Facebook’s Founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Considering the avalanche of customers choosing anonymous mobile chat apps these days, from WhisperText, LLC to Yik Yak, Inc., it may not come as a shock to hear that Facebook, Inc. plans to offer its users something similar in the way of anonymous interaction. A report in the New York Times revealed that the public could see an anonymous Facebook chat app in the next few weeks, except the app itself is still cloaked in mystery.

Following the report, Facebook product manager Josh Miller, who joined the team when it acquired Branch in January this year, tweeted, “Can’t comment on rumors but can’t wait to show you what we’ve built.”

A growing number of people evidently want to share information with each other online behind a mask of anonymity, although it has been asked if anything shared on internet forums is actually safe from exposing your identity or keeping your text box verses private. Nonetheless, perhaps merely the illusion of anonymity makes some users of social media feel less oppressed in the face of Facebook’s zealous ‘real name’ policy.

While identity transparency has no doubt attenuated bullying within the social media milieu and likely reduced multitudes of scams and indignities, Facebook has been criticised for bullying its users with its demands on real identity, as well as eliciting criticism for its almost nebulous privacy settings.

The real name policy sparked the ire of certain groups last month after allegedly questioning numerous identities within San Francisco’s gay, transgender and lesbian community. Facebook agreed to modify its policy on real names shortly after the complaints. Chris Cox, Facebook’s Chief Product Officer, said in a post that the real name policy would soon be amended in some way, but he did not give much away as to how this might be implemented.

What seems certain is that Facebook now wants to offer its one billion users a less accountable form of sharing information. Tellingly, Snapchat Inc., the ‘disappearing video and photo’ mobile app, reportedly turned down a $3 billion takeover bid from Facebook this month.

We will soon see how Facebook intends to reconcile its stringent real name policies with the growing trend of anonymous sharing. But with so many anonymity apps already out there should Facebook even start something when the horses long ago bolted? In many ways the very idea of Facebook was honest, real interaction. Would it benefit the site to tend to the needs of every social media consumer, or should Facebook’s reality media remain sacred? Another thing is, if Facebook starts to mimic its competitors it may find itself looking outdated, just as MySpace did. Should the social networking giant take heed of the adage, ‘Stick to what you are good at.’?

photo credit: Rick Turoczy via Flickr