Welcome Sarahah, the new viral app

Sarahah what? Yes, that is the exact question millions of web users had as they saw the app popping up on their Facebook feeds. 

You may have probably heard about the app already if you are active on Facebook or Snapchat. It is currently the fourth top trending application in the Apple store. 

On Google Play Store, the messaging application has now entered the 10 million installs range. Sarahah literally translates to honesty in Arabic. It allows you to send anonymous messages. But wait, there’ a catch! There is no way the receiver can reply. 

According to Sarahah’s website, the purpose of this messaging application is to “get honest feedback from your co-workers and friends.” For instance, this is probably a great app to confess anything to someone which probably you can never say them in person. 

While anonymity gives this app an edge above the rest, cyber bullying is an obvious flipside. The fact that it allows anonymity, would be a fertile space for cyber bullies to post denigrating messages or harass the user at the receiving end. Harassment through social media is not a new phenomenon. Sarahah sounds a lot like anonymity-focussed apps we had seen in the past such as Secret or Whisper. These apps too had their heyday couple of years ago, but the craze eventually died off. Will Sarahah meet a similar fate?