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Place to Hide

When I discovered Postsecret many years ago, I thought it was a beautiful idea - to allow people to share their secrets creatively and anonymously. The use of a postcard to do this gave it a certain timeless appeal. The demographic Whisper and Secret are targeting would have likely never heard of Postsecret but it is the same idea minus the postcard and right there they have a big problem. 

 Kids today live in an always on and hyper connected state. In the fishbowl of social media, there is little room to hide or keep secrets. Those are basic human needs and have existed forever. The invasion on our right to privacy is making it increasingly hard to fulfil them. Unlike us, our kids do not have the choice of completely opting out of social media. Participation is hardly optional when your homework is posted on Facebook, projects are uploaded to YouTube that the group uses Hangout to collaborate on them.

 It makes sense that Secret and Whisper should exist but by not adopting the Postsecret model they are fundamentally not doing what they say they are - allowing a place to share a secret anonymously - give these young people an out they so desperately need.

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