Hey everyone! Recently I came across someone on the Internet spewing false accusations about the truthfulness of PostSecret. While my online battle with him is besides the point (the important thing is that I was victorious), it got me thinking that there are many myths about PostSecret that are swirling around out there. Allow me to address the three main misconceptions that I've heard.
Myth #1: Frank makes all of the postcards himself.
Truth: All I can really say to this is LOL. People actually think that this guy sits around making postcards with different languages, handwritings, and images all day? Besides, even if this had been true, people would have started sending in their own secrets eventually. But no, Frank does not make the postcards. I’m giggling at the thought of him sitting with just a glue stick, glitter and his imagination all day.
Myth #2: Frank doesn’t read all of the secrets or keep all of them.
Truth: Every secret is mailed to Frank’s house. I see him read each secret everyday. He has this same look on his face while he reads them that is simultaneously very serious and thoughtful. He then hands them off to us to organize and archive in the PostSecret lair until he decides how best to use them. He still owns every single postcard that he has ever received, and I’ve heard him refer to it as a “precious archive.”
Myth #3: There’s an online archive of secrets that have appeared on the website in the past.
Truth: There is no official online archive that Frank manages of past website secrets. Frank has mentioned how he wants to build a long-term relationship with the PostSecret fans; if there were an online archive, many people might spend all night reading hundreds of secrets and become burnt out, and perhaps never read PostSecret again. He wants it to be more like a TV show: there's one episode a week, and hopefully it keeps people interested enough to keep coming back for more.
There are more secrets to debunk, but right now this post is getting a bit long, so more will come later! Who else has a myth that they'd like us to address?
-Kaitlin
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4 comments:
Very interesting. I'm a little bit confused about the last point, however. The idea of restricting content out of fear of users "overdosing" on postscret strikes me as a bit disingenuous, especially in this day and age. Why not trust the readers to view the content as they see fit? Why so much control over the mode of consumption? Perhaps if you had an online archive available, which links to a special viewing site that's cleaner and a much better introduction for someone just getting started.
In any case, thanks for all your work! I very much appreciate everything you're doing.
Not really a myth, more so a question.
How does Frank determine what postcards should be in a book, and which ones should be online?
At one point will all cards somehow be featured on one of those two?
Thank you! :]
I wish that PostSecret would at least post 2x a week, sometimes I forget because it's only once's a week.. The secrets make my day better, so if you could add at least one more day that would be great!! I'm sure you guy's get a million secrets a week, I hope everyone postcard gets posted!!
I really wish there was atleast an archive of previous week's secrets somewhere, or just more... it seems like the one posting every Sunday just isn't enough... :(
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