Monday, March 10, 2014

Dear WhisperApp Users, You're Building A Gift For Humanity

Today I read a post that said “Whisper has changed so much since I first started using it” I didn't get to talk to them to find out what they meant. Did they like how it changed or not, I wondered. The fact is, that WhisperApp will always be changing. This is a part of how social networks develop over time, because of YOU the User.

I have only been using WhisperApp for a month or so. Therefore I do not know what it was like in the past.  I've deleted the app, many times, just to turn around after suffering withdrawal to the point I had to re-install it pronto! I wanted to share some insights with you that I can't say in a short Whisper post. So here it is.

WhisperApp is a gift for humanity and this is why. They have opened up a boundary that we have never crossed before. We get to know what other people have carried around in their head for years and never told a soul. You have probably seen your own secrets in others' post. I have. It's nice to know, I'm not the only one with that secret.

I know that many of you do not like all the sex post. Some women do not like the dic pics, where others do. I can't say what WhisperApp will do about the sex post because I do not work for them. Yet I have a very high suspicion that they will most likely break that off into another app, or make it a category where only people who want the sex stuff will see it. The thing is USERS shape the app. The apps theme is to post your secret, yet users have decided how they want to use the app, and it's not just the sex post, there are all kinds of post that have nothing to do with a secret. Sometimes someone just tells a joke, or post “Have A Super Happy Day People” or “I got hired!”

Among all these posting, someone will occasionally post how they “hate Whisper and there is nothing but stupid people on it.” We are all on it together, young and old, dumb and smart, cute and homely, yet all beautiful people. We all have something to contribute to shaping this app. We have some work to do on learning how to get along, but we can shape the app and grow together on this journey into building this gift for humanity. Lets start with the one thing people might be missing by only reading the post. The PM room.

If you haven’t had a great conversation in the PM room, well you might be missing one of the greatest areas of this gift. I was reluctant to tell this story in my past articles about WhisperApp, because I value the PM rooms privacy and the apps anonymity. Yet I feel at this time it's important to tell this story. I have no idea who I talked to, don't even know if it was a man or a woman. One day I replied to a PTSD post. I said that I have PTSD but it's not from military service. Quickly the person pm'd me. They wanted to know what my PTSD was from, since most of the cases are military. I told the person it was from two things, an extremely violent attack, and also from being bullied for 6 years. Then I asked, how do you deal with your episodes? The person answered I curl up in a ball in my bed crying and wish I could stop seeing his face. I asked who's face? The face of the boy I shot and killed in front of his mother, the person answered. If this gift for humanity was not in place for us to use, then I, and that person would not have been able to help each other that day. Our secrets, our struggles would just be wrapped up inside our heads tormenting us. We were able to set them free a little bit more.

Open up your mind to what this app can become. Take a risk and talk to someone about your secret. Journey into the PM room, and help someone. You are part of creating a gift for humanity, how beautiful is that?

P.S. Grammar Police, I'm trying!

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