First there was Ask.fm. A place where via an anonymous question and answer platform it allows anyone to post anonymous comments and questions to a person’s profile.
Then we had an App called Waggle-It. A question app allowing users to ask and respond to questions anonymously – crowd sourcing everyday dilemmas.
Well the new smartphone app ‘Frank’ allows your friends to rate you anonymously. The idea behind the app, recently released on iOS and Android, gives users the opportunity to ask a question to the entire world and for the entire world to give you an answer.
‘Frank’ your social mirror allows users to swap anonymous feedback so that they can find out what friends think of them. The app claims that ‘users can improve across multiple areas of their lives, from dating to job interviews to their social lives generally.’
The apps creators are using the slogan ‘Let’s get Frank’, with a key aim of creating a new, honest and genuine communication channel for people around the world.
Once you download the app you need to register/sign up using your Facebook account. Frank gives users two ways to ask questions, either using their own name or by asking it anonymously. If a user is struggling to come up with a question or needs ideas for questions the app lists a number of suggestions for example:
• What look should I go for?
• What should I wear for this event?
• College or Thailand?
• Which dress do you prefer?
• Am I a drama queen?
• How to I break up with my partner in a kind way?
• Should I put this picture on Facebook or Instagram?
• Do I need to lose weight?
Once you’ve decided on your question you then choose the answer type you’d like:
• Open Question – which allows the person responding to type a detailed reply.
• Yes or No – respond to a question with a simple Yes or No
• This/That – should I wear shirt A or B
The final step is where you can ask ‘friends’ on the app to answer the question or you can choose to share it ‘global’. Basically what this means is it will be randomly shared with other users on the app.
According to a recent article on GeekTime.com co-founder of the Frank app Zvi Fogel was asked if he and his team think the app could encourage bullying amongst younger users?
He responded ‘It is actually the most important point for us. Unlike other apps, the system is private. You’re the only person seeing the results so public shaming isn’t a factor. But we are very wary’. They should be.
In testing the app we noticed a few things worth highlighting – most notably it’s ability to be truly anonymous.
•We found that when you ask a question ‘anonymously’ your age and location setting on your Facebook account is still visible to those who view your question.
• The nature of the question asked is important – care and consideration is needed as this could have a knock-on effect and impact to a users own confidence or self esteem.
• It’s rated as 17+ in the App store for the following: Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content & Nudity Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Theme
Another concern relates to the fact that you can include an image with your question. Careful consideration would need to be given to the content within the image which perhaps could be of a sensitive nature or perhaps identify the person asking the
question.
When testing we could also not find any simple or straight forward way to Report /Block questions which may be inappropriate or that should not be showing up on our home screen newsfeed.
So while Frank may help you ‘live in reality’ and ‘improve yourself’ as Fogel says, there is a risk that you may not be happy with the feedback on comments you receive.
Stay Safe Online
Wayne
Posted By Wayne Denner
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