This is a sponsored feature. All opinions are 100% from Her Campus.
Yik Yak is an app that lets people anonymously post comments for others in your general area to read.
The problem with Yik Yak is that most of the comments call organizations and people out by name. It has begun to turn into an anonymous bullying app.
Carlie Garcia, a freshman Health Education and Promotion major, thinks the app has caused problems with the Greek Community.
“It has created friction within the Greek community but more so between the Greek and Non-Greek communities,” Garcia said. “The Greek community has such an influence on campus and we should be using that in a positive way rather than using it to tear down others”.
Yik Yak was originally intended to provide local updates on events and sales happening in a general area. It has turned into a Greek and Non-Greek bashing app.
Due to this, most sororities on campus have banned the use of the app by members.
Shannan Henderson, a freshman Strategic Communications and Sports Media major, thinks this will keep it from being a problem.
“I can see how it offends certain people and I don’t use it,” Henderson said. “I don’t think it will affect the campus anymore now that a lot of chapters have banned it so no one uses it”.
Yik Yak describes the app as “a local bulletin board for your area by showing the most recent posts from other users around you” and that it “allows anyone to connect and share information with others without having to know them”.
Yik Yak was started with the intention of providing relevant updates to customers. The app was released on Nov. 13, 2013 and is currently ranked number 15 in free social media apps for iPhone, according to the iosnoops.com website.