{"id":240,"date":"2016-07-02T03:22:48","date_gmt":"2016-07-02T03:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240"},"modified":"2016-07-02T03:22:48","modified_gmt":"2016-07-02T03:22:48","slug":"into-the-secret-online-world-of-truth-or-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=240","title":{"rendered":"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span class=\"dropcap\">\u201cP<\/span>ap for like,\u201d my phone beeps.\n\nI quickly check the message. The ASKfm app I had recently downloaded posted this request which in ASKfm speak means \u201cPost a Picture and I\u2019ll give you a like.\u201d \u201cLikes\u201d are the currency in these neck of the woods \u2013 they signify both popularity and influence and Nayonika Chaudhary, my guide into this dark world, has both.\n\nThe 15-year-old is sprawled across her bed as she tells me more about this question-based teen social networking app that is the rage among the country\u2019s posh school kids. Nayonika, who is a child of the online generation and part of the \u201cpopular kids of Instagram\u201d movement, has some 2,000 fawning followers on Insta and about 15,000 likes on ASKfm. When I ask her about the app, she twirls her scarlet-tinged hair and gazes into the mirror as she delivers the verdict. \u201cIt\u2019s the worst,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is full of haters who tell everyone to go kill themselves. And I heard someone actually did.\u201d\n\nThe conversation about the online lives of teenagers has suddenly, flippantly, turned to death. Nayonika\u2019s room has all the trappings of adolescence, the pastel curtains, the touches of pink that will soon be deemed embarrassing, and that most telling sign of a fast-fading girlhood \u2013 an army of soft toys presiding over the conversation.\n\nBut the occupant of the room shows no such signs of youthful un-sophistication. The statuesque, willowy teenager in her sleek, monochrome ensemble and perfectly manicured nails, painted a glistening black, had signalled she was ready for our chat with a nod of her head. That\u2019s more swag than I have ever been able to muster in my 30-odd years.\n\nIf you go by her Instagram feed, Nayonika\u2019s life seems straight out of Gossip Girl \u2013 just swap Upper East Side for the lanes of Lokhandwala, the pincode of choice for Bollywood\u2019s B-list. It\u2019s all pouty faces, pictures of parties attended by other equally well-manicured teenagers, group hugs hashtagged Squad, chilling out on beach chairs with the sun framed precariously between their shimmery limbs, and all the shoes that they bought.\n\nBut on ASKfm things get real.\n\n\u201cHaters\u201d were the first settlers of the world wide web but the vitriol on ASKfm is surprising, especially as it is a zone where adults are hard to find. I first heard about the website just a day ago, even though the popular social network had gained its first few million users in India by 2013. Most of the information revealed in the 320 questions on Nayonika\u2019s page is benign and the exchange can often be validating (\u201cYou are the prettiest girl in school\u201d). But it takes no time to go downhill from there. \u201cCan\u2019t weight to meat you,\u201d is another comment to which she replied \u201cWhy are you being mean, I like being thin\u201d and many leaned toward what can only be labelled bullying or outright slut-shaming \u2013 \u201cShe looks like she will open her legs and her mouth real easy.\u201d\n\nBut beyond the hate, \u201cTBH for like\u201d is the most devastating part of the ASKfm experience: It\u2019s a deal with the devil. TBH or To Be Honest invites you to share a revealing truth on the internet in exchange for likes. A secret crush, the identity of your boyfriend, your bra size. An anonymous asker can dare you to share anything and your answer can leave you devastated. TBH in this online world is a contemporary cousin of that old slippery slope called Truth or Dare from our college dorms.\n\nI crossed the threshold of teenage years ago and I\u2019d had my share of Truth or Dare. I was sitting in a truth circle with an empty beer bottle pointing towards me. I knew that a dare would involve an inebriated, unsavoury kiss with someone in this circle, so I chose \u201ctruth\u201d but I was not prepared for the question that followed.\n\n\u201cDo you want to fuck him?\u201d my tormentor asked, pointing to the guy who was huddling with my best friend, her long-term boyfriend and my long-nursed crush.\n\nI was like a deer caught in the headlights. The truth was impossible. It would result in a lost friendship, many whispered accusations, or a full-blown catfight, and yet it was the imperative of this game in which everyone already suspected the answer. I lied at that time and got away with it because I had nothing at stake, no likes to ask, no public viewers to mollify. But on ASKfm, I would have been called out and put down for this transgression by any nameless, untraceable entity who would shame me in public view. Back in the day, my shame was my own or at worst, restricted to a few close friends.\n<\/p><blockquote class=\"quote--center\">Every picture posted was met by comments on her \u201ctight pussy\u201d, \u201cclev so deep\u201d and an \u201cass that I\u2019d anal right now\u201d.<\/blockquote>\nThat\u2019s not what happened to Shanaya92, Nayonika\u2019s friend. She has not been on ASKfm for a year but her story has become a cautionary tale. She goes to the same school as Nayonika. She lives in the same posh neighbourhood and follows the same people on Instagram, but her ASKfm account is disabled now.\n\nIt all started last year when Shanaya turned 13, and as usual, it began with a boy.\n\nA WhatsApp conversation between Shanaya and a classmate about a boy with a \u201cdragon d\u201d (dragon dicks, for the uninitiated) made its way to ASKfm as part of a \u201clike for TBH\u201d deal. The post got 935 likes in just an hour. The whole school knew and they all weighed in. The comments were anonymous at first, the ones which branded her a slut, followed by others which were lewd propositions or told her that she was just a fat bitch.\n\nThen the gloves came off and she found herself faced by a gang whose names and faces she knew from school. She had the backing of her friends and ASKfm became the venue for a long-drawn battle.\n\nShe was still posting OOTD (outfit of the day) posts as the \u201cdragon\u201d scandal raged on. Every picture posted was met by comments on her \u201ctight pussy\u201d, \u201cclev so deep\u201d and an \u201cass that I\u2019d anal right now\u201d. After a few weeks of this, Shanaya gave up and logged out for good. But her page, with the remnants of that bloody turf war, is still there for all to see.\n\nMuch of what would have previously been reserved for a diary, teens now regularly share on Instagram and Tumblr and ASKfm. Among the things anyone with an internet connection can learn about Shanaya is that she went on her first date three years ago, who her best friends are, that she\u2019s proud of her \u201cPunjabi ass\u201d, she is turned on by tall boys in white t-shirts, and would name her daughter Kiara.