Annonymity and Secrets Online: Postsecret on Facebook

I’ve been reading Postsecret regularly for a few years now. I always get excited when a new batch of secrets pops up in my Google Reader window on Sundays. For those who don’t know, Postsecret is a community art project of sorts consisting of anonymous postcards mailed to the curator (for lack of a better term), Frank Warren. Warren picks out about 20 postcards from the week’s mail and posts scanned images onto the Postsecret site every Sunday. The postcards detail secrets ranging from hysterical to neurotic; tragic to troubling. Warren has produced a series of books filled with Postsecret postcards, and regularly speaks at college campuses about the unique project.

Recently, Warren started a Facebook page for the Postsecret project. Every week, he posts a photo album full of new secrets (beyond what’s posted on the blog), and (unlike on the Postsecret blog, where commenting is disabled) many Facebook users comment on the postcards.

This week on Facebook, Warren posted a single secret–one anonymous contributor’s list of “Secrets I Have Never Told To Men I Know.” He then challenged Facebook users: “What are your secrets? Write your list here [...]” Many comments followed, and things got pretty interesting.

One of the constant characteristics of Postsecret has always been the anonymity of submitted secrets. Part of why Postsecret is compelling is that readers generally know nothing about the source of wild or painful secrets. And yet, on Facebook, many readers chose to share secrets with their name and affiliation (High School/University, or location) in the open. I was surprised by what I read in the 2,100+ comments (2,141 as I’m writing this) that accompanied the original secret.

Many of the secrets shared on Facebook are relatively benign:

I love correcting people’s spelling / grammar.

i secretly put earplugs in my ears after my boyfriend goes to sleep so i don’t have to hear him snore.

I wish I got more mail.

Some of the other secrets are surprisingly revelatory:

The only time I feel loved by my parents is when im in the hospital for anorexia.

I think about murder and if I knew I wouldnt get caught, I would do it.

I’m terrified I’ll go to hell for being gay.

Many of the commenters seem to recognize the significance (and risk?) of posting “secrets” in full view:

I’m amazed by the strength of all of you to post your secrets [...] I HOPE someone I know reads this.

i deleted my secret, i cant handle the reality it brings.

I just created a fake facebook page to tell my secrets.

I wish I wasn’t scared that someone will read this, even if I don’t know who you are.

I want to post my secret but am afraid to have my family or friends read it.

Another consequence of open commenting and non-anonymous secret-sharing is that many commenters chose to respond to posted secrets: with support, with disgust, or with disdain.  This, again, is distinct from the Postsecret blog where Frank Warren rarely posts email responses to secrets, and only when they are supportive.

Reading through this massive comment thread on Facebook made me worry for people who are sharing secrets–in a public online forum–that have the potential to hurt people they love, negatively impact their public reputation, or exist in search-able permanence on the web.  I think the Postsecret project is a wonderful thing, and that the act of anonymous secret-telling can be healthy and therapeutic for people who are troubled or needing to voice a concern.  But I wonder if the danger of sharing secrets in an open fashion–in a way that is publicly tied to a person’s identity–undermines the positive catharsis of sharing a secret.  Of course, these Facebook users are deciding for themselves whether they want to share a secret or not, but the massive readership of Postsecret creates a larger audience than any of these individuals would receive by posting secrets on their profile page or another site.  With that larger audiences comes broader scrutiny and reactions (good and bad) from strangers.  I won’t be posting any secrets on Facebook soon, but I’m wondering: do you think this is healthy?  Or is it inevitable?

Image (a postcard from Postsecret) used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user Foxtongue.