Here are a few things you probably didn’t know about Sarahah – the viral anonymous messaging app
Text Credit: Rochelle D’Souza Featured image source: geekpublicitario.com
‘Honest feedback’ and opinions have found a new address over the past week as social media has been spilling over with anonymous messages and profile links for you to secretly message on. It’s called Sarahah, and in the past week, it’s surged to the top of the App Store. Created by Saudi Arabian developer Zain al-AbidinTawfiq, the app is essentially a social network that lets you send and receive anonymous messages.
Sarahah was built on the premise that people are more willing to be honest when their messages are anonymised. Development for the social network started back in November 2016, when it was still a simple website and didn’t have an app. Its creator, who has a degree in computer science, wanted to get into app development when he came up with the idea. His original vision for Sarahah, which means “frankness” or “honesty” in Arabic, was to create a tool that would help employees provide unfiltered feedback to their employers.
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The Indian Connection
Tawfiq has an Indian connection. The first company he worked for was the Indian software giant Wipro.“Indians have taught me programming in university, Indians have taught me programming in the company. I had Indian colleagues and I also have Indian friends,” he said in an interview with India Today.
The computer engineer expressed happiness over the popularity of the app in India. “I am really proud that Sarahah has reached India…and I am very proud and happy to see Indians coming to Sarahah.” He added.
The Numbers
Sarahah went live in the App Store June 13. It was the first time Sarahah was available in English, and the website received more than two million unique visitors a day for the first week.On July 8th, Sarahah broke into the App Store’s top 1,500 apps for the first time, according to analytics from Sensor Tower. Four days later, on July 12th it jumped to the #104 spot; two days after that, it was #17; and then, three days later, on July 17th it reached #1, beating Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and every other major social network in just a matter of days.It’s also ranked #5 overall in Google’s Play Store.
According to Tawfiq, the app has more than 14 million registered users and is getting more than 20 million unique visitors a day between the app and website (you can leave messages for others without making your own account).
Road ahead
On the plans of expanding the app, he informed that there are going to be “good surprises” and he is going to introduce new features in the app. But, before that, the immediate plan is Sarahah’s scalability — to create a large business for it. “I know the challenges of this project in general and I have planned for lots of features. We have lot in plan,” he said. As of now, the source of revenue for the creator of the app is advertisements only.
Privacy
Talking about the privacy concerns with the app, Tawfiq ensured that identity of the person posting the message will not be revealed unless he or she consents. Users of the app have an option to block the senders from sending more messages as well, however, he refused to give details on how it works. “If we reveal details it will make it easier for abusers to misuse the app,” saidTawfiq.