Secret, the popular new iPhone app, captured the hearts of hundreds of users on Sunday when someone proposed to a woman named Michelle.
Too bad nobody will know if she says "yes" — or whether the proposal is for real. Secret, which appeared in Apple's App Store less than two weeks ago and then quickly became a source of fascination for the Silicon Valley crowd, only allows users to post anonymously.
Much like Whisper, which has millions of users, Secret displays confessions, gossip and questions over images, and lets people comment on them anonymously.
Whisper can feel like high school, with messages like "I wish I was pretty ..." displayed in bold font over stock images. Secret, so far, seems to appeal to adults who feel the need to indulge in shameless gossip. That included a spate of gossipy messages about tech companies that went viral on the tech blog ValleyWag last week.
One shared trait between the sites: There is absolutely no way to confirm if the stories are true, although messages on Secret are initially limited to friends and friends of friends. Some posts, like the marriage proposal, go viral as people share them with their various circles and they become featured posts.
Comments like "Yah!! Congratulations you two!" seemed to confirm that, yes, there really is a Michelle. (Comments by people outside of their circles had been disabled). And if things don't work out? At least she has a place to gripe anonymously.