Sarahah

Zift Advisory

Note: This app is no longer available in the App Store or the Google Play Store. Sarahah is an anonymous messaging app where users can request honest feedback from friends, peers, and strangers. This app is available in both the App Store and the Google Play Store. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements. Sarahah is not safe for kids.

About Sarahah

In-App Purchases

None

Rating

Teen

What is Sarahah?

Note: This app is no longer available in the App Store or the Google Play Store due to complaints of bullying.

Sarahah is an anonymous messaging app where users can request honest feedback from friends, peers, and strangers.

This app is available in both the App Store and the Google Play Store. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements.

This app was designed to be a workplace tool to facilitate honest feedback from coworkers and friends, citing self-improvement and better communication among acquaintances.

The goal is to “help you in discovering your strengths and areas for improvement by receiving honest feedback from your employees and your friends in a private manner.”

Users can share their Sarahah profile via other social media networks, like Facebook and Snapchat, to solicit anonymous thoughts for self-improvement from their friends.

There is also a search function so that users can find people they know and leave them comments.

Messages can come from anyone and users will never know who sent them.

There is no social feed in Sarahah, so a user's received messages are private unless they choose to share them.

From the app, a user can export an individual message that they received, in the form of a photo, to their social media accounts.

The app was designed to be a way to share constructive criticisms, but it is often used to anonymously send hurtful messages. The anonymous aspect of the app may facilitate honest sharing among friends, but it also facilitates cyberbulling.

Is Sarahah safe for my kids?

Sarahah is rated for ages 17+ and could be used responsibly by mature teens and adults.

Though the initial goal of this app was for workplace feedback, in reality, it is a hotbed of bullying and hateful language. While not all users receive messages that are hurtful, the lack of moderation and content filtering allow for inappropriate messages with abusers shielded by the anonymous environment.

The anonymity that Sarahah provides has allowed it to evolve into a platform that facilitates cyberbullying. Users who choose to send hurtful messages are not held responsible for their actions. The app will not disclose the identity of logged-in users without their consent.

Users cannot respond to messages, so they are not likely to get into a fight through the app. However, if they suspected that a specific person is sending them hurtful comments, they have the ability to retaliate.

In their messages, a user can see all of the messages they have both sent and received. Users have the option to delete individual messages immediately after sending or receiving. This means that even if parents wanted to check in on their child's activity on the app, they wouldn't know if there were messages missing.

The app's privacy settings give users the option to hide their profiles from appearing in searches. You can also block unauthorized users from posting at all.

This app is not safe for kids, as there have been many reports of profanity, adult language and cyberbullying.