Spring Break
Secrets delivered
Amber Wertman
Issue date: 4/8/09 Section: Features
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Postsecret.com is an online sensation. The idea for this art project came to creator Frank Warren, in a dream where he observed three Antoine de Saint-Expery postcards with altered messages written on the backs of them. Antoine de Saint-Expery is a French writer. After Warren's dream back in 2003, the idea was born.
A month later he sent out e-mails to all of the subscribers to his blog asking them to mail in their anonymous secrets to him under two conditions: the secret has to be true and it has to have never been spoken to anyone before.
Receiving more than 150,000 postcards at a rate of about 1,000 a week, Warren has chosen to post 20 or so anonymous secrets on his postsecret.com blog.
Ben Myers, an undeclared freshman, said he's a fan of Warren's work.
"I read it every Sunday morning before I go to work," he said. "Some of them are hilarious, but a lot of them are really messed up and sad."
Some secrets are sexual; some reveal personal revelations and some are down right cruel. But that's what makes postsecret.com such an exciting website to visit.
Angela Rodriquez, sophomore business major, remembers the first time she visited postsecret.com.
"I was scrolling down through the postcards and I came across one that said 'I am the happiest I have ever been…ever' and it made me smile," she said. "At that moment I realized I was unhappy, and it made me strive to be a happier person."
Warren allows his readers to leave comments under each postcard; they are often words of encouragement, some even express "I've been there" moments.
For example, a postcard of his website writes, "Just because you deny the abuse, doesn't mean I will ever forget." Underneath is an anonymous e-mail response, "His denial was starting to make me forget, thank you for reminding me that my secret is real."
As for reporting secrets that reveal self-mutilation or violent crimes, Diana Combs, dispatcher with the Sacramento Police Department, said the circumstances would have to be pretty specific to convict someone.
"We have a division called the high-tech task force and if something came up along the lines of a violent crime they would at least be able to find the IP address," she said.
She said the police department gets anonymous calls all the time that are of no good use, so finding an anonymous random crime, like on "postsecret," shouldn't be taken seriously.
Warren has published four "Postsecret" books. His fifth book, "Postsecret: Confessions on Life, Death and God," will be released in October.
Ron Roberts, bookseller at Barnes and Noble bookstore, said he sees all kinds of people buying Warren's books.
"I'd say there is a wide array of people that come in, usually people in their early 20s; a lot of college kids," he said. "But he reaches a pretty broad crowd of people."
Roberts said the sale of "Postsecret" books have been steady.
"The first month his books come out they are on the bestseller's list. After that, they remain consistent," he said.
Warren reaches out to every kind of crowd: young people, old people, businessmen and women, widows, widowers, mothers and fathers and soldiers, all the way down to people trying to find their way, all he asks is that you share your secret with the world.
Whether Warren receives any proceeds from his website is unknown. He has, however, contributed $2,000 to a suicide hot line charity, according to his official website.
Amber Wertman can be reached at awertman@statehornet.com
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