Yik Yak. For those who haven’t heard of it, a basic description of it would be an “anonymous Twitter.” But it’s so much more than that. Yik Yak is a way for us Pitt students to vent about professors or roommates, make fun of Penn State, complain about how sick you get from eating Market food, look for someone to hookup with, and much more.
Like I said before, Yik Yak is a lot like Twitter; however, there are major differences. Firstly, nobody can see who posted what. The entire app is anonymous. Also, the only “yaks,” as they are called, that come up on your feed (if you’re at Pitt) are Pitt yaks. There is a 1.5 mile radius for yaks. Yaks can be voted up or down by anybody with the app and ones with many ups get posted on the “hot” page. Those with five down votes get removed from the app. Lastly, yaks are only on the app for a few hours before they are taken down, destroying the evidence for all except the yakker to see.
Some yaks are honestly pretty funny. “Has anybody ever actually gotten salmonella from eating cookie dough or are people just trying to stop me from living a happy life?” one reads. It received many ups and reached the top of the “hot” page.
Because Yik Yak is an anonymous program, however, it gives cowards a chance to hide behind their words without having it attached to their name. Sexist, racist, homophobic, and revealing yaks populate Pitt’s Yik Yak homepage. This unfortunately gives Pitt this kind of impression, when as a whole, we are an incredibly accepting and diverse community.
So, yak as you please. Continue up-voting yaks about OCC jokes and how “Cathy is bae,” but proceed with caution. Hurtful comments on Yik Yak may seem harmless to you, but they can ruin someone’s day. Be respectful and hail to Pitt!