How many times have you typed out a post on a social network, only to delete it because you were afraid to share it publicly?
After one of those instances about a year ago, Boston-area entrepreneur Daniel McCarthy had an epiphany:
“There are your 5-star experiences that you share on Facebook, Twitter, etc., and then there is the other 99 percent of your life,” he told me in an email. “And within that 99 percent remainder, there is a vast array of experiences, thoughts, ideas and emotions that you either only share with your closest friends, or completely internalize and don’t talk about at all. Maybe it’s something you think others would find boring, maybe it’s something you are sensitive or embarrassed about, or maybe its something controversial and you don’t want to cause a fuss. We have plenty of social networks to show everyone how awesome that 1 percent of our lives are.”
And with that, McCarthy set out to build a new social network where people could be entirely honest: Cloaq.
Users can post in a diverse array of categories, including tech, entertainment, social, film, politics, sports, books. Content is also organized by most recent, featured or popular.
McCarthy likened Cloaq to apps like Secret and Yik Yak, but he emphasized how Cloaq is different. For instance, current mainstream anonymous apps severely limit content length and totally remove any trace of a source. But Cloaq doesn’t impose a super short character limit, and it assigns users a codename that protects their personal privacy but allows them to connect in a more meaningful way. And for those things that users want to share with no trace, Cloaq offers the option to post without the codename at all.
So far, the approach has been working.
“You would think, because of what’s happening elsewhere, that an 'anonymous' environment like this would be a troll's paradise, but it’s exactly the opposite here,” McCarthy said. “After 70,000+ posts and comments, we haven’t had to censor a single thing.”
He added that "cloaqers" are finding a new level of comfort in the fact that there is no pressure to over-analyze what they say before they say it.
In the process, many of these users are actually forming powerful relationships with one another simply by talking about their private musings, ideas and fears.
Social freedom—with necessary limitations
Seeing as the word “anonymous” is the key descriptor for Cloaq, it’s also easy to make a 4chan comparison, but McCarthy is adamant that the networks couldn’t be more different. This is not a wild west of the Web—the rules and regulations for interaction on Cloaq are and will continue to be strictly enforced, he said.
McCarthy told me that the team takes this issue so seriously that despite the initial hype and traction they gained when the iPhone app launched in public beta last May, they still opted to cap signup. By moving forward under the radar, they were able to tweak things as needed and more importantly, build a solid core group of early users that define the environment in a positive way. After all, if 4chan is any indication, an anonymous social network can easily get out of control. That’s why McCarthy took the slow and steady route. And it seems to be paying off.
Within minutes, 500 user slots for Cloaq filled up, so they extended the batch to 4,000—and that filled up almost immediately.
Initially, Cloaq was planning to only allow the first 500 users who signed up to participate in the beta. But within seven minutes, 500 slots filled up, so they extended the batch to 4,000—and that filled up almost immediately. The team operated under the radar in this closed beta, just to make sure everything was in working order. Then, they launched a significant update for the app at the end of November. By December, Cloaq sign-up restrictions were lifted, and the app has since added about 2,000 more users.
“We are not in this for shock value,” said McCarthy. “We are in this to create a sustainable platform that solves an actual problem.”
McCarthy, a full-time iOS engineer and UI/UX designer, has previously launched other startups with his Cloaq co-founder, Ramesh Kumar. Meanwhile, Kumar has managed the software engineering teams at an array of top Boston organizations, including Digitas, Hachette Book Group and Massachusetts General Hospital. He told me that he’s partial to bootstrapping for now, but admitted that Cloaq is approaching a point where additional capital could be key for kicking things up a notch. So the team has already been talking to a few of the major institutional funding firms here in Boston and is considering a VC seed round—though he’s leaning toward finding a small handful of angel investors to work with.
Preparing for growth
In addition to potentially pursuing funding, his team has a slew of developments in the works for Cloaq: a handful of new features for the current iOS app, development of a full Web version and an Android app.
Users already seem to be "getting it," judging by reviews in the app store:
“I like that none of our racial, age-based, education-based, or experience-based prejudices have any effect on how we interpret someones message.” ~ @beta688
“I can see myself writing here everyday. It is a breath of fresh air to be able to share your thoughts without the burden of pleasing your audience, or to impress someone to increase your klout score.” ~ @alpha940
“I think Cloaq has the potential to be something much more than we can even comprehend right now.” ~ @alpha771
Image of smartphone user via Shutterstock.
