There are now 4.7 million purple messages stored on the internet, making the Unsent Project the world’s largest collection of untold emotions like grief, love, guilt, anger and healing. From being a personal artistic project by Rora Blue, it is now a place for folks online to speak honestly and truly, with their messages ending up in digital space instead of your mailbox.
However, at the moment, 1 in 5 submissions are addressed directly to an AI chatbot. Why have our most sensitive words shifted from being shared with a person to being spoken to AI? It’s not only an emotional story: it also reflects our current situation, divested of human experience.
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What Works in an Archive
Exploring what is hidden behind the simple user interface will help you appreciate how the Unsent Project works. Following an update in the 2023 backend, messages are now color-coded in a different way during the submission process. Before, the choice of color reflected the user’s feelings, but now it relies on sentiment from the text which worries some that what the computers interpret could be different from the author’s own emotions.
Even now, ensuring online anonymity has not been as easy as before. Some people’s data is still exposed, since the app isn’t always able to remove geolocation metadata from messages sent on mobiles.
Then, we have the issue of moderation. Due to the increase of AI-generated posts and messages, followed by many made by ChatGPT, last year, the moderators are having a hard time. Burnout is an issue for them and the main question is if emotions can be transmitted properly by computer-generated texts.
Studying Matters and Colors in the Data of 2024
The Unsent Project includes colors with emotional meanings and in 2024, the statistics reveal that people wrote not only about love, but also about longing, regret and broken hope.
Purple is the most common choice and it accounts for 32% of all reviews, with “sorry” showing up in many comments. Most of the messages are 287 words long, telling us that the stories often remain incomplete and involved. Red means passion and it is the second-most popular, often just 94 words long and inclines toward confessing love. Blue is often associated with sadness and covers 17% of all colors, usually having 412 words and starting by asking, “why” to hint at unanswered questions and deep thoughts.
Increased use of green messages (up 210% YoY) introduces the common theme of financial regrets, bad decision-making, missed opportunities and adaptations to various money-related dependencies. Because of the new economic pressures, people are creating different terms to describe emotional states.
Impact of Emotions: The Link Between Psychotherapy and Trauma
The Unsent Project has been proven to be very therapeutic. According to a recent study from UCLA, around 68% of users feel better mentally after hitting send. To many, sending a letter to a lost one is much the same as forming a bond with barely there but gentle love. Writing expressively, without acting on thoughts, can allow people to share opinions they are unsure how to say out loud.
However, some actions and situations can bring about real damage. Because they read so many painful messages, regular users of Facebook may begin feeling vicarious trauma, experiencing pain that was not theirs. This is not empathy; it’s just having too many feelings. In addition, there was a 12% increase in regret after these submissions, most noticeable in people who didn’t have anyone to help after sending the job applications. The website does not provide therapy, just even more unhappiness.
Interesting Submissions: On-screen Viral Episodes and Made-up Mourning
When you look at all the ads submitted over the years, a couple have become legendary. Later, Stephen writes to Mission Control, using poetry as a way to express the feelings of being alone in a relationship. Then, without realizing it, the twin siblings wrote to each other on their own posts.
Historians also find the 83-word suicide note remarkable, as it led to 214 people from the public sharing their thoughts online, saying it stopped them from taking their own lives. Everything in a message that people produce online takes on a cultural significance.
This year, an issue arose: People started using AI-generated messages for love and goodbyes, with a popular template that mimics a perfect breakup letter from a chatbot. Even though these submissions have brilliant concepts, they raise doubts about if they are genuine, consensual and if emotions are being used to influence the audience.
Ethics involve matters of consent, unexpected exploitation and how much you invest emotionally.
People are questioning The Unsent Project’s ethical guidelines. Is it fair when individuals’ names are used in messages, but they do not agree to it? In some cases, minors post unimaginable stories about mistreatment or intentional self-harm on social media. Because the platform does not have strong security measures, legal and ethical issues are overlooked.
At the same time, earning money from online content appears to be a quiet industry.
Often, messages from OpSec are copied by people on TikTok and Reddit to increase their audience and likes. Turning sadness into profit is something far different from what the project meant to achieve in the first place. The structure is missing a reliable way to expose or report these exploitations to the first platform.
Make Sure Your Submissions Are Safe in 2024
When deciding to take part in the Unsent Project, remember to pay attention to your choices. The first step to protect your identity is to use the most secure tools. When it comes to anonymity, using Tor browser is still the top option. You should also clean your files with metadata scrubbers before uploading any data from your smartphone.
Emotional aftercare is just as important as medical care. It is suggested by mental health professionals to wait for 24 hours before hitting the submit button. After your session, check if your message is still ok to release, judge if you may still require help from an expert and consider contacting a crisis hotline or therapist.
Before you can submit your experience, some external tools give you access to checklists on mood logs, setting intentions and reaching emergency resources. These problems stand in our way, but they also give us a boost to drop our emotions straight down.
International Alternatives: Everyone Hurts
The feeling of silent grief affects people all across the globe. Officially known as Tears Mail, this service allows people in Japan to express what they feel to departed loved ones and staff members burn the notes at a Shinto shrine. In Germany, a project called “Lettrs” arranges for letters to be sent periodically, even years ahead, giving people time to learn from their bad experiences. An actual therapist will support each user through emotional exercise before and after the writing task.
Models typically provide what the Unsent Project does not: information about the culture, context for each call and additional follow-up.
Read More: What Are Sources of Zupfadtazak? Exploring the Linguistic and Meme Origins
Conclusion
The Unsent Project acts as a haven as well as a spectacle. It shows how isolated we can become emotionally, with unspoken words gaining more importance than spoken ones. However, each person has a responsibility if they are part of online communities: creators, moderators, readers or writers. As catharsis starts to look a lot like exploitation, we must ask: how can we make certain that motion pictures remain wholesome despite their very essence being to put our fleeting dreams and memories to work?
No matter if you make comments, receive news or just watch the noise, keep in mind: what is said here is meaningful. The messages emitted by a brand matter in some way. No matter how each submission was created, it becomes an important part of the most intimate global collection.
FAQs
Are police allowed to access the Unsent Project submissions?
In most cases, the website assures users of being hidden by anonymity. Nonetheless, if the circumstance calls for it, the police can recover some messages even with the metadata intact.
What is the reason purple messages are often much longer?
Purple is widely seen as a color of sorrow and removing blame. Such emotions often involve a larger context and more storytelling which requires longer and more detailed work.
How can I let YouTube know about inappropriate videos?
Currently, there are fewer ways to file a complaint. Community moderators manage notifying users about reports, but their speed depends on various factors. The standard tools are being challenged and improved.
Do these messages have a negative impact on people’s mental health?
Some individuals feel that way. Being exposed to a lot of trauma for long periods may result in exhaustion or distress for a counselor. Work in short holes and rest in between.
Can I make any changes to a submission after I post it?
Submissions made now will not be removed from History Makers. Unless somebody takes it down or marks it, the message is still kept in the archive. Make certain before you tell anyone.
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