Website Self-Destructs After 24 Hours If Nobody Leaves A Message
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, a web and designer and comics author who goes by FemmeAndroid on Twitter unveiled her latest creation: a website that is intended to self-destruct in a certain amount of time. The website itself does not have too much in terms of interaction; there is a countdown timer and a brief explanation to visitors who may or may not wish to leave an anonymous message. There is also a warning about self-destruction in 24 hours if no visitors leave a message.
The messages that visitors leave on the website are completely anonymous; there is an option to read messages posted at random intervals and without personally identifiable information. Most of the messages are related to the coronavirus zeitgeist, so they reflect feelings of hope, anxiety, despair, uncertainty, and confusion. Not much else is known about the website aside from its friendly design, which appears to be based on the Paper CSS framework used by comics artists. The self-destructive mechanism is not explained.
To a great extent, this neat project is an amalgamation of anonymous messaging apps such as Whisper and Confide, which allow users to post ephemeral updates that disappear when they are read. Messages are sent into the ether, and their dispositions are not known since users do not have access to analytics; this is similar to the way the Snapchat social network started operating until it was determined that anonymous profiles and ephemeral content were not conducive to advertising.
Websites that allow anonymous text submissions not related to anything specific date back to 1997. Tired.com is still active as of April 2020; when the website was profiled by Slate.com in 2004, the administrator had received more than 30,000 email messages from visitors who explained why they felt tired. Confessional websites were still fairly popular more than 15 years ago.
As for the self-destructing feature, a video game developer in 1986 created "Sigourney Loves Peter," a science-fiction title that required players to rescue two lovers stranded and held hostage in a hostile planet. If the players failed the mission, the floppy disc would execute a script to erase itself. Not surprisingly, the game sold poorly and was a financial flop. For more information click here https://www.thiswebsitewillselfdestruct.com/.