ICONFESS Mirroring Digital Self-Disclosure in a Physical Booth

Abstract

In this paper, we describe an installation, iConfess, used to explore the question of disclosure in a physical space, when conditions for remaining anonymous are provided. The iConfess booth, a physical space where one could confess a secret, was tried at a large Student Faire. The paper reports on our findings on its use. The principle was simple: people could confess any secret in the privacy of the booth, on an anonymous site, using a tablet. After a period of time, confessions were handwritten on homemade cardboards and hung in the vicinity of the booth for everyone to see. In order to collect data on how it felt to reveal a secret in this way, we have offered to visitors a possibility to answer a questionnaire after the act of confession. 49 people did, a majority of them students (34), but also some others (15). In addition to the questionnaire, both participant and passive observations were made during the Faire. We have found that people enjoy revealing secrets, and reading those from others, although one participant still wondered just how anonymous the set up was. Attempts to connect people who confessed face-to-face during a social event, using a glow-in-the-dark bracelet, symbolizing that they have confessed, was not a success. © 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland.