Even though Secret, the anonymous personal secret sharing app, gained massive popularity after its launch in 2014, it was unexpectedly curtailed in late April last year. A series of unfortunate events, including the departure of co-founder Chrys Bader-Wechseler, numerous other team members and the app losing its primary vision on the way to success, led to an untimely demise. The company returned all remaining investor money and shut shop with no hope of revival.
But post the U.S Presidential elections, Secret co-founder and CEO David Byttow, has surprised everyone in the tech landscape with the scintillating(and yet again unexpected!) announcement of the relaunch of the anonymous app in the coming months. It will be back again to join its brethren Yik Yak, Whisper and others. In a tweet posted on Saturday, Byttow says that version 2 of Secret is on the way and it is “too important for it to not exist” in this current scenario.
Secret V2 is coming. It’s too important for it to not exist.
— David Byttow (@davidbyttow) November 13, 2016
For those unaware of Secret and its functionality, it was a mobile app which enabled users to share their personal secrets with the public on the platform anonymously. Users had the option to post short snippets of text, be it any piece of information, gossip or rumor that others might be interested in gaining knowledge of.
This announcement revives our hope and reveals that Byttow is also shaken up by the outcome of the presidential elections. He is, thus, taking the bold step to get back to the drawing board and bring the Secret app back to life. In conversation with TechCrunch, Byttow says his motivation to return to this project is:
People don’t have a good space to be their most authentic selves, especially to people they know. There is too much fear, and there is too little self-awareness. We need more self-awareness, starting with Silicon Valley. We are in a bubble. Fuck the bubble. The truth wants to be set free. Only then can we begin to understand and only then can we heal and work together.
The downsides of current social media products MUST be addressed, and this is currently the way that I know how.
Byttow further adds that he is treading lightly this time around. There is currently no set timeline for the release of the second version of the Secret app but the founder wants to convey(and embody) the vision correctly this time around. Since he is currently heading Bold, a medium for enterprises, Byttow says that he would not build this version of the app. He says that the app will be built by a separate team under his supervision and won’t be on the lookout for VC investments for this second attempt.
If it’s to exist, it must be self-sustainable, and it must be free of any conflicts of interest,
says Byttow.
He also adds that the primary aim of the app will remain the same and ‘it’s going to be good.’ Byttow plans to bootstrap the complete app development process and also not do it for the money this time around. There is currently no word on how he plans to monetise the app but all proceeds collected from the same would “largely to charities he believes in such as the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, which has been threatened under a Trump presidency.”
The internet is abuzz with the return of the era of the anonymous sharing app with Secret V2 and it would be important to see how Byttow moulds the user experience in this second attempt. There is, however, no doubt that the populous who enjoyed willfully sharing their views without hesitation and exercising their right to free speech would already be gearing up for the launch.
Stay tuned for more updates. And get ready to go anonymous yet again! Do you think Secret really needed to make this return after Trump being elected as the President? Comment your thoughts down below.
