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- Susan Doyle is a Tyee Builder. You can be, too.
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bLink 2
Secret absolution.
[Editor's note: 40 bLinks lists Thom Wong's top web picks. For information about him and how he chooses them, click here.]
That crush on your best friend's boyfriend bringing you down - or the fact that you did something about it? Got another secret? Tell the people at PostSecret and they'll absolve you of all your sins, making you shiny and new.
Or at the very least they'll make you more creative: PostSecret requires its would-be pilgrim to send in his or her secret on a handwritten, 4x6 paper card.
The dark and dirty ranges from the mundane ("All the excuses I make for being late are lies"), to the political ("I'm a Democrat but sometimes I listen to Rush Limbaugh on the radio"), to the frightening ("They didn't keep me safe/ They knew what he had done before/ And he did it to me").
Reading through the cards is to realize how close we all are in terms of what we want to forget, to release and to forgive. The site, started by Frank Warren as an art project, has become so popular as to warrant a book, PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives. To date, over five million people have checked what other people desperately need to confess.
In its way, the site proves the age-old axiom (or is it just a U2 lyric?) that a secret is only a secret when you tell someone else. One might say that if the Internet is our new place of worship, then PostSecret is the new confession booth. (One might say that, but not me. Nope. Too easy.)
For more information about PostSecret, see the article in The Observer.
Thom Wong is a law student who spends an unreasonable amount of time online. His 40 bLinks column will run every Monday and Thursday on The Tyee.
![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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- Sexism Tinges Criticism of Teachers' Job Action
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- Why Blackberry's Embrace of HTML5 Is Good Karma
- The Gem of Canadian Science that Harper Killed
- Sexism Tinges Criticism of Teachers' Job Action
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- Alberta Fills Pipes with Corrosive Denial
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- What's Behind BC's Doors?
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- 'The Dictator'
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- From Financial Advisor to Occupier
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- 'Storage Wars'
12
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skeptikool
6 years ago
Comments on "bLink 2"
I believe it was a couple of months or so ago that I linked to PostSecret. I should have added it to my "favoriites" because I've missed the many weekly changes since then.
I found humor, great art and some sadness in the submissions.
Thanks for the reminder
Mkitty
6 years ago
Wow..what an incredible site. I have just emailed the link to 3 friends. I am now thinking if I have anything good to submit...
reuben
6 years ago
He'll show readers which sites will get buzz and why.
What's in it for him? New information, to start with: the kind you don't get from a usual Google search or from the newspaper. Plus, he likes the thrill of getting there first. BC's own budding link star usually finds the next big thing even before famed link directories
That's why I like it. A lot of times, people will email me a link and I'll write back and say, "Oh yeah, I saw that," or even, "I saw it a week ago." Just wanting to find new things is the biggest thing.
This Thom Wong guy, when he was interviewed last week, claimed that he would be posting NEW links, or maybe even INTERESTING links.
Postsecret is OLD, VERY VERY OLD. It's so OLD that there's a book coming out. EVERYONE has seen Postsecret. If you haven't seen this before, well, frankly, you suck at the internet.
Keep trying Thom.
graciebaby
6 years ago
If Reuben had read the article he would have seen that TW mentioned the book resulting from Post Secrets web ... shame on you, Reuben. Talk about "sucks at reading" ...
reuben
6 years ago
What part of him telling us there is a book coming out makes my point any less valid? It's just proves that he knows postsecret is old, and still foists it on Tyee readers as "the next big thing."
graciebaby is just made because s/he just found out about postsecret, and realized that s/he sucks at the internet.
Maybe Thom's next "discovery" will be theonion.com, or *gasp* craigslist!!
(You should check those sites out gracie, you might think they're nifty)
reuben
6 years ago
made = mad
damn typos!
smooshed
6 years ago
Hmm. At the risk of being deemed to "suck at the internet", I am going to venture out on a limb and outright admit that I still think Postsecret is an interesting site *gasp*. And, what makes it an oldie but a goodie is the fact that it's constantly being updated with new posts. Must be one of those funny things about the Internet: the good sites are always changing, always providing something new.
And one of the points of this column is that people have many options now. This is Thom Wong's effort to assemble a few hundred words on your screen and share a few links he thinks you might enjoy. And, like every other site, you have the option to appreciate it or click away. No need to knot-up your briefs. Really.
ouhite
6 years ago
I have NO clue why this site gets so many cranky people.
Just ignore them, Thom; there are tons like him on other threads.
twotoques
6 years ago
Trolls!
Hiding under bridges and in musty, old caves.
Their purpose in life is to be as disagreeable as possible. Their only joy is in causing discord where ever there's agreement and co-operation.
It may be that their real lives are miserable and unsatisfying so that the only pleasure they find is some kind of vicious satisfaction at bringing others down with them. You know; misery loves company.
And now, with the internet, they have a longer reach and can remain anonymously in their holes while changing their names and jumping from forums to message boards to news groups.
The best thing is to ignore them. Although that makes them more miserable, somtimes they'll move on to an easier mark.
Jeys
6 years ago
Question. Please answer because it's part of a bet/argument. IS a secret "only a secret when you tell someone else"??? Think about it. Ammo for both sides? Thom, I argued in your favour, but I'm getting slaughtered here.
thomas
6 years ago
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Yeeeeeeeeeees.
Even longer answer: Think tree falling in the forest. Really - think about it.
Jeys
6 years ago
Thaaanks.
I thought about it.
I'll get my adversary to think about it.
Trees are good.
Analogies.