“It is not down in any map; true places never are” — Herman Melville

About 2 months ago I began doing some freelance work for a stealth anonymous app (yes, another one) and now I’ve become partner on this new project. We’re shooting for an end of August release date so it’s definitely go time and I can’t wait to start beta testing it with some of you guys.

The anonymous and ephemeral application space is red hot. Type something up, hit ‘post’, and nobody knows it’s coming from you. There’s a slew of anonymous messaging apps out there like Whisper, Secret, & YikYak while clones are being spawned in China, which only solidifies the trend. To be honest, we’re not reinventing the wheel nor doing anything super “innovative” (the quotes are due to the term being used sooo losely nowadays) but it’s my job as the product manager to set us apart from the rest. Differentiate our product from theirs. Always strive to provide more value.

Lots of pundits in the tech world think these apps are nothing but a trend. Something NOW for the kids that’ll be gone in 6 months. I initially thought the same. It’s very easy to think that at first glance before digging deeper. Due to their nature, there’s clearly an opportunity to create more bad than good due to a user’s ability to slander with no repercussions. YikYak’s been banned from countless schools for cyberbullying and Secret, which has an appealing interface, was filled with desperate sexual encounters the last time I opened it up. Is that what happens when humans can hide behind a vail?? Plato’s Ring of Gyges anyone? I don’t think I’m being naive nor overly optimistic in thinking that there’s lots of positive and valuable ripple effects that can occur from anonymous dialogue.

The value comes from how the product is built; someone or something (i.e. an algorithm) clearly has to constantly monitor what goes on. These app makers want engagement. So it seems as if most don’t care about curating malicious or overly obtrusive posts because if they did it’ll hurt their numbers. Maybe they really don’t care. Or now that they’ve gotten their massive numbers they’ll begin cleaning up a bit, refining their product to bring value that’s not solely negative. Only time will tell.

So is there long term value in these things? Totally. There’s a reason why Whisper raised 30million and Secret 10M (with a 50M valuation!) from some of the Valley’s top VCs. It’s the potential their massive anonymous user base has if executed properly. And like I said, it’s my job as the PM of this new app to have killer execution and be different from the rest right out the gate. We have no plans to waste our time with another hookup or cyberbullying app.

From what I’ve gained, it’s apparent that the key to a successful company centered around anonymity is COMMUNITY. At the very least, everyone downloads the app to either hear or be heard. You can’t JUST have an open ended stream of consciousness from a worldwide user base. It needs to have a bit of form, shape. So without rambling on and accidentally giving away to much of what we’re building I’m going to end with this — allow people to easily connect with others who want to listen.