PostSecret

There are many common elements to the projects mentioned on my site. They use the potential of modern technology in unexpected ways; the Internet is the central medium, but the evolution of cheaper, higher-quality, more portable digital devices and storage formats are essential.

Post Secret is slightly different in that it uses decidedly lower-tech: the postcard. Okay, so the modern postal system is augmented by high technology in countless ways, but c’mon, it’s still snail mail. On a site full of digital cameras and memory cards, why would we discuss PostSecret?

Well, the intent is very similar to Photochaining and Message on a Memory Card. You send in anonymous secrets, and they are posted on the Internet. While the medium is markedly different (and McLuhanites would of course claim that this makes a crucial difference), the results are noticeably similar. It’s like the difference between a ‘land-based’ slot machine and online slots.

You might expect these secrets to be mostly unprintable, but mainly they portray a lot of people with everyday sadness and unspoken expressions of emotion. Sometimes one is tempted to ask “why would you keep something like that a secret?” until we remember how hard it is sometimes simply to express yourself, to tell the truth, or to appear even slightly vulnerable and sensitive.

The ‘official’ PostSecret website only shows the most recent topic, and the author has compiled some of these postcards into bound collections and offers them for sale (speaking of which, online casino USA). This bothers me a little, for some strange reason — for some people, ‘anonymous’ means that nobody else owns it so you can do whatever you want with it (“Buy a Secret” sounds really wrong to me). Still, I can’t deny that the author’s initial idea was an impressive one, and presents a powerful statement.

The “PostSecret archive” provides more options, and there’s a community if you really feel moved to participate further. The presentation and navigation seems less than ideal for the time being, and the ads sometimes obscure the postcards themselves, but you’ll may only want to read a few anyway — whether you realize that it’s not for you, or that it’s making you too sad!