Secret (app)

Secret was an iOS and Android app service that allowed people to share messages anonymously within their circle of friends, friends of friends, and publicly. It differs from other anonymous sharing apps such as PostSecret, Whisper, and Yik Yak in that it was intended for sharing primarily with friends, potentially making it more interesting and addictive for people reading the updates.[1] It was founded by David Byttow, the former lead for Square Wallet, and Chrys Bader-Wechseler, a former Google product manager at Google+, Photovine and YouTube.[2] Bader-Wechseler left the company in January 2015, with the stated reason that the company's shift away from beautiful design and towards more minimalistic design meant that he felt he was no longer the best person to be at the helm of the company.[3] Byttow announced the shutdown of the app and the company on April 29, 2015.[4][5][6][7]

Secret
Developer(s)Secret, Inc
Initial releaseJanuary 30, 2014 (2014-01-30)
Operating systemiOS, Android
TypeSocial Networking
Websitesecret.ly

History

Launch and initial buzz

In December 2013, TechCrunch reported the existence of Secret (then in stealth, so its purpose was unclear), and also that it was raising $1.2 million, based on a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.[2][8]

The app was released privately within Silicon Valley over the next two months. It started receiving press coverage in early February 2014, where it was revealed that the company had raised $1.4 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures, Alexis Ohanian and Garry Tan through their Initialized Capital vehicle, Index Ventures, Matrix Partners, SV Angel, and Fuel Capital.[1] A number of technology news websites billed Secret as the latest craze in Silicon Valley.[9][10][11][12]

False rumors about an impending acquisition of Evernote were circulated via Secret in early February 2014.[9][13] Business Insider reported rumors (circulated on Secret) that Secret was about to acquire Whisper, another anonymous sharing app.[14]

On February 10, Mashable reported that clothing retailer Gap was the first brand to join Secret.[15] On February 13, 2014, Secret launched a Bug Bounty program for hackers who found vulnerabilities in its app.[16] On February 14, Forbes reported that Secret would add more privacy controls.[17] This happened on February 21: Secret added subscribe/unsubscribe options, post flagging, and unlinking options.[18]

On May 21, Secret became available globally and also launched on the Android operating system.[19] Secret added some more improvements in June: the launch of "Secret Dens" for schools and workplaces on June 9,[20] and the ability to have a feed with only friends' posts on June 16.[21]

On July 14, 2014, Secret announced that it had raised a $25 million Series B. Funders included Index Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Garry Tan and Alexis Ohanian, SV Angel, Fuel Capital, Ceyuan Ventures, and anonymous investors.[22][23]

On August 18, 2014 a Brazilian court granted a preliminary injunction to a public prosecutor that prohibits companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft from distributing the app and also compels the three companies to remotely delete the app on users' devices.[24] The prosecutor sought the injunction after receiving user complaints of bullying. Currently, a user's only means of redress against bullies is to send a letter in English to an American judge via the Brazilian foreign ministry, essentially leaving Brazilian users powerless. The decision itself is based on chapter 5, article 1 of the Brazilian constitution. The article states, "the expression of thought is free, anonymity being forbidden." [25] The judge ruled this makes Secret's promise of anonymity unconstitutional. The three American companies were given ten days to comply before facing fines of 20,000 reals ($8,870) a day. The three American tech giants have the chance to appeal ahead of a final ruling.

After the Brazilian courts hearing, the developers included new features for both the Android and iOS versions of the app aimed at safeguarding user privacy. After the changes, users can only use photos taken at the time of a posting, rather than images previously stored on the device. This was a direct response to the court's concerns about the use of private images without consent. An improved screening process was also implemented to prevent certain feelings, keywords and images being published. The company's team investigates possible violations and users are notified of any potential breach.[26]

Redesign and change of focus

In December 2014, the company announced it would launch a faster 2.0 version with new chat features.[27]

In January 2015, Secret launched its first "geofenced feed" at the CES conference, where both making and viewing posts was restricted to people within the geographical location of the conference.[28] Later that month, Secret co-founder Bader-Wechseler left the company, with the stated reason that the company's shift away from beautiful design and towards more minimalistic design meant that he felt he was no longer the best person to be at the helm of the company.[3]

