Serious question.
Most people carry things they never tell anyone.
Not illegal things. Just thoughts that would damage relationships or reputations if they were said out loud.
Regret about past decisions. Things people hide from partners. Thoughts about friends or family they would never admit publicly.
Therapists exist for a reason, but most people never go to one.
So I was wondering something.
Would it actually be healthier if people had a place to post these thoughts completely anonymously?
No identity. No profile. Just the confession.
I’m building a small experiment called Backroom around this idea where people can post one-line anonymous secrets.
But I’m honestly curious if people would actually use something like that or if most secrets are better left unsaid.
How about curation though? Having been on the internet for some decades, I can see something like this uncurated go one of two ways - wholesome as fuck or completely unhinged.
That’s the interesting part.
If people know their name and profile are attached, they filter themselves.
When identity disappears, you sometimes get chaos, but you also get honesty people never show anywhere else.
The question is whether the honesty outweighs the chaos.
Sadly people have getting more and more wild with their actual name and image attached over the last few years, but I like the initiative and hope that a wholesome spirit sets in quickly to make it a light on the otherwise muddy internet.
What about slop machine infestation prevention? Or is that something to work with further down the line?
Honestly the format helps a lot.
One-line confessions with no profiles removes most incentives for bots or farming.
I… let’s just say that I do not believe you will find this assertion holds up.
That’s fair skepticism.
My thinking was simply that most bot incentives come from visibility, links, followers, or accounts that can accumulate value over time.
A one-line format with no profiles, no links, and posts expiring after a few days removes a lot of those incentives. But you’re right that anonymity alone doesn’t magically solve spam.
Moderation and room structure would still have to do most of the work.
If you show up in Google, you will get spam. I host and admin https://forum.simutrans.com/ - a forum for a somewhat obscure/old opensource free game. We constantly deal with spam (although at present, I’ve found a mix of things that have so far just about cut it out for now, but they will eventually learn).
Maybe you’ll be a unicorn; I just doubt you will be. :)
Likes, comments and general engagement, or just the one line thought? I’d think less engagement also will help to keep it a good place. What do you plan there?
Mostly the one-line thought.
Engagement tends to change how people write.
My thought as well. Getting more and more on board and would frequent as both reader and contributer.
That is actually the idea behind it.
People can read or post a single anonymous thought without building any identity around it.
Still experimenting with the format to see if people actually use it.
I like your optimism and hope you are right. Keep us posted on the projects development!
Appreciate it.
I’m mostly curious what people actually say when identity disappears.