Do you ever feel the need to get something off your chest? Probably all the time, right? The problem with letting off steam on Facebook, Twitter or even Google+ is that all your friends are able to see (and potentially get offended by!) it. If you want your rant to be more anonymous, but still get read by someone, try Emotional Bag Check!
The concept behind Emotional Bag Check is simple – get negative thoughts off your chest and anonymously throw them out onto the internet. At some point, another user will come to the site and have the opportunity to read what you’ve written. They can then recommend a song in Grooveshark in order to lift your spirits. They can even send a little inspirational message to go along with it. Emotional Bag Check will email you the song and message you were given. While the creator of Emotional Bag Check is not personally affiliated with Grooveshark, this is most certainly a creative way to use its API to spread a little happiness across the internet.
Obviously, the system can be abused. Users can send ridiculous songs that are completely irrelevant to the emotional baggage in question. And peoples’ messages can be absolutely mean-spirited. Developer Robyn Overstreet has noted in her FAQ that she has some measures in place to combat message trolls, but the risks still remain. For what it’s worth, I put in a test message with a real piece of emotional baggage and received two really heartfelt messages in response (as well as one very dubious song suggestion, for those keeping score). Success?
Overall, as a simple way to anonymously rant out your negative feelings, Emotional Bag Check is a pretty neat concept. Plus, it’s hard to knock the opportunity to find a new favorite song in the process.
