Shhh! Anonymous messaging app Secret shuts down
The new trend on mobile is anonymous messaging apps capable of hiding all personal information, while allowing thousands of people to converse on one platform.
It looks like not all of the apps are making a killing. Co-founder of Secret, David Byttow announced he would be closing the application and deleting all the content in the coming weeks, following the steady rise of apps like Whisper and Yik Yak, which appeal to the same demographic as Secret.
Whisper was also banned in Brazil due to bans against anonymous free speech, and has been sectioned away from schools due to the location based service allowing students to bully others without any punishment.
Byttow said in a blog post "Unfortunately, Secret does not represent the vision I had when starting the company, so I believe it’s the right decision for myself, our investors and our team… I’m extremely proud of our team, which has built a product that was used by over 15 million people and pushed the boundaries of traditional social media".
Secret will reimburse investors who previously invested in the startup. The company still has most of the $35 million (£22 million) invested in the latest funding round, having no reason to overspend.
These anonymous apps do have advantages to things like Facebook or even Reddit, with location based chatting, no personal information shown and a unique way to chat, but the downsides are there are no repercussions for outing someone’s dirty laundry or harassing another user.
Yik Yak, one of Secret’s main competitors, recently raised $62 million (£40 million) in Series B funding. Earlier in the year Whisper received $36 million (£23 million) in Series C funding, and is still continuing to grow.
It is not the first time an anonymous app has decided to drop out of the race, StreetChat was removed from the iOS App Store after multiple reports of abuse on school grounds.
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