Secrets of Teens and 20-Somethings Revealed

Oct. 24, 2006 — -- Frank Warren has been called the most trusted stranger in America.

He's the mastermind behind an idea that touched off a revolution: Confess your deepest secret, anonymously, by writing it down on a postcard.

He invited the world to do that through his Web site, Postsecret.com, promising to post online secrets people sent to his mailbox in Germantown, Md.

People answered his call in droves.

In just two years, more than 50,000 postcards -- 50,000 secrets -- have arrived for Warren.

His Web site is one of the most popular on the Internet.

Secrets range from the silly, "I waste office supplies because I hate my boss" sent by a disgruntled office worker, to the deeply troubling, like a postcard from a person confessing to self-mutilation, "I cut. And I hide it well."

Warren says he has been amazed at people's willingness to make such personal confessions to the world.

"I think when you look at each postcard, it can almost act like a 6-inch-by-4-inch window into someone's soul. And they're allowing you to peek in and share something from their own lives that they haven't felt comfortable sharing with their closest friends and family," Warren said.

The postcards later became the backbone for Warren's best-selling book, "Post Secret."

Now, he's compiled a follow-up book devoted to secrets sent to him by teenagers and college students.

"My Secret" is a portrait of growing up in America that is alternately haunting and humorous.