What Parents Need to Know About Sarahah and TBH’s New Honesty Apps
We are all curious about what others think of us . Teens have a strong desire for confirmation. Does anyone think I’m cool? Was the outfit I wore today too much? Am I having fun being around? Two new “honesty” apps allow them to get the anonymous feedback from the peers they’ve been looking forward to.
Sarahah and TVN have become the latest obsessions among high school students, following the popularity of other anonymous platforms such as ASK.FM, Curious Cat, Yik Yak, Whisper and Secret. Such anonymous apps could be “notorious cyberbullying centers,” according to Common Sense Media – the Burnbook app, named after Mean Girls’ famous pink tome of school gossip, caused schools to close in Oregon, Texas, California after students reported threats of violence.
What is Saraha and TBH? Teens and experts share their thoughts on two applications of “honesty” right now.
Saraha
What It Is: An app and website that allows users to privately “receive honest reviews” from their friends and others. It looks like a personal comment box. Each user has a page where anyone can leave an anonymous message, even people who do not have an account. Comments should be “constructive” to help you “develop.” In August, Sarahah was one of the most downloaded iPhone apps in the US.
What Teens Say: 16-year-old Nika told me it was similar to Ask.fm, another app popular with teens. But with Ask.fm, users get anonymous questions, while on Sarahah they get anonymous messages from people who may be too afraid to say what they want to say to their face. “You can’t answer back,” Nika explains. … “In my opinion, this is for teens who can bully other teens.”
On the teen Reddit community, some users report that the app can be used for good. It would be nice to compliment someone you are afraid to talk to and not expect anything in return. Reddit user Gamecool_10 shared a post that gave them “feelings.”
But another redditor in the community writes that the Sarahah download “is just frustrating and you end up asking for more confirmation from other people.” Another frankly writes , “I am so glad Saraha exists because now I can just tell a bunch of casual looks that they are hot, with no consequence.”
What Parents Need to Know: Fortune reports that the app is “inciting harassment.” There were reports of anonymous death threats and sexual harassment. In one review of the App Store, someone wrote: “My friend who is suicidal gets messages about why you are still alive, kill yourself.” Cyberpsychologist Dawn Branley warns of the potential psychological harm that such an app can do, telling the New Statesman : “In the online world, it’s easier to misinterpret a joke or sarcastic comment as serious criticism. It can damage self-esteem, confidence and psychological well-being. ”
Also, when it first launched this summer, Saraha loaded all phone numbers and emails into the user’s address book, but this feature has since been removed. The app claims to not store any contacts in its databases, but it is impossible to verify if this is true.
Common Sense Media concludes that the app, which is 17 and older, is “not suitable for children,” and encourages parents to discuss its dangers with their children.
TBH
What it is: TBH, which means “to be honest,” aims to be against Saraha, boasting that it is “the only anonymous app with a positive vibe.” Users conduct a series of polls about their friends in their contact lists – they choose who “will receive an Oscar” or who “always knows what to say and when to say it” or “most likely to fly to the moon.” … »All questions are approved by the moderators, so there should be no dishonest questions. The winners of each survey receive a gem that they can use to access more features. The app is not available in all states.
What teens say: Many teens see the app as a stimulus for selfishness. One Reddit user on the Teenage community wrote that it is “such a wonderful waste of time and it makes me happy.” Another reviewer added, “It’s so much fun getting all those sweet compliments and I’m obsessed !!” However, it looks like the app may not stay popular for too long. Nika told me it was “a very good game,” but she “deleted it about a month ago because it got bored.”
What Parents Need to Know: According to New York Magazine , TBH is heavily moderated – every day, users submit about 10,000 new survey questions, but only one percent ends up in the app. But while it all sounds pretty trivial, social media security experts at SmartSocial.com have put TBH in their “red zone” – a list of apps that are “unsafe” for kids and teens. Users have to allow the app to access their location and contacts, which can be risky, and the developers are planning to add some kind of messaging functionality that parents are worried about.
Teens also use the app as a source of confirmation. Collecting “precious stones” is a thrill! Parents should remind their children that they should not base their value on what others tell them, that they “have a nice smile” and “have fun with them.” If they seem to be compulsively checking this app and others for another dopamine spike, make sure you set good limits on the smartphone and teach them strategies such as switching the screen to grayscale or using the “stopping rule” to help break the addiction. … …