Yik Yak is a free, anonymous application intended for users to chat with other users who are nearby and to stay informed on local events and news. In reality, it is often, “a place for people to overreact and vent” and sometimes disparage others, said Rikkel Bravo, a senior studying media management.
Editor’s note: This is the second in a weekly series examining social media accounts both affiliated and not affiliated with Ohio University. Previously called, “Twitter Tuesdays,” the name has been changed to “Social Tuesdays” to broaden the scope of the series.
It’s similar to an anonymous Twitter.
“Threesome? No thanks, if I wanted to disappoint two people in one night I’d have dinner with my parents,” someone wrote.
Comments such as those in Yik Yak, which users vote “up” and “down,” are some thousands of students at Ohio University are making without the pressure of jeopardizing their reputations.
Yik Yak is a free, anonymous application intended for users to chat with other users who are nearby and to stay informed on local events and news. In reality, it is often, “a place for people to overreact and vent” and sometimes disparage others, said Rikkel Bravo, a senior studying media management.
National media reports have noted that, in some places, Yik Yak has fostered “cyberbullying” and led to criminal charges.
OU’s version of the app — with 3,444 active users as of last week — is new to campus this semester, according to the app’s creators. Posts ranging from support for Bobcats with cancer to warnings of alleged rapists have flooded the app. Users have no way of discerning truths from lies.
As of last week, OU users had sent nearly 40,000 yaks in only a few weeks. To compare, users at Miami University sent nearly 50,000 over an entire year.
Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington, the app’s co-founders, say the anonymity Yik Yak offers levels the social media playing field.
“People are generally uncomfortable giving out their identity when speaking their thoughts in a close proximity,” they agreed. “On Yik Yak, however; race, gender and sexuality doesn’t matter. It is a clean slate.”
The app’s users default to the closest university that has Yik Yak, as it’s targeted at college students. That’s why users in Athens see OU’s feed, though they can “peek” into feeds on campuses nationally. Then, they can up- or down-vote posts.
Though the app is new to OU this fall, there are more active users in Athens than at Miami, with 3,321, and Kent State University, at 2,583, according to Buffington and Droll.
“It’s all in fun,” said Stephen Lichtenfels, a sophomore studying accounting and a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. “You can’t take any remarks made about you or your organizations seriously.”
Even though Buffington and Droll say the app fosters community, several recent examples at OU run counter to that. Some “yaks” have targeted particular fraternities, sororities, professors and students at OU, and alleged crimes amongst the student body.
“The other day there were several posts accusing a few guys of rape,” said Sam Bower, a sophomore studying sport management. “Their dorm and room number was posted too. ... If it’s not true, those guys are getting a terrible reputation because of it.”
Holly Fieni echoed Bower’s concern.
“The anonymous aspect just encourages people to write extremely hurtful things without suffering any consequences,” said Fieni, a junior studying exercise physiology. “I deleted it because I don’t want to support something like that.”
Buffington and Droll say they’ve done a lot to rid the app of negativity. Every post that is made can be either reported or “down-voted.” Once a post is down-voted five times, it disappears.
“It all comes down to relying on the communities to police themselves,” Buffington said. “We’ve done all that we can to keep negativity off of the app, but the rest is up to the community.”
Several students have voiced concern on Yik Yak and Twitter that the new app will make @OU_Confessions and @OUCrushes irrelevant.
Attempts to reach both Twitter accounts were unsuccessful, however one tweet on @OU_Confessions said, “Little bit worried about OU Confessions since Yik Yak came out.” @OU_Confessions operator simply stated, “I’m not.”
“I like the anonymous aspect,” said Whitney Taylor, a freshman whose major is undecided. “I can post stuff and no one will know it’s me. I think it would be much worse if names were posted. It would stir up a lot more drama.”
Buffington and Droll said the app was intended to take the power away from parody accounts on campus and bring it back to the entire student body.
Trends at other schools tend to show that Yik Yak users discuss a range of topics.
At Ohio State University, Katie Currie, a sophomore who attends OSU, said Yik Yak was largely used by members of greek life. Now, it’s moved beyond greek life but seems to have fewer users overall, she said.
“Last year, it was ‘frat this,’ ‘sorority that,’” Currie said. “This year, it has more commentary on the university as a whole: football games, people on the street, yoga pants and minorities.”
@worldofjenks1
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