You all must have friends who think that they are the epitome of all things “perfect,” while in reality, they are far from achieving perfection. No matter how much you wish you could burst his/her bubble, you have to keep your mouth shut. Peer pressure compels you to keep your honest opinion to yourself. But, with the advent of the Sarahah App, the entire scenario changed drastically. Though the app developer had other things on his mind, the concept was an instant hit with young school and college students. The Sarahah application was launched in February 2017, and it went viral in a matter of days. It was declared the most popular app for both Apple and iPhone users, in over 30 nations.
Sarahah App: The breakup of details
In Arabic, the word “Sarahah” stands for “honesty.” The app will help you to post comments about any person, on their respective Sarahah links. You may wonder what is so cool about that. It is a basic feature that all messaging apps offer. With this, you will be able to post the comment anonymously. Yes! Sarahah app allows users to hide his or her identity when posting comments. Now that can be compared to a superpower, at least in the virtual world.
When asked about this unique creation, Saudi Arabian app developer Zain al-Abidin Tawfiq was fast to comment that he did not design the app for common usage. He actually created the application for professionals. It is very hard to find an office where the administration succeeds to keep the employees happy. No matter how difficult the bosses are, workers have to put up with them and do their bidding.
The fear of losing their job compels the staff to stay mum. The developer designed the app so that the workers could voice their grievances against the authority. As the app shields the identity of the worker, the authority would not be able to take harsh action on the employee, for speaking the truth. The posts were supposed to notify the administration about the loopholes so that they can make necessary amendments.
Recent surveys suggest that the application is very popular among youngsters, especially school, high school, and college candidates. In one of the BBC post, it has mentioned that Sarahah users already crossed 2.5 million users in Egypt in the last year itself. The posts that the youngsters leave on their fellow students’ profiles are far from constructive.
A small fraction of the students use the app for this purpose or to profess their romantic feelings, in case they lack the courage to say it out loud face to face. Around 85% or more use the Sarahah to post malicious, unfriendly, and hateful messages on the profiles of the individuals they despise.
Using the Sarahah Application
The Sarahah app is free and is available on Google PlayStore and App Store. You need to generate a search with Sarahah in the respective app platform. When you get the app link, you need to click on it and install it. The installation process is similar to other apps.
Then you need to register with an account. For this, you need to type in the email ID, username, and password.
When it is done, you can share the link with all your friends, by linking it to your other social networking accounts.
You need to wait for the messages to flow in. People who do and do not have Sarahah profiles will be able to send these anonymous messages with equal ease. There is only one-way traffic. You will not be able to reply to any message, and no one will be able to send a reply to your posts. You can read the messages, and only guess who could have sent it. In case you do not have an account but want to send a message to someone, you only need to click on their Sarahah links. It will offer you access to a text box. There, you will be able to pen down your feelings and then hit the “send” button.
Not the quintessential messaging application
If you think that Sarahah is just like another messaging application, then it is time to shun the notion. You will only be able to send arbitrary messages to people with Sarahah account. Other than this, it has nothing much to offer. There are only four basic tabs – Messages, Explore, Profile, and Search. The “Messages” tab stores all received and favorite messages. To mark one as your favorite, you need to click on the heart icon.
Sarahah offers the facility of blocking and reporting any unfriendly pots. When you need to look for other people’s Sarahah accounts, you need to hit the “Search” tab. The “Profile” tab will allow you to manage your profile. The “Explore” tab has kept everyone on the edge of their seats. It is the only tab that is not active now. It will bring something new to the users when the app gets an upgrade.
Sarahah: A curse more than a boon
If the use of this app were restricted to the workplace, as the app developer had envisioned, then it would have yielded positive results. But in the hands of youngsters, it has become a potent tool for cyberbullying. Teenagers are sensitive to harsh comments, and it is not nice to know that there is someone out there who is playing the fool with you. The worst part is, you have no way to figure out who is the person who holds such negative thoughts about you. It is time we may understand that we should limit the use of the internet and applications for positive things only.
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