????雖然科技界推陳出新的步伐越來(lái)越快，但風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資者們?nèi)匀粯?lè)此不疲，希望眼下的無(wú)名小輩能像Facebook和Twitter一樣，挺到最終功德圓滿的一天，成為一棵能夠登上大雅之堂的搖錢樹(shù)。這種事情的難度越來(lái)越大，因?yàn)橹恍鑾字軙r(shí)間，一款應(yīng)用就會(huì)徹底被人們遺忘。

????最新的一款大熱應(yīng)用Secret必須有所作為才能逃脫前輩們的厄運(yùn)。首先，Secret必須在用戶之間創(chuàng)造聯(lián)系。這樣，他們才不會(huì)輕易離開(kāi)。這也恰恰是Facebook能堅(jiān)持下來(lái)的原因，因?yàn)樵S多用戶都已經(jīng)無(wú)法離開(kāi)Facebook，必須依賴Facebook上的朋友列表聊天。即使是Whisper這類在大學(xué)生中格外流行的私密社交軟件，也想方設(shè)法在用戶間創(chuàng)造了某種關(guān)聯(lián)。

????其次，Secret必須在不損害自身吸引力的前提下，解決（部分用戶）匿名發(fā)布煽動(dòng)性內(nèi)容的問(wèn)題。

????Secret令人上癮，就如同沒(méi)用的八卦網(wǎng)站以及垃圾食品令人上癮一樣：這玩意兒就是帶勁。看自己朋友或者“朋友的朋友”發(fā)布的勁爆八卦讓用戶興奮不已，盡管他們知道這么做不大厚道。

????科技界人士迅速將Secret作為一種宣泄途徑，在上面吐槽業(yè)內(nèi)的小人，嘲弄自己最“中意”的反派，同時(shí)散播彼此的八卦。用戶在Secret上嘴格外毒。考慮到Secret是匿名論壇，這也是必然的事。有人認(rèn)為Secret有利于技術(shù)人士的身心健康，甚至稱得上不可或缺，因?yàn)槿藗兛偸橇?xí)慣看到技術(shù)人士擺出一副積極向上、自我宣傳的姿態(tài)。（其他行業(yè)可能會(huì)避免在公開(kāi)論壇上攻擊同行，把這一點(diǎn)稱作基本的職業(yè)素養(yǎng)。）

????Secret不負(fù)責(zé)任、隨心所欲了一陣。當(dāng)時(shí)，一則Secret信息稱，新創(chuàng)企業(yè)Evernote有意出售，但這個(gè)消息很快遭到了否認(rèn)。此后沒(méi)多久，Secret就遭到了強(qiáng)烈反對(duì)，那些匿名的中傷者被視為惡霸。科技網(wǎng)站Re/code的邁克?艾薩克質(zhì)疑Secret能否幸免于這個(gè)平臺(tái)上的煽動(dòng)性內(nèi)容所帶來(lái)的負(fù)面影響。艾薩克指出，匿名帶來(lái)的負(fù)能量和不用承擔(dān)后果的八卦已經(jīng)招到了用戶的嫌棄。“不管是不是朋友，并不是所有人躲在暗處時(shí)還能當(dāng)好人。”

????Secret眼下可謂盛極紅極一時(shí)，但一不小心，它很可能曇花一現(xiàn)，幾個(gè)月后就淪為所有人的笑料。硅谷顯然不乏這樣的先例。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：項(xiàng)航

????

????Despite the speed at which new technologies can come and go, venture capital investors still pour cash into them in the hopes that they'll have the staying power of Facebook (FB) or Twitter (TWTR), and eventually become legit, money-making media businesses. That's increasingly hard to do when viral apps can come and go in a matter of weeks.

????The latest viral hit, Secret, will need to do a few things to last beyond its hype cycle. For one, Secret must create connections between people that they can't get anywhere else. This is what made Facebook last -- many people don't have other ways of communicating with the friend lists they've built on Facebook. Even Whisper, another app for sharing secrets which is popular with college students, has created ways for its users to stay connected with each other.

????Secondly, Secret must solve its anonymous troll problem without killing what makes the app so great to begin with.

????Secret is addictive in the same way trashy gossip sites or junk food are addictive: It's just devilishly good. Reading juicy gossip, posted by a friend or a "friend of a friend," gives users a rush of excitement, even when they know it's wrong.

????Members of the tech industry immediately latched onto the app as an outlet to call out bad actors in their industry, make fun of favorite villains, and spread gossip about each other. As is bound to happen in an anonymous forum, people were unnecessarily cruel. Some argued it was therapeutic, or even necessary, since techies are expected to put on a veneer of constant positivity and self-promotion. (Other industries might call it basic professionalism to avoid trashing your peers in a public forum.)

????Not long after Secret had its freewheeling moment of irresponsibility -- a Secret claiming startup Evernote was for sale, which was quickly denied -- a backlash arrived, and the anonymous bad-mouthers were admonished as bullies. Mike Isaac at Re/code asked whether Secret could survive the trolls. He noted that users were already turned off by the negativity and consequence-free gossip afforded by anonymity: "Friend or no, not everyone is nice in the dark."

????Secret is all the rage now, but it could easily wind up a silly fad that everyone laughs about a few months from now. Certainly Silicon Valley has had its fair share of those.