PostSecret

Key takeaways

PostSecret belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect PostSecret to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of PostSecret from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PostSecret is an ongoing community mail art project, created by Frank Warren in 2004, in which people mail their secrets anonymously on a homemade postcard. Selected secrets are then posted on the PostSecret website, or used for PostSecret's books or museum exhibits.

History

The concept of the project was that completely anonymous people decorate a postcard and portray a secret that they had never previously revealed. No restrictions are made on the content of the secret; only that it must be completely truthful and must never have been spoken before. Entries range from admissions of sexual misconduct and criminal activity to confessions of secret desires, embarrassing habits, hopes and dreams. PostSecret collected and displayed over 2,500 original pieces of art from people across the United States and around the world between its founding on January 1, 2005 and 2007. The site, which started as an experiment on Blogger, was updated every Sunday with 10 new secrets, all of which share a relatively constant style, giving the artists who participate some guidelines on how their secrets should be represented. From June 24 to July 3, 2007, the "Comments" section of the site was enabled. While a comments feature is frequently present on blogs, it had been previously absent from the PostSecret site. Many visitors felt that the new section contradicted the purpose of the site, as evidenced in numerous comments criticizing a postcard in which the author claims to have fed bleach to her cat. In October 2007, the PostSecret Community was launched. Since its inception, more than 80,000 users have registered for the online discussion forum. According to Youth Trends' February 2008 "Top Ten List Report" PostSecret was the 10th most popular site among female students in the US, with 7% of those polled naming the site as their favorite. In April 2008, Warren teamed up with 1-800-suicide to answer some of these anonymous cries for help through peer run crisis hotlines on college campuses. In April 2011, it was announced that an app would be developed by Bonobo, and released for iPhone and Android later in the year. Launched for iPhone on September 3, 2011, it quickly reached the top-selling spot. Over 2 million secrets were shared over the next few months, but malicious entries became widespread and uncontrollable. The app was removed in December 2011. Warren hosts events at numerous colleges to speak about the many different secrets of today's society. An art exhibition also travels the country, showcasing many of the hundreds of thousands of secrets he has received. In his book, My Secret, Warren talks about his experiences with encounters with people all around the world who were inspired by the postcards, and how it got many people addressing things that they would otherwise never discuss.

Breaks from weekly Secrets Since its founding on January 1, 2005, the site has had new weekly Sunday Secrets with very few exceptions. On two occasions, Warren posted a personal video message rather than secrets. On Sunday, August 12, 2007, in lieu of posting secrets, Warren posted the link to a video he had uploaded to YouTube entitled New PostSecret Mini-Movie, expressing his feelings about the project. On Sunday, September 16, 2007, the traditional PostSecret blog was gone. In its place was a new blog belonging to someone named "Nicole". The real PostSecret had been suddenly and mistakenly shut down, as Blogger thought it was a "spam blog". The error was fixed and Warren's site was put back up with the secrets from September 9. On October 11, 2009, Warren took a break, posting a video and apology saying that he was busy touring, and urging readers to buy the book PostSecret Confessions on Life, Death and God.

Controversy

Comments

On February 24, 2008, Warren posted multiple e-mail comments from viewers that attacked various secrets posted that week—notably one from a parent insulting a teacher, one from a call operator insulting a relative of a soldier, and one from a would-be mother insulting a woman desperate not to get pregnant. This revitalized previous discussions on whether or not commenting should be allowed at all on the secrets. While it was noted that sometimes such actions led to others passing judgment on the posters without granting them the opportunity to defend themselves, no action was taken, and the blog continued as normal the next week.

Questionable benefit The secrets are meant to be empowering both to the author and to those who read them. Frank Warren claims that the postcards are inspirational to those who read them, have healing powers for those who write them, give hope to people who identify with a stranger's secret, and create an anonymous community of acceptance. In an article for USA Today, Maria Puente wrote, "Evan Imber-Black, a family therapist and author of The Secret Life of Families, says telling secrets has no meaning except in the context of family relationships. We live in a time where people have the mistaken idea that you tell a secret to the multitudes on TV — and move on. But opening a secret is just the first step. (Posting on PostSecret) might offer some measure of relief, but I'm not sure how long it lasts. When a secret opens, it usually takes time and relational work to get a new equilibrium."

App abuse The PostSecret app was released for iOS devices on September 3, 2011. Included in over two million submissions were some indecent, threatening, and abusive ones. During the month of December, volunteer moderators were unable to keep up, despite working 24/7. Warren was contacted by users, Apple, law enforcement and the FBI. The app was removed from the App Store on December 28, 2011. On January 1, 2012, a formal announcement on the PostSecret website said that the app would not be returning due to its inherent inability to solve the problem of abusive submissions.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with PostSecret

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what PostSecret claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to PostSecret before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about PostSecret ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of PostSecret

In research: PostSecret appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses PostSecret in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: PostSecret is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American websites, Anonymity, Internet culture, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for PostSecret outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study PostSecret in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what PostSecret means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain PostSecret out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is PostSecret in simple terms?

PostSecret is an ongoing community mail art project, created by Frank Warren in 2004, in which people mail their secrets anonymously on a homemade postcard. Selected secrets are then posted on the PostSecret website, or used for PostSecret's books or museum exhibits.

Why does PostSecret matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study PostSecret?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on PostSecret.