It started out as a community art project in Washington, DC, seven years ago. Four New York Times bestselling books, a successful blog site, and half a million anonymous secrets later, PostSecret is now putting the power of secret-sharing and moderating into the hands of the user with the new PostSecret app.
But despite all the progress, the basic idea behind it all remains the same.
“Secrets can be the currency of who we are,” says Frank Warren, founder and curator of PostSecret. “By sharing them, we can find new ways to not just connect with other people on an intimate level, but also discover the deepest parts of humanity.”
PostSecret started when Warren asked strangers at Metro stations, art galleries, and bookshops to send anonymous secrets to him via postcard, which he then posted on postsecret.com.
He says that the app, like every new technology, has the chance to redefine PostSecret and keep the project alive.
“What makes it so compelling and keeps it interesting is the courage, honesty, and vulnerability that everyday people are revealing through extraordinary works of art, whether that be a postcard or a secret they create with their mobile device,” he says.
Warren adds that reading secrets that others have sent in has helped him to reconcile secrets he has been keeping himself, and he hopes that the project continues to do the same for others.
“When you have the courage to share a secret it can allow you to find a sense of healing for yourself, but it also offers some sort of connection to our community,” he says.
PostSecret has also been credited to raising awareness and funds for suicide prevention.
To continue to help in this manner, the app (currently available on iTunes and being released for Android later this year) includes a comprehensive and current listing of suicide prevention hotlines throughout the world.
Other new features allow secrets to be ranked with a “heart,” or “like,” and connected to a place, such as a school, city, or workplace. With the app, viewers and secret-sharers are able to make direct connections with one another.
“If we can get through those difficult times in our lives, at the other end we come out with a beautiful story we can share with the world,” he says, “and share with others who are struggling with those problems at this very moment.”