I was recently reading an article dealing with the top 15 [anonymous] confessions of DV Survivors. This article stated that they were taken from the “Whisper” Social Media app, so I had to see what this app was for myself.

I downloaded the app from the Apple App Store and installed it. Basically, you can declare something, admit to something, confess something, etc., by typing that statement in, choosing a corresponding background (and the app chooses ones it deems appropriate), and you post. Simple! The app assigns you an anonymous user name, that can be changed later, a location (if you wish), gender, and an age range. You can keep this as ambiguous as you wish, which appealed to me safety-wise.

Here is my first Whisper post:

It’s super simple and people can “heart” [like] it, reply to it with another meme, share it, and chat with you. I will admit, while it’s a neat and anonymous idea, many of the memes on the app elude to getting together for sex or other sexual escapades. I choose to ignore those things, because this can be an incredibly useful tool. It allows someone to send a statement into the Universe, for the sake of admitting “out loud” that something happened or something isn’t right. When someone does that on Facebook, everyone wants to get involved or wants to gossip. This Whisper app fills a void, I feel. People can chat, so occassionally, you may get someone concerned if you’re okay, which is nice, but they do not know you nor have a vested interest in you.

Interestingly enough, I was contacted by someone claiming to be 19 year old woman, with two children and pregnant with her third. She stated that she was sold by her drug addicted parents at age 13 to a then-forty-eight year old man, who raped her. She was asking for my help to get out. After nearly panicking, I instructed her, via text, on how to text 9-1-1. I also had looked up the state that she was in and found out that their state DV hotline also had texting capabilities. I kept her talking, while she also texted 9-1-1 and according to her they eventually rescued her. She stated she found an old cell phone without service, but that it still connected to her abuser’s wifi. She had downloaded the app and was able to get them as close as she could.

I’m honestly not sure if I really did help someone or if someone was stringing me along with a fabricated story, but as a DV advocate, I treated it with all the seriousness that it was real. I wondered about the potential of this app, so now I know. I will continuously post and have even found DV support groups. It’s quite the hidden little secret! Please, check it out!

My Whisper username: Wonder-Woman-73