Website review: PostSecret.com
PostSecret was created by Frank Warren, a small business owner based in Maryland who started postsecret.com as a community art project. Since October 2004, Warren has received thousands of anonymous postcards which have been featured in galleries, the popular music video for the All-American Rejects’ “Dirty Little Secret,” and, most recently, in the bestselling book PostSecret. Ranked by New York magazine as the third most popular blog on the Internet, Warren’s website earned several awards at both the 2006 Bloggy and Webby Awards and continues to attract over 3 million visitors a month. Warren has appeared on Today, 20/20, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and Fox News, among others.
Every Sunday PostSecret publishes anonymous, handwritten postcards from people across the country. By Thursday I’m already chomping at the bit for its weekly update. But twenty-five published post cards a week just isn’t enough. Also, there’s no way to navigate to past weeks. I guess I’ll just have to buy the book.
I can’t remember when I started tracking PostSecret or even how I first came across it, but I know it often hits home. I’ve been shocked, disgusted, enamored, angered, confused, and always entertained. But I’m hard pressed to call this “entertainment” in a typical sense. They’re secrets, after all. Real secrets? It’s the illusion of reality that makes PostSecret so appealing. And maybe it’s all bullshit, but I’m buying it.
I’ve got a few ideas. Some post secrets of my own I may mail in. I’m working out the details.
The image I chose for this post is a particularly personal one. For those who know me, they know why.
Enjoy PostSecret.com.
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3 Responses to “Website review: PostSecret.com”
Born in the year of the Dragon, the author grudgingly accepts the fact he has too many interests and not enough time. A cyclist as long as he can remember, an avid yet inconsistent writer since age eleven, and a U.S. Marine since age twenty-one, the author also adds computers, snowboarding, and motorcycles to his list of interests. Incidentally, he is aware of his inability to make a living from any but the Corps. The author accepts this as fact and remains optimistic. Feel free to drop him a line.
Here’s a journal with a similar premise, but electronic submissions (and tons of back-entries):
http://community.livejournal.com/ljsecret
I’ve spent *hours* reading through them–I find that it’s a lot like watching a car wreck.
*cricket *cricket…updates…what?
Good stuff. I see we all have our haunts…