This Research & Linking post is kind of secret-baring themed.
Through these sites, it's become pretty evident that a LOT of people have secrets they want to get off their chests for everyone to see. I kind of got the feeling, too, that people being complex and bizarre is more common than anyone thought.
The blog hosted on this site, PostSecret, is probably fairly well-known. The concept is people send in their secrets on postcards decorated as they see fit to relay and enhance their secret, and the man who runs the blog, Frank, will select some each Sunday to post. Not all sent in are posted, but Frank publishes all of them eventually in books available for purchase. Of the three, I think PostSecret is the most artistic and "real" seeming, as there is physical material to help the secrets seem real.
A slightly different take on the PostSecret concept is LiveJournal Secret, where the secrets are still represented artistically, but digitally. People create their secret and can submit it in a weekly submissions post, anonymously. Each secret IS posted, so everyone who makes the submissions post will have their secret shared. The secrets are posted nightly in batches of about 50, and when they run out, they post new ones from the last submissions batch. While the advantage of having every secret posted is above PostSecret, they're among many others so less attention is payed to them. PostSecret only posts around a dozen a week, so each one is memorable and gets attention. LJSecret is run by a handful of people, as it's purely an internet system with so many secrets to handle.
My last example of the secret-baring craze on the internet isn't technically a blog, but it fits the theme. Group Hug is the most instantaneous of all of them: you type your secret in, and it's posted. There is no graphic or visual art aspect, and GH gets the most secrets posted, so you get the least attention here, but it the most instantly satisfying. It was started five years ago by a man named Gabriel Jeffrey, and has since started spinoffs, much like PostSecret has. There is a ranking system for each confession, to determine which is on the front page, but that's the only bias, all are there for viewing.
Also, I have not yet obtained the book, but I'll get them through the library or amazon as soon as I can.
- tess
3 comments:
i just wanted to express my deeply-rooted love for you, tessa sheffer. :B
I think i might become secretly obsessed with these secret sharing blogs. Very interesting concept; I can see why they are so popular. Everyone has secrets. Its good to get them off your chest - and to even get a hug after you do - priceless!
well as far as the blog/secret/site thing goes, i dont know if i apreciate it as much as the real personalized ones. i dont know, i guess some people like the fact that it is so anonymous but some of the things i read on one of the links were just so many kids worrying about being a virgin and such. heh, i dont know, but i really like the idea of this and i liked looking at the blog site that had pictures of peoples secrets that they decorated to their liking. i thought that was really cool and some of the secrets are just so, so personal, its pretty amazing
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