Post Secret is a project that displays postcards on which individuals have written a personal secret. In their presentation, my classmates Jenn, Henry, Seanie and Vinson explored its prevalence in the study of autobiography, as an unusual form of anonymous memoir.
They discussed the unsuccessful attempt of a “Post Secret” online application. As founder Frank Warren states in this interview, the site was taken down within three months due to deliberate misuse, involving repeated posting of offensive and/or pornographic material. The negative community that formed reminds me of the many comment threads found on websites such as Youtube that are known to propagate rude and destructive interaction.
As Kevin Wallsten and Melinda Tarsi explore in their Washington Post blog post, there is an ongoing debate about whether or not anonymous comments should be banned from websites. One of the main arguments presented against such anonymity is that users are more likely to act in an uncivil manner when they are not accountable for their behaviour. This point is relevant to a topic discussed in Dr. Sullivan’s Sociology lecture yesterday: socialization and the individual. She spoke of George Herbert Mead‘s understanding of the self, which he believes to contain two parts (greatly simplified below):
- the “me” encompasses the rules of social interaction that individuals gather over time through exchanges with others.
- the “I” responds to the “me” by following, or not following, the understood social norms and appropriate behaviour.
Anonymity seems to provide freedom from the usual social expectations since the feedback that is usually received during face to face interaction is absent. Perhaps the “me” (that knows it is not acceptable to make that remark) loses control, and the “I” (that really wants to make that remark) does as it pleases, because there will be no repercussions.
This raises important considerations around anonymity’s role in communication. While I have discussed apparent negative outcomes of the “I” speaking freely, positive aspects are relevant to our study of life narratives. Taking Post Secret as a model, we can observe a very honest display of individual experiences, unabridged by feelings of shame or by the desire to accommodate social norms. As well, by reading confessions that are nameless, the audience witnesses a collective of humanity’s secrets to which they can relate, hopefully building a sense of belonging.
This makes me wonder how signed autobiographies differ, and if it is even possible to write honestly when a part of the writer (“me”) constantly reminds him or her of the assumed expectations and judgement of the readers.
Adèle Therias
_
Works Cited
Frank Warren. PostSecret.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
Hurst, Melissa. ‘George Herbert Mead: The Self, ”Me” & ”I” Video – Lesson And Example’. Education Portal. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
Sullivan, Rachael. “Socialization.” University of British Columbia. 22 Oct. 2014. Lecture.
VanderMey, Anne. “PostSecret founder has a few things to say about new anonymous apps.” Fortune. Time Inc., 9 Aug. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Wallsten, Kevin and Melinda Tarsi. “It’s time to end anonymous comments sections.” Monkey Cage. Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Youtube.com,. ‘Youtube’. N.p., 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Hi Adele, I really liked how you connected Mead’s theory of the “me” and “I” to the anonymity of Post Secret. In my opinion, even in signed autobiographies, the author can be honest about their life because writing their life narratives in a way that confesses their secrets, which may not necessarily be accepted by the society, gives them a way to overcome the “me” and let the “I” take control. On the other hand, in Post Secret, the anonymity of the post cards allow those authors to hold on the “me” because when the author does not reveal who they are, they are not taking responsibility for their actions of the “I”. Although, perhaps people may be more open to sharing their secrets anonymously, it is possible for signed autobiographers to write honestly about their life by overcoming the “me”.
Hi Adele,
I thought the point you brought up about the debate about whether or not anonymous comments should be banned from websites was very interesting. I think this not only relates to anonymous websites, but also to less anonymous forms of social media. With social media becoming so prevalent in our society there has been a surge of online bullying. Just having the screen between oneself and another is eliminating boundaries that once existed. People have a very easy time saying something hurtful or cruel to someone online, but wouldn’t do it in person. Even on Facebook, where one has a very clear identity and can’t hide from who they are, people are willing to spread hurtful messages about others. I wonder if this issue is connected to the idea that you brought up, about the anonymity of websites like PostSecert encouraging uncivil behaviour when accountability isn’t prevalent, and whether something should be done to control this. On one hand restricting one’s ability to express themselves is restricting their freedom, but on the other hand, this can have very serious consequences. It’s an interesting question, and it makes me wonder how this could be controlled, or dealt with.
Thank you for your question, which is also what I always want to ask — How do signed autobiographies differ from anonymous ones? As you mentioned before, when users do not have to provide their names, they may confess their secrets which are embarrassed or uncivil because they do not need to take the responsibility for doing this. However, anonymity does not guarantee honesty. For example, A postcard referring to a dumped body was sent to Postsecret, the police then searched a Chicago park, but authorities said they did have any reason to proof there’s anything related to this murder confession. In addition, about signed autobiographies , such as Six- Word Memoir, users can make up their own usernames, which are basically the same as anonymity.Therefore, I think both of them are basically same and no matter whether they are anonymous, contents of both kinds of autobiographies are not completely true.
Miao Dong ( Mason)