Surprisingly, the app that is beating out Instagram (NASDAQ:$FB), Youtube (NASDAQ:$GOOGL), and Snapchat (NYSE:$SNAP) on the App Store is one that most people in the United States have probably never even heard of.
The app – Sarahah – was launched in the Middle East in early February, and it’s used for sending and receiving feedback from friends and co-workers anonymously. According to BBC, by the end of the month, the app already had 2.5 million users in Egypt, 1.7 million in Tunisia, and 1.2 million in Saudi Arabia.
Sarahah arrived in Apple’s App Store in June, and, in the last couple of days, the app claimed the No. 1 spot among the App Store’s top free apps.
So, how does the app work? And why are the reviews on the App Store suggesting that it is a “breeding ground for hate?”
‘Parents, don’t allow your kids to get this app’
Built by Saudi programmer Zain al-Abidin Tawfiq, the app was created to help individuals discover their strengths and weaknesses “by receiving honest feedback from your employees and your friends in a private manner.”
While the website and the app itself doesn’t reveal much, we do know that Sarahah lets individuals share their username with whoever they want so they can send that individual anonymous messages. Keep in mind that you can favorite messages, but you can’t respond to them. Additionally, when you download the app it appears in Arabic, but the text is in English once the app is downloaded on your phone.
Despite skyrocketing to No. 1 on the App Store, there have been a mixed set of reviews for the Sarahah. In fact, some even call it the ideal app for bullying. “My son signed up for an account and within 24 hours someone posted a horrible racist comment on his page including saying that he should be lynched,” one user wrote. “The site is a breeding ground for hate.” Another user wrote that “this is an app breeding suicides.”
However, not everyone using the app has experienced bullying, or places blame on the app when harassment occurs. “It’s not a big deal, chill out,” one user wrote in their App Store review. “It’s anonymous, but for the right reasons: so people can say what they want.”
Other than the generic for and against arguments regarding anonymous postings, Sarahah has other issues to deal with, such as glitches, bugs, and several other usability issues.
So many are left wondering: How did the app get so popular? The answer to that is probably the fact that human beings can’t seem to resist the urge of finding out how people truly feel about them.
Featured Image: depositphotos/leungchopan
