Ever want to tell the world something without being held accountable for it? Yik Yak, the social media application that is quickly becoming the new fad, lets you post anything you want anonymously. Seems pretty cool right? Well, yes and no. Yik Yak uses your phone’s location services to show self proclaimed “yaks” to surrounding users; as if “tweets” weren’t bad enough. From there, users can vote each yak up or down to help expose it to more users; all anonymously of course, so why not say what comes to your mind?
To college students who want to meet up with other people, Yik Yak provides the perfect opportunity. On the contrary, the fact that this app is anonymous could lead to potential dangers and issues.
For example, recently there was a Penn State shooting threat that was posted on Yik Yak. Someone had posted a yak stating the exact time and place that they were going to potentially commit a heinous crime that cannot be taken lightly. According to the website, Onward State, the nyak was down-voted, and disappeared from the site. Due to the anonymous posts, police had to figure out whether the yak was credible or not, asking anyone who had information. Posts like this are more common nowadays, especially on Twitter and Facebook. However, in their case, it is easier to pinpoint the persons who would post a threat such as “shooting up Penn State main campus.”
“I don’t see the point because everyone is just complaining to other people who are complaining so nobody’s going to fix anything,” said Alexis Teope, a sophomore new production media major.
Though I agree the actual utility of the application is virtually nonexistent, after recently attending a conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I now have a greater appreciation for Yik Yak. It was a quick way to find out what people around us were thinking. Everyone used it to share opinions on various topics; whether it was the people performing, stage production or even the quality of the food served. There I realized what this app could be used for, as well as all the humor that comes along with it. In the right setting, Yik Yak can clearly be a good thing.
Senior psychology major Christine Albury agrees. “By creating an app that allows people to talk anonymously, people can posts freely without feeling the need to hide what’s on their mind.”
So on the plus side, Yik Yak can be a good way to communicate with people in your area without filtering users’ opinions. On the down side, it might not be the best thing if people continue to abuse it with threats or offensive comments. Although many comments are college kids taking advantage of their anonymity, local law enforcement cannot allow any threat to go unnoticed. If they must continue to spend their time following up on threatening yaks, it is very likely that action will be taken against the app in the near future.
A lot of people misuse the application in other ways, using it for ignorance or perversion as college kids express their every whim and desire. A lot of inappropriate material is posted around our campus alone. Many local yaks are posts about parties and hook-ups. This has been a continual trend on Yik Yak nationally, which has lead to popularity, but also disapproval from many colleges. According to a recent article on The Huffington Post, certain college campuses have taken action to ban the use of the application on their network.
With all this animosity about the application, I don’t see Yik Yak lasting much longer. It very much seems to simply be the popular application in the short term, and will soon shrink back into irrelevance the next time one catches on.
Katie Drake can be reached at katie.drake@spartans.ut.edu