Anonymous and Self-Destructive Apps

“This message will self-destruct.” – Inspector Gadget

During one of our Tech Club meetings, someone asked me what apps were the kids using these days.  Not being a teenager anymore, I wasn’t quite sure, so I did a little bit of research.  And it seems like there has been a proliferation anonymous and self-destructive apps that teenagers are using.

In the late 1990s,  teenagers flocked to the internet to participate in anonymous chatrooms.  And now, the full circle has been made, but kids are using anonymous apps on their phones rather than chatrooms on a desktop.  Whisper is a PostSecret like app that allows users to share  secrets and feelings while remaining anonymous.  Wut is semi-anonymous chat.  I am not positive, but I think it links with your Facebook account and the sender sends a post, which is then received by their Facebook friends.  The receiver sees the post, but doesn’t know which friend sent it. Secret is similar to Wut, but uses your contacts list on your phone.  Another one is Backchat.   While anonymous, the more users the merrier, therefore the popularity of a particular anonymous app will be different for different groups of teens.

Self-destructive apps are also very popular among the younger crowd.  This started with Snapchat.  This app allows you take a picture, then send it to a person(s) and you can decide how long they will be able to view.  The photo disappears after the designated amount of time.  Snapchat has been in the news for a security leak where names and phone numbers have been released.  Another issue regarding Snapchat is that receivers can leak the photos if they take a screen shot of the photo before it self-destructs.  Since teens use the app to share private photos, there are definite issues.  Wickr adds text to the self-destructive capabilities.

Since I am no longer a teenager, thankfully, I am probably already behind the curve.  But check them out and let me know what you think.