BLOG EXAMPLE: POSTSECRET

http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/ (http://www.postsecret.com/) is an ongoing art project created by Frank Warren where people from all over the world are invited to send in their secrets on the back of a homemade postcard. At first it was a small project: postcards with the instructions and address were left in public places inviting people to take part but it soon grew into a world wide epidemic, with people sending in postcards covered in secrets ranging from the light and comic, to the dark and serious. PostSecret is now in its fourth year of running and the blog, where roughly 20 new secrets are posted every sunday, has been running since 2005. The project is so big, it even has its own range of books:
- PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives
-My Secret: A PostSecret Book
-The Secret Lives Of Men And Women: A PostSecret Book
-A Lifetime Of Secrets: A PostSecret Book
Each of these books contains almost 300 pages: each one a different, full colour postcard showing a secret that someone sent to Frank.

Many blogs allow users to post comments and from June 24, to July 3rd 2007 PostSecret readers were also allowed to post comments on secrets or even post their own secrets. Although many of the comments were of praise for those who had shared their secrets, many felt that it was not right that the secrets, for which the point was that by being on the site they were not judged, were being "commented" on by others in an often abusive way: one that was not characteristic of the project. This lead to the comments option being disabled in favour of comments being emailed to Frank directly with him sometimes choosing relevant or supportive comments to be posted alongside postcards.

In October 2007, the PostSecret community was launched (http://www.postsecretcommunity.com/) which was an unrelated site where PostSecret readers could discuss the weeks secrets and post their own. Although there are still people who think this affects the anonymity of the project, the community is generally seen to be a positive place where more than 10,000 users have registered to take part in discussions.

In the past, this project may have been possible, but would not have taken off in the way that it has as there would be no public outlet for the thousands of Postcards that are sent in every day. The project was originally designed for an art exhibition in New York in 2004, but has carried on due to its popularity and its ability to be viewed easily all over the planet. Every week the new secrets posted on the site inspire others to send in their own. The only two rules are that the secrets must be true and must never have been spoken before.


"When I give PostSecret presentations at college campuses, my hope is that people I have never met will be inspired to change their lives through the secrets and stories being shared. Not long ago, at one of my talks, it was my life that was changed, and the secret that inspired me came from a stranger in the front row.
I began my presentation by handing out blank postcards to everyone in the auditorium. I invited each person to anonymously write down a secret on a card and then pass it on. For the next hour, the postcards circulated and were read silently multiple times. At the end of my talk, I asked if anyone would like to stand and read the secret they were holding at that moment. A man in the front row stood up and haltingly read:
I wish I could apologize to my younger brother for the way I treated him growing up.He sat down and exchanged a long look with the young man next to him. After more volunteers read aloud some of the other secrets that had been passed around, I collected all the cards. The man in the front row handed me the postcard he had read from, and the two men walked out together.
His postcard was blank.
I have witnessed many times how the courage of sharing a secret can be contagious. When I realized that the man had been pretending to read someone else’s secret and that the person he had left with was likely his brother, I was inspired.
Growing up, I was not an ideal older brother. As an adult, I have wished for an opportunity to apologize for some of my actions but did not want to open old wounds. I have not shared this secret with my brother . . . until now."
-Frank Warren