Written by: Lashawn Oglesby

Imagine joining a social network where all you have to do is create a username and password. There is no profile picture, profile page or personal pictures, and no friends finding or adding. That’s because it’s an anonymous social media app. It’s called Whisper.

It’s normal for people to have thoughts, feelings and secrets they would like to share. However, most don’t because sharing those things goes against the social norm.

No one likes to feel bad about himself or herself; sharing intimate, private or personal things tend to cause a negative backlash to the person sharing.

Putting personal information and opinions for others to see online is arguably more dangerous than just saying it.

People have been fired for their posts on social media and many students have faced disciplinary actions for the same reasons. Social media has also become dangerous in that it has opened up a way for bullies to pick on and torment others without being face-to-face with their victims.

But now Whisper is providing people with a way to tell all: secrets, beliefs, feelings, ideas, etc.

Whisper can be downloaded on Apple products and Androids.

It is very easy to use.  After choosing your user name, preferably one no one can link you to, you create your password to login. Then you can let the app display your location, or you can opt out of that feature.

After that you can post a Whisper, read other users’ Whispers, like others Whispers by “hearting” them or reply to Whispers either privately through messaging or openly by Whispering to their Whisper.

It’s harder to bully someone on Whisper. If someone feels harassed or sees harassment done to another they can flag that user to get them removed. Or someone can simply delete their own Whisper and the offending reply will disappear except to the user who posted it and others who replied to it.

When you want to post a whisper, you go to the plus button, and a text box will pop up. You type whatever you want to say and then Whisper chooses a background to go with the text based on the words and phrases used in your message.

You can choose not to use the suggested background and have Whisper find another by searching for a background manually. If you’re posting a secret about animals and a picture of a random movie poster pops up (which it sometimes does), you can type in “animals” or a specific animal and choose from the selection Whisper provides.

Whisper allows users to vent, confess anything minor or serious, debate freely, or even do something that is not intended for this type of platform: meet people. Many users upload images of themselves in hopes that someone will connect with them.

It is a fun and potentially addicting app. It is being used by many college students all over the country. Posts are funny, shocking, sad, disbelieving, relatable and interesting.

Whisper is great when you can find no one to talk to or when you want to have a good debate. It’s worth checking out, which you can do before downloading the app by going to www.whisper.sh.