In March 2015, it was revealed that the company was working on new apps based on what they had learned about user needs from the Secret app, but intended to continue to retain the original product.[29][30] It was also revealed that Secret Dens were being used extensively internally at companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter.[29]

Shutdown of the app and the company

On April 29, 2015, Secret's founder and CEO David Byttow announced his decision to shut the company down, claiming that the way people were using the app, including the spreading of malicious rumors, was not in line with what he had originally envisioned.[4][5][6] The app was removed from the iOS and Android stores. Byttow intended to use the next two weeks to wind the company down, return money to investors, and delete all user data accumulated by the company.[4] Of the decision to shut down the company and return the money to investors rather than attempt to pivot, he wrote: "Innovation requires failure, and I believe in failing fast in order to go on and make only new and different mistakes." He also promised to eventually publish postmortems "so that others can learn from the unique mistakes and challenges we faced and the wisdom gained from such an incredible 16 months."[6][31]

Reception

Reception upon release and growth

Technology commentators likened Secret to the shuttered app PostSecret and the app Whisper, all part of a growing trend towards anonymous and quasi-anonymous sharing, a pushback against Facebook's successful push to encourage real name use throughout the Internet.[1][32]

An article in The Guardian argued that although Secret was fast becoming a craze, we should be more cautious about what we share and whom we trust online.[11]

Detailed reviews of Secret were published in Technology Review[33] and TechCrunch.[34]

On July 31, 2014, Sarah Lacy published a lengthy critique of Secret in PandoDaily, noting that one of the app's main use cases was to spread malicious lies about people and organizations, and that she was puzzled that investors she considered ethical were considering investing in the company. She also suggested that there was a reasonable chance that the app would lead to teen suicides due to bullying and lies being spread about people.[35] Secret co-founder David Byttow dismissed the post in a tweet, noting that it sent very little traffic to Secret's website. Paul Carr responded on PandoDaily,[36] and Secret's PR representative expressed disappointment saying she didn't like it when people wrote bad things about others without talking to them first. Carr responded again, noting the irony of the tweet given Secret's main use case.[37] The news was covered on the Huffington Post front page for about a day.[38] Lacy wrote a follow-up post a week after her initial post, discussing events that had transpired over the week and their implications for her thesis.[39]

Reception upon shutdown

Upon the shutdown of the app, Mike Isaac wrote in the New York Times that Secret's rapid rise, subsequent fall and eventual shutdown illustrated the "flash-in-the-pan" nature of many Silicon Valley companies.[5] The article also noted that the co-founders had cashed out to the tune of $3 million each during an earlier round of fundraising, raising questions of their commitment to and confidence in the long-term vision and success of the company.[5] Issie Lapowsky, writing for Wired Magazine, noted: "founder David Byttow seems to have realized what the rest of us have known all along: anonymity makes people into total assholes" but later in the article questioned whether, if Secret had enjoyed the traction that competitor Yik Yak had, Byttow would still shut the company down.[7]

gollark: I erase my memory at random, yes.
gollark: It is nice to be able to walk or publicly transport to places instead of going by car slowly.
gollark: At least, I like them and I know many people who do.
gollark: Dense cities good, actually?
gollark: Well, you apparently didn't actually mean towns and cities.

