PostSecret

The concept of the project was that completely anonymous people decorate a postcard and portray a secret that they had never previously revealed.

Entries range from admissions of sexual misconduct and criminal activity to confessions of secret desires, embarrassing habits, hopes and dreams.

[1] PostSecret collected and displayed over 2,500 original pieces of art from people across the United States and around the world between its founding on January 1, 2005 and 2007.

Many visitors felt that the new section contradicted the purpose of the site, as evidenced in numerous comments criticizing a postcard in which the author claims to have fed bleach to her cat.

[3] In April 2008, Warren teamed up with 1-800-suicide to answer some of these anonymous cries for help through peer run crisis hotlines on college campuses.

On October 11, 2009, Warren took a break, posting a video and apology saying that he was busy touring, and urging readers to buy the book PostSecret Confessions on Life, Death and God.

Frank Warren claims that the postcards are inspirational to those who read them, have healing powers for those who write them, give hope to people who identify with a stranger's secret, and create an anonymous community of acceptance.

We live in a time where people have the mistaken idea that you tell a secret to the multitudes on TV — and move on.

[6] On January 1, 2012, a formal announcement on the PostSecret website said that the app would not be returning due to its inherent inability to solve the problem of abusive submissions.

[16] Artwork from the site was blown up to poster size and used as the background in the 2005 All-American Rejects music video for "Dirty Little Secret."

In an episode of CSI: NY, titled "Dead Inside," the murder victim was linked to a website called "SecretsU," where viewers mail in the deepest, darkest secret and turn it into art.

[17] From August 3, 2015 to September 2017, an exhibit [18] at the National Postal Museum features more than 500 postcards submitted to PostSecret.

To date Warren has published six books compiling submitted secrets, including some which were never posted on the website.