Sarahah is an Arabic word which has been translated by various media outlets as “frankness” and “honesty”.
The latest popular anonymous messaging app, created by Zain al-Abidin Tawfiq recently took Kenyan Twitter by storm today and this is why:
What is it?
The app actually launched a few months ago, and it’s been growing in regions like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, according to a BBC report, but now it’s suddenly becoming a big hit in India and now Kenya.
The website opened to the public in November 2016 and was initially meant for employees to give feedback to their employers. The anonymity was supposed to address the fear of retribution from the employers for negative feedback but has now grown to become an app meant for sending and receiving feedback from others, anonymously.
The creators describe it by saying: Sarahah helps people self-develop by receiving constructive anonymous feedback.
#Sarahah in a month:
App Store #1 in 30 countries including USA, UK & France
more than 1/4 billion visitors
more than 1 billion page views— Sarahah (@Sarahah_com) August 5, 2017
How it works
The idea is simple – you create a Sarahah profile, which anyone can visit.
Creating an account generates a link to an individual’s comment page. Users share links to that page on their SnapChats accounts, Facebook pages and elsewhere so their friends know where they can leave comments.
Once comments are left, they appear without attribution when you open the app. Messages are anonymous by default but as a user, you can choose to tag your identity.
On the receivers app, all the incoming messages show up in an inbox, and you can flag messages, delete them, reply, or favourite them to find them easily later.
The question on every one’s lips now is whether the app will actually overtake Instagram and SnapChat by popularity, or is it just a storm that will die down soon.
What are your thoughts?