See also

References
  1. Cutler, Kim-Mai (February 3, 2014). "Anonymity's Moment: Secret Is Like Facebook For What You're Really Thinking". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  2. Cutler, Kim-Mai (December 6, 2013). "Former Square Wallet Lead, Google PM Raise $1.2M For Secret (Which Is A Secret)". Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  3. "Secret Co-Founder Chrys Bader-Wechseler Steps Down Because It's Not About Design Anymore". TechCrunch. January 29, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  4. Byttow, David (April 29, 2015). "Sunset". Medium (service). Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  5. Isaac, Mike (April 29, 2015). "A Founder of Secret, the Anonymous Social App, Is Shutting It Down". New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  6. Helft, Miguel (April 29, 2015). "Secret, The $100 Million Social App, Shuts Down". Forbes. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  7. Lapowsky, Issie (April 29, 2015). "Secret shuts down because anonymity makes people mean". Wired Magazine. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  8. "SEC FORM D". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  9. Lawler, Ryan (February 5, 2014). "That Secret App Is Becoming Silicon Valley's New Blind Item". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  10. McCracken, Harry (February 8, 2014). "'Secret' Blackberry App Is Silicon Valley's Newest Obsession. It's honest. It's fake. It's nice. It's mean. And sometimes you can't tell which is which". Time Magazine Techland blog. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  11. Dredge, Stuart (February 13, 2014). "Would you really trust a 'secret' app to protect your secrecy? Anonymous sharing app Secret is all the rage in Silicon Valley, but we should be cautious about who we trust". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  12. Rogowsky, Mark (February 10, 2014). "Do You Want To Know A Secret? Download This App". Forbes. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  13. Abbruzzese, Jason (February 6, 2014). "Anonymous Blogging App Secret Produces Its First Viral Hoax". Mashable. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  14. Dickey, Megan Rose (February 7, 2014). "Two Ex-Googlers Have A New App For Sharing Secrets, And Here's What People Are Saying About Silicon Valley On It". Business Insider. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  15. Fiegerman, Seth (February 10, 2014). "Secret's Out: Gap Claims to Be First Brand on Anonymous Sharing App". Mashable. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  16. Lawler, Ryan (February 13, 2014). "Secret Launches Bug Bounty Program For Hackers Who Find Vulnerabilities In Its App". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  17. Olson, Parmy (February 14, 2014). "Anonymous App 'Secret' Will Add More Privacy Controls". Forbes. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  18. Etherington, Darrell (February 21, 2014). "Secret Adds Subscribe/Unsubscribe Options, Post Flagging, Unlinking And More". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  19. Lawler, Ryan (May 21, 2014). "Anonymish Sharing App Secret Launches On Android And Opens Up Internationally". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  20. Perez, Sarah (June 9, 2014). "Secret Is Taking Its Anonymous Networking App To Schools, Workplaces With New "Secret Dens" Feature". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  21. Buhr, Sarah (June 16, 2014). "Secret Finally Lets All Your Freaky Friends Have Their Own Feeds". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  22. "Onward: the next six months". Medium.com. July 14, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  23. Lunden, Ingrid (July 14, 2014). "Anonymish App Secret Has Raised Another $25M, Adds Facebook Login And Collections". Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  24. Geuss, Megan (August 21, 2014). "Brazil court to Apple, Google: wipe anonymous sharing app off users phones". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  25. "Brazil Constitution". Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  26. Mari, Angelica (August 25, 2014). "Secret Boosts Privacy Features Following Brazil Legal Woes". ZDNet. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  27. Newton, Casey (December 18, 2014). "Secret is relaunching as a faster anonymous social network with chat". The Verge. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  28. Constine, Josh (January 5, 2015). "Secret Wants To Be The Stream Of Consciousness For Live Events, Starting With CES". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  29. Lunden, Ingrid (March 27, 2015). "Secret Is Working On New Apps, Won't Shut Down Original Product". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  30. Shontell, Alyssa (March 24, 2015). "After pocketing millions and buying a Ferrari, Secret founder David Byttow may be pivoting his year-old startup yet again". Business Insider. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  31. Collins, Terry (April 29, 2015). "Secret's out: CEO shuts down app. After going public just over a year ago, the struggling anonymous-messaging app is shut down by CEO David Byttow". CNet. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  32. Rusli, Evelyn (February 12, 2014). "New Apps Whisper and Secret Cater to a Craving to Dish Freely Messaging Services Offer Anonymity and a Web With Fewer Consequences". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  33. Metz, Rachel (February 14, 2014). "Can You Keep a Secret, App? Secret, a new app that lets you share honestly and anonymously, is addictive". Technology Review. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  34. Lawler, Ryan (February 9, 2014). "My Secret Life". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  35. Lacy, Sarah (July 31, 2014). "Investors have to stop trying to justify the lies and libel of Secret". PandoDaily. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  36. Carr, Paul (August 1, 2014). "Secret founder doesn't care if teenagers kill themselves, as long as they don't cause a PR headache". PandoDaily. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  37. Carr, Paul (August 2, 2014). "Secret's head of PR apologizes for "careless and flippant" response to teen suicide concerns". PandoDaily. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  38. "Secret founder doesn't care if teenagers kill themselves, as long as they don't cause a PR headache". Huffington Post. August 1, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  39. Lacy, Sarah (August 3, 2014). "Now we've seen Secret's ugly soul, will investors act?". PandoDaily. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
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