Strangers on Your Phone: Why People Use Anonymous Communication Applications

Anonymity online is important to people at times in their lives. Anonymous communication applications such as Whisper and YikYak enable people to communicate with strangers anonymously through their smartphones. We report results from semi-structured interviews with 18 users of these apps. The goal of our study was to identify why and how people use anonymous apps, their perceptions of their audience and interactions on the apps, and how these apps compare with other online social communities. We present a typology of the content people share, and their motivations for participation in anonymous apps. People share various types of content that range from deep confessions and secrets to lighthearted jokes and momentary feelings. An important driver for participation and posting is to get social validation from others, even though they are anonymous strangers. We also find that participants believe these anonymous apps allow more honesty, openness, and diversity of opinion than they can find elsewhere. Our results provide implications for how anonymity in mobile apps can encourage expressiveness and interaction among users.

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