It’s taking college campuses nationwide by storm. The new app Yik Yak is a brand-new social media platform with anonymity as its highlighted feature. As described by the Apple Applications Store, Yik Yak “acts like a local bulletin board for your area by showing the most recent posts from other users around you. It allows anyone to connect and share information with others without having to know them.”
This anonymity comes with some strings attached, however; the app has rules set in place to avoid anyone under college age engaging on Yik Yak. The rules are as follows:
These rules are fairly straightforward and to the point. The app also allows you to “peek” into the Yaks of other colleges and universities around the United State, but Siena isn’t an option to peek near, likely due to the fact that we’re a pretty small campus.
When the app emerged on the campus social scene, many were reminded of the highly controversial Siena Confessions twitter accounts that circulated among the student body in the past two academic years. Those accounts were closed as the result of a student movement against the bullying and harassment that the accounts perpetuated. However, Yik Yak seems to set a different tone than the Confessions accounts. Many of the Yaks posted actually seem to create a community using humor, especially when it comes to people’s dislike of the dining halls on campus, annoyance with SienaAir or air conditioning, complaints about homework, Netflix binges, and, of course, partying-related regrets.
The option to give a Yak an up or down vote allows students to react to the thoughts of others, be it giving something a down vote for bullying, or an up for something that made you LOL. Students can also reply to Yaks, which can also be up or down voted. After about four hours, at least at Siena, Yaks can only be seen by their authors as new ones have filled the app’s homepage, keeping the ideas and humor fresh. This doesn’t mean that some Yaks aren’t inappropriate, but it does mean that after a few hours, they basically disappear.
So far, we give this app two thumbs up. The anonymity and the knowledge that the app isn’t controlled by fellow Siena students like a Siena Confessions would be allows for a more positive community where students can feel like they have an equal stake in the game. Here are some screenshots of our favorite Yaks from our very own campus:
What’s your take on Yik Yak? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Photos courtesy of Caylin Dadeo-Winick and http://themash.com/blog/news/2014/03/10/yik-yak-reactivated-in-chicago-t…