Secret Co-Founder Launches Anonymous Publishing App IO

Less than two years after the shutdown of Secret, the anonymous social media app, the defunct startup’s co-founder, David Byttow, has returned to the spotlight with the launch of a new app called IO.

Much like Secret, IO rides on the anonymity trend driven by popular apps, including Whisper and Yik Yak. But IO is not a social media platform, it is a place for people who want to write. Its simple and clean interface resembles that of Medium, one of the go-to publishing platforms for startups and businesses. IO offers a range of typical editing tools including markdown, drag-and-drop image function, and the ability to import and export JSON files. What’s unique about IO, however, is that the platform also allows users to seek help from two “writing assistants.” One, called Hemingway, detects extraneous words and phrases, while another, Ambience, plays background music to help distracted writers concentrate.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Byttow said that he founded IO to address “the downsides of current social media products,” which he maintains were all the more apparent following the 2016 election. At a time when Facebook and Twitter are increasingly under criticism for publishing fake news, Byttow believes that an anonymous platform like IO allows for what he calls “authentic publishing.” Contrary to the generally accepted rule that attribution is more likely to lead to authenticity, Byttow argues that when people post content anonymously or under a pseudonym they are more likely to share their real thoughts.

Earlier this year, Byttow made a comeback with Bold, a platform for publishing enterprise content, including tutorials, product specifications, memos, onboarding documents and other features.  While Bold is entirely public-facing, it also employs the two writing assistants used by IO, as well as the ability to turn any post into a Slack discussion thread with colleagues immediately.

For more, go to: https://bold.io/.