It’s a quiet Thursday night in and everyone is on their phone. All of a sudden, they all explode into uncontrollable laughter. Is it a funny video? Is it a cat picture? No– it’s Yik Yak, the addicting new app that’s become a huge hit with universities across the country.
What is Yik Yak?
Yik Yak can be described by two words: Anonymous Twitter. Yik Yak is an app where users can anonymously post just about anything and it appears in a queue with other “yaks” written by users in the same area. Readers of the yaks can up or down vote them, resulting an increasing or decreasing “yakarma” for the writer. Readers can even anonymously reply to yaks with their own input.
Why do college students like it so much?
1. It’s fun!
Yik Yak provides an outlet for someone to quickly share their thoughts without anyone knowing who they are. Yaks are often hilarious, with roommates lamenting their sexiled status or adisgruntled student sharing a ridiculous story from class. The occasional request for a hook-up is also pretty common. Check out the “hot” tab to see the best yaks from the day or even write some of your own.
2. It’s addicting!
Once you start reading, it’s hard to stop. Especially when you’re in a particularly boring class and you know that everyone else is writing yaks about how the professor’s fly is down. And once you start writing your own, you’re constantly checking every few moments to see if anyone up or down voted it. Even worse, Yik Yak sends you notifications about how many people voted on your yak, but doesn’t tell you whether these were up or down votes, so you’re rushing madly to Yik Yak to see if your yak is in the negative section.
3. It’s anonymous!
The anonymity of Yik Yak is probably what draws the most people. Unlike Twitter, where everyone knows who you are, no one knows who writes what on Yik Yak. Therefore, you can go right ahead and write about that cute boy in your Comparative Politics class. Who knows? Maybe he’ll see it and wonder who it was. But, don’t worry, he’ll never know it was you.
Of course, potentially problematic about Yik Yak is, in fact, the anonymity. Throwback to Formspring, where people had the same power to say whatever they wanted without anyone know who they were and sent hateful messages. Yik Yak can and has been used for the same purpose which not only decreases the fun, but can be harmful for all parties involved. Sexist, racist or otherwise rude messages can create a triggering and painful atmosphere, deterring students from accessing Yik Yak or even wanting to participate in separate social events. All it takes is one comment by one person, under of a cover of anonymity, to create an awful experience for many people that leaves them cringing rather than laughing when scrolling down Yik Yak’s feed.
So, don’t be that guy! Instead, write fun yaks, increase your yakarma, hint that you think the boy in the first row of Macroeconomics is hot and keep Yik Yak the addicting and enjoyable place it was created to be.