Photo courtesy of Unsplash.
I do not do social media. I joke about how my mother was the one who made me download Instagram for college. It’s a personal choice I made in how it can affect people’s career and work opportunities depending on what gets posted by you and about you. Yik Yak is another social media app which allows people within a certain area to post anonymously and view others’ posts. As soon as I requested to write this article, I downloaded the app and started to figure out how it worked. Two days later, Michael Tracey came to campus and that’s when I really learned what Yik Yak is for.
Yik Yak’s company policy is all about anonymous free speech. Users can share anonymous messages with one another within a five mile radius. Yik Yak’s method to this is to create a massive group chat of people within an area who can say whatever they want without getting reprimanded. Yik Yak is incredibly popular on college campuses. There are some guidelines to preserve anonymity and basic bullying/hate speech guidelines; however, to report a post, you have to find the “report” button which is a three step process.
On Connecticut College’s campus, Yik Yak is basically a free for all. Users post their thoughts about events on campus. From egging Michael Tracey’s car to the amount of money spent on Campus Safety, Yik Yak offers in-depth coverage of the going-ons at Connecticut College. If you want a feel for people’s inner thoughts, download Yik Yak. It is an excellent insight into the minds of college students.
The app has allowed me to see a variety of student perspectives that may differ from my own. While I had just accepted our situation regarding our change in Covid-19 procedures earlier this September, many shared their frustrations and feelings on the change in Alert Levels. The comments posted are hilarious and frustrating takes on the situation and the people involved. Yik Yak allows for people to take off their rose-tinted glasses and realize what is really happening at Conn. However, with anonymity comes the danger of rude commentary from behind the digital facade. While it is empowering to say whatever you want without fearing any real life consequences, it means that people can be unforgiving when posting about their opinions without thinking about how one could view or interpret those words. The reactions vary but the thing that stays the same is that once someone is given the power to say whatever they want without fear of repercussions, at their worst posters are numb to the feelings of others.
One of the best features on YikYak is the upvote/downvote policy, which allows users to express a positive or negative reaction to an existing post. This creates a contest of who can hold the “Yak of the town” for the longest. By upvoting and downvoting posts, the conversation can change quickly, which creates a fluent discussion with everyone. However, when a certain number of people downvote a post, the post gets removed from the discussion.
The challenges and tribulations of using such an app are difficult. Do the pros outweigh the cons? There are a lot of pros such as anonymity, a sense of unity, and a sense of security in yourself and what you post. All of these are wonderful. Yik Yak does try to protect these as much as possible. However, I feel that the negatives outweigh the positives. I feel that I am compelled to have an opinion on everything from the bees at dinner (which I actually don’t mind) to the darties happening at the Ridges.
Yik Yak is like a black hole, I mindlessly scroll until I realize that it has been a half hour and I have not gotten any work done. However, I can recognize its importance on campus. It allows for students to air their grievances or look for connection. People ask for advice about issues they were unsure of or unwilling to speak to someone about.
Yik Yak is what an anthropologist might use to better understand the Connecticut College community. Users can coordinate events or parties anonymously or people can inform the larger community of situations that occurred on campus. Some may even use it to feel a little less alone. However, as it is anonymous, take each post with a grain of salt, no one truly knows if there is a party on Tempel Green or if it was a joke. If you are interested to learn that at 1:30 am, the sprinklers are turned on on Tempel Green, or are simply looking for others who can relate to you, YikYak is the perfect app for you.