\n\nKids like Shanaya and Nayanika thrive in this parallel universe that has its own strange pressures and codes and can turn against them at any time. Their parents are oblivious. They do know that about Instagram and ASKfm but nothing about how badly they can backfire. Nayanika\u2019s mother insisted that I meet her daughter at home, instead of a nearby coffee shop but had no clue that her daughter had to block boys asking her if she was down for a \u201chookup\u201d every day on ASKfm.\n\nMy ASKfm alter-ego with long hair with a heavy fringe that obscured half her face, did not make it past the first few questions. She was not as tough as the Shanayas and Nayonikas of this secret universe.\n\nShe pressed delete.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The unforgiving world of the social networking site, ASKfm, is a black hole of teenage anxiety filled with \u201cdragon ds\u201d, adolescent hookups, and its vicious after-effects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[62,63,64,65,66,67,424,425,426,427,428,429,430,71,72],"class_list":["post-240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyber","tag-arre","tag-arre-digital-platform","tag-arre-originals","tag-arre-reads","tag-arre-text-articles","tag-arre-website","tag-askfm","tag-cyber-bullying","tag-haters","tag-online","tag-online-harassment","tag-social","tag-teen","tag-web-series","tag-web-shows"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The unforgiving world of the social networking site, ASKfm, is a black hole of teenage anxiety filled with \u201cdragon ds\u201d, adolescent hookups, and its vicious after-effects.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The unforgiving world of the social networking site, ASKfm, is a black hole of teenage anxiety filled with \u201cdragon ds\u201d, adolescent hookups, and its vicious after-effects.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-02T03:22:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1465986768.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kripa Krishnan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The unforgiving world of the social networking site, ASKfm, is a black hole of teenage anxiety filled with \u201cdragon ds\u201d, adolescent hookups, and its vicious after-effects.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kripa Krishnan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kripa Krishnan\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1c90e0a7317a74de02eb7b53aad5cb9\"},\"headline\":\"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-02T03:22:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240\"},\"wordCount\":1289,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1465986768.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"arre\",\"arre digital platform\",\"arre originals\",\"arre reads\",\"arre text articles\",\"arre website\",\"askfm\",\"cyber bullying\",\"haters\",\"online\",\"online harassment\",\"social\",\"teen\",\"web series\",\"web shows\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cyber\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240\",\"name\":\"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1465986768.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-02T03:22:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1c90e0a7317a74de02eb7b53aad5cb9\"},\"description\":\"The unforgiving world of the social networking site, ASKfm, is a black hole of teenage anxiety filled with \u201cdragon ds\u201d, adolescent hookups, and its vicious after-effects.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1465986768.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1465986768.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=240#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1c90e0a7317a74de02eb7b53aad5cb9\",\"name\":\"Kripa Krishnan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2583cac53e988934b1486b5087ddada11f4e108fa2bab08a3321d0f1e6d4d45f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2583cac53e988934b1486b5087ddada11f4e108fa2bab08a3321d0f1e6d4d45f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2583cac53e988934b1486b5087ddada11f4e108fa2bab08a3321d0f1e6d4d45f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kripa Krishnan\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=11\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die","description":"The unforgiving world of the social networking site, ASKfm, is a black hole of teenage anxiety filled with \u201cdragon ds\u201d, adolescent hookups, and its vicious after-effects.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die","og_description":"The unforgiving world of the social networking site, ASKfm, is a black hole of teenage anxiety filled with \u201cdragon ds\u201d, adolescent hookups, and its vicious after-effects.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-07-02T03:22:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1465986768.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kripa Krishnan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die","twitter_description":"The unforgiving world of the social networking site, ASKfm, is a black hole of teenage anxiety filled with \u201cdragon ds\u201d, adolescent hookups, and its vicious after-effects.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kripa Krishnan","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240"},"author":{"name":"Kripa Krishnan","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/c1c90e0a7317a74de02eb7b53aad5cb9"},"headline":"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die","datePublished":"2016-07-02T03:22:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240"},"wordCount":1289,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1465986768.jpg","keywords":["arre","arre digital platform","arre originals","arre reads","arre text articles","arre website","askfm","cyber bullying","haters","online","online harassment","social","teen","web series","web shows"],"articleSection":["Cyber"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240","name":"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1465986768.jpg","datePublished":"2016-07-02T03:22:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/c1c90e0a7317a74de02eb7b53aad5cb9"},"description":"The unforgiving world of the social networking site, ASKfm, is a black hole of teenage anxiety filled with \u201cdragon ds\u201d, adolescent hookups, and its vicious after-effects.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1465986768.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1465986768.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=240#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Into the Secret Online World of Truth or Die"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/c1c90e0a7317a74de02eb7b53aad5cb9","name":"Kripa Krishnan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2583cac53e988934b1486b5087ddada11f4e108fa2bab08a3321d0f1e6d4d45f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2583cac53e988934b1486b5087ddada11f4e108fa2bab08a3321d0f1e6d4d45f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2583cac53e988934b1486b5087ddada11f4e108fa2bab08a3321d0f1e6d4d45f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kripa Krishnan"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=11"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1465986768.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}