Secret能火多久？

    虽然科技界推陈出新的步伐越来越快，但风险投资者们仍然乐此不疲，希望眼下的无名小辈能像Facebook和Twitter一样，挺到最终功德圆满的一天，成为一棵能够登上大雅之堂的摇钱树。这种事情的难度越来越大，因为只需几周时间，一款应用就会彻底被人们遗忘。

    最新的一款大热应用Secret必须有所作为才能逃脱前辈们的厄运。首先，Secret必须在用户之间创造联系。这样，他们才不会轻易离开。这也恰恰是Facebook能坚持下来的原因，因为许多用户都已经无法离开Facebook，必须依赖Facebook上的朋友列表聊天。即使是Whisper这类在大学生中格外流行的私密社交软件，也想方设法在用户间创造了某种关联。

    其次，Secret必须在不损害自身吸引力的前提下，解决（部分用户）匿名发布煽动性内容的问题。

    Secret令人上瘾，就如同没用的八卦网站以及垃圾食品令人上瘾一样：这玩意儿就是带劲。看自己朋友或者“朋友的朋友”发布的劲爆八卦让用户兴奋不已，尽管他们知道这么做不大厚道。

    科技界人士迅速将Secret作为一种宣泄途径，在上面吐槽业内的小人，嘲弄自己最“中意”的反派，同时散播彼此的八卦。用户在Secret上嘴格外毒。考虑到Secret是匿名论坛，这也是必然的事。有人认为Secret有利于技术人士的身心健康，甚至称得上不可或缺，因为人们总是习惯看到技术人士摆出一副积极向上、自我宣传的姿态。（其他行业可能会避免在公开论坛上攻击同行，把这一点称作基本的职业素养。）

    Secret不负责任、随心所欲了一阵。当时，一则Secret信息称，新创企业Evernote有意出售，但这个消息很快遭到了否认。此后没多久，Secret就遭到了强烈反对，那些匿名的中伤者被视为恶霸。科技网站Re/code的迈克•艾萨克质疑Secret能否幸免于这个平台上的煽动性内容所带来的负面影响。艾萨克指出，匿名带来的负能量和不用承担后果的八卦已经招到了用户的嫌弃。“不管是不是朋友，并不是所有人躲在暗处时还能当好人。”

    Secret眼下可谓盛极红极一时，但一不小心，它很可能昙花一现，几个月后就沦为所有人的笑料。硅谷显然不乏这样的先例。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航

    Despite the speed at which new technologies can come and go, venture capital investors still pour cash into them in the hopes that they'll have the staying power of Facebook (FB) or Twitter (TWTR), and eventually become legit, money-making media businesses. That's increasingly hard to do when viral apps can come and go in a matter of weeks.

    The latest viral hit, Secret, will need to do a few things to last beyond its hype cycle. For one, Secret must create connections between people that they can't get anywhere else. This is what made Facebook last -- many people don't have other ways of communicating with the friend lists they've built on Facebook. Even Whisper, another app for sharing secrets which is popular with college students, has created ways for its users to stay connected with each other.

    Secondly, Secret must solve its anonymous troll problem without killing what makes the app so great to begin with.

    Secret is addictive in the same way trashy gossip sites or junk food are addictive: It's just devilishly good. Reading juicy gossip, posted by a friend or a "friend of a friend," gives users a rush of excitement, even when they know it's wrong.

    Members of the tech industry immediately latched onto the app as an outlet to call out bad actors in their industry, make fun of favorite villains, and spread gossip about each other. As is bound to happen in an anonymous forum, people were unnecessarily cruel. Some argued it was therapeutic, or even necessary, since techies are expected to put on a veneer of constant positivity and self-promotion. (Other industries might call it basic professionalism to avoid trashing your peers in a public forum.)

    Not long after Secret had its freewheeling moment of irresponsibility -- a Secret claiming startup Evernote was for sale, which was quickly denied -- a backlash arrived, and the anonymous bad-mouthers were admonished as bullies. Mike Isaac at Re/code asked whether Secret could survive the trolls. He noted that users were already turned off by the negativity and consequence-free gossip afforded by anonymity: "Friend or no, not everyone is nice in the dark."

    Secret is all the rage now, but it could easily wind up a silly fad that everyone laughs about a few months from now. Certainly Silicon Valley has had its fair share of those.