Sarahah app has become the talk of the town and its craze among the teenagers is increasing tremendously. The app has become an online sensation and people just can’t stop talking about it.
Sarahah which in Arabic language means ‘honesty’ was launched by Saudi developer Zain Alabdin Tawfiq six months ago and it has taken by storm on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram, especially by the teenagers. Basically Sarahah is an application that allows users to send anonymous messages to others registered with the app.
The USP of Sarahah is that it doesn't reveal the identity of the sender of the message at any given cost. This is where Sarahah stands out from other similar applications. In a month the application has crossed 5 million users and has reached the top list of Apple App Store and Play Store.
As each coin have two sides, so as this application. On one hand where the users are appreciating their friends, proposing their crushes, on the other hand many users are using it to vent out their hatred and cyber bullying. People have complaints that the app is being used for sending hate messages which are in trun harming their mental conditions.
Sarahah helps user point out other people’s flaws and weaknesses without any intention of hoping that they improve, just because it’s an ‘honest feedback.’ Moreover, they won’t know who the person is and the users can’t respond either.
One of the major drawbacks of the app is that it has no age verification, which means that teenagers can make account on the app as well. Another feature of the application is that it accesses contacts, photos, media and other applications of the mobile phone, which could be like an ‘icing on the cake’ for hackers.
This may also increase cyber bullying, abusive and obscene comments, vulgar and irritating feedbacks against users that may lead to mental illness and depression Cyber Security Expert of District legal Services Authority, Bhopal Akshay Bajpai told The Pioneer that the only way to avoid these situations is that parents should remain alert and keep an eye on what their children are doing on social media.
“I am sure not everyone who has downloaded the app is using it in a hurtful manner, but parents should be monitoring what kind of communications their children are getting and if they haven’t downloaded it yet, encourage them to not create a Sarahah account,” he added.