This honesty app lets you leave secret messages and everyone's talking about it

This honesty app lets you leave secret messages and everyone's talking about it

If you're too shy to praise someone or perhaps too embarrassed to tell them off in person, you might want to use this app that'll allow you to give feedback without revealing your identity.

Called Sarahah, this anonymous messaging app was created by Zain al-Abidin Tawfiq from Saudi Arabia to allow users to leave and receive honest feedback "from your employees and your friends in a private manner," as stated on its website.

The intention? To help you "in discovering your strengths and areas for improvement".

Sarahah, which means 'honesty' or 'candour' in Arabic, is currently ranked at number 1 on the iTunes free app chart and was made available only in June.

[embed]https://twitter.com/Sarahah_com/status/893979275531096064[/embed]

The app began in Saudi Arabia and spread to other Arab countries before getting an English version, reported ABC13.com.

So how does it work?

After downloading the app, register for an account. The interface looks pretty basic at the moment. 

To leave a "constructive" message, you can either do a random search or if you know someone's name in the app, you can search and leave a message for them. Pretty simple.

Unfortunately, when we tried it out, it said its "servers are overloaded by honest people" and we couldn't find each other's user name in order to leave a message. The only way I could send a message to my colleague was when she sent me her profile link via WhatsApp. Not so anonymous then.

So why is it causing some uproar online?

Some have taken to Twitter and Facebook to share their happy anonymous messages as you can't reply to the messages you receive, while others have said it's a place for bullying.

The Verge gave it a positive review. Users interviewed said it was an eye-opening experience with people reaching out to say they miss being in touch with a particular user, while some preferred to send compliments in order to make others happy.

On its Facebook page, some commentators have asked for the app to be shut down due to bullying,  while others have said it's not the app's responsibilty to police comments and pointed out that the app has a block function.

Even its founder has received messages on possible bullying.

[embed]https://twitter.com/ZainAlabdin878/status/886013145113907200[/embed]

Others on its Facebook page have posted their profile names in order to be searched and a few have said the server seems to be down so they can't access the app (that sounds familiar).

On its Twitter page, its pinned post shows a clarification to emphasise its anonymity saying "Sarahah would like to clarify that all messages about revealing the sender's identity are fake."

While this isn't the first app to have an anonymous nature, one thing's for sure: people still don't seem to have the ability to say things out loud to someone's face.

[embed]https://twitter.com/EdgarAricha/status/896021885418393600[/embed]

[embed]https://twitter.com/twinitisha/status/895879619328344064[/embed]

[embed]https://twitter.com/forever_akela/status/895870326134915073[/embed]

[embed]https://twitter.com/margsandlaughs/status/896458253302935554[/embed]

Technology, eh? Now excuse me while I go talk directly to my colleagues.

spanaech@sph.com.sg

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