company now boasts about 50 employees.
Which brings us to the next hottest secret sharing App: Yik-Yak.
Created by 23 year old fraternity brothers in November 2013, Yik Yak is a location-based social media platform that allows users to anonymously post messages. Think of it like Twitter, but no one knows your name. While that might leave many of the older generations wondering what the point is, it has been a huge hit with American teens.
Yik-Yak recent beat out Instagram and Snapchat in the U.S. iTunes store, and by all accounts is extremely popular. While the content is not as visual and therefore "shareable" as Whisper, the Tweet-like nature of Yaks is intentional, according to the App's creators:
You know these anonymous Twitter accounts that say witty things about what’s going on around campus and what not. The thought was there has to be more than five funny kids on a campus, so why not give that power to all the student body? So we thought by using location instead of trying to gain followers, you could be instantly connected with everyone around you. Via Miami Hurricane.
However, recent headlines regarding online bullying and hazing associated with Yik-Yak shows that parents concerned about the app. U.K. schools are even thinking about blocking it . Will Yik-Yak's popularity be its downfall? Only time will tell.
Besides the lack of photos, this is perhaps the biggest difference between Whisper and Yik-Yak. While users on Whisper can't post random names, Yik-Yak users are able, and perhaps implicitly encouraged to talk about others without any consequences. Which leaves us wondering, which App is more likely to stay? The red-hot Yik-Yak that thrives on gossip or the tamer, older Whisper?
Which do you prefer? Or have another secret-sharing app you love? Share in the comments below.