Fatal Flaws of Anonymous Messaging.

By Lily Tapion

Anonymous messaging apps create problems, from making someone uncomfortable to, in worst-case scenarios, pushing them to suicide. They are dangerous because the victim won't know who they are talking to unless they talk in a tone that the victim recognizes. There is also a high chance of bullying and harassment on these types of apps. Anonymous messaging apps are communication apps where you do not see who you are messaging, and they do not see you.

Some examples of how this could make them uncomfortable are weird messages, people making jokes about triggering topics, and unwanted sexual advances. Weird messages could make them uncomfortable because it's weird if you do not know who is making those messages and it might not be someone you know. People making jokes about triggering topics can make people uncomfortable because the topic already makes them uncomfortable and so when you make jokes about it, it just makes it worse. Unwanted sexual advances make them uncomfortable because if someone is making sexual comments about them, it will make them feel uncomfortable and unsafe.

Another way is anonymous cyberbullying: if someone writes them a message saying something creepy like “I know where you live”. Anonymous cyberbullying is harmful because you won't know who is bullying you and that can cause curiosity as to who is doing it. Trying to find who is writing these messages could cause a lot of stress which, if you already had a mental health problem, could only contribute to, and make it worse. We could avoid this situation by completely ignoring the bullying and trying to block them, if blocking does not work for some reason, you could just delete the app.

Something that makes it dangerous is the fact that a creep could be talking to a minor and the kid wouldn’t even know that it is a creep because they won't be getting any age or profile to go off. This goes with the sentences of unwanted sexual advances because the creeps might ask, or send, unwanted photos. They also might ask about personal information such as where you live, your age, and your name. The creep also might be 20-30 years older than you, which is disgusting overall. You can avoid this by deleting the app, as well.

A way these kinds of apps could drive someone to suicide is if they are getting constantly bullied or made fun of. They could get death threats, or someone could keep stressing them out by manipulating or gaslighting them. They might be more prone to believing this if they have a history of past mental health issues. If they have a history of suicidal thoughts or depression, they might give in much quicker than if you were mentally stable.

Some examples of anonymous messaging apps include YOLO, LMK, and SARAHAH. These apps have caused problems in the past. .YOLO and LMK were mainly seen on Snapchat with people posting these apps on their stories asking questions. SARAHAH is rated with 2.5/5 stars on the app store due to users not having good interactions with others. It is an app to communicate with others anonymously and host incognito conversations with others.