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It’s fair to say that today’s society is pretty used to sharing…what we had for dinner, where we are now, what we think of X Factor. We will put almost anything up on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram! Right? Wrong apparently, as new app, Thoughts Around Me, suggests we aren’t sharing enough and that the public nature of these platforms is actually holding us back.
Some might say that social media already contains a lot of oversharing; young entrepreneur Kassem Younis is inclined to disagree as his launches his new social media app. Thoughts Around Me aims to empower users by allowing them to express their thoughts completely anonymously and hopes to expose issues like racism and sexism. But doesn’t it run the risk of being used simply as a sounding platform for people to air their grievances? Isn’t there enough negativity on social media already?
App creator Younis says “people are using the app to empower themselves, they have been calling out racism, sexism and homophobia in the workplace. This is a great chance to make some really positive changes.” If Thoughts Around Me is used in this way then great but there are already platforms to air these kinds of concerns and is doing it anonymously really going to solve any problems?
“People are using the app to empower themselves, they have been calling out racism, sexism and homophobia in the workplace. This is a great chance to make some really positive changes.”
Thoughts Around Me claims to allow users to share the thoughts that they wouldn’t normally share on traditional social media platforms. But doesn’t this beg the question, if you wouldn’t want to say this on your Facebook page, then why would you be sharing it online at all? Many people already misuse social media; from an innocent but annoying too-much-information status update, to cyberbullying and trolling, there are already a lot of grey areas in which to stumble into trouble.
At Semple we are all for free speech but anonymity on social media should be used with caution. On the surface this app has the potential to allow people to safely rid themselves of their grievances and perhaps even highlight the big issues that affect society, we just hope they have put strong measures in place to avoid the abuse and negativity that likes to lurk in the dark corners of the social web.
