Since my arrival at the University of Puerto Rico three years ago, there’s been one constant that shines above the others- above strikes, and pride, and studies. Students on campus value, not so much their privacy, but their ability to live anonymously. Their need and ingenuity, not wasted for a single second, paved the way for various methods of anonymous inter-student communication to be born or adopted.
Up until the spring semester of 2017, the anonymous app YikYak was at the peak of campus communications. The app, which has since then been deleted due to legal issues, allowed people to interact with those around them in groups called “herds“. Usernames and fake photos in hand, students began creating personas revolving around the app; at the same time, they created the perfect breeding ground for rumors and dilemmas.
Needless to say, YikYak was known for its sexual stories- folks would get awfully frisky. With no immediate repercussions or limitations, young college students saw the app as an opportunity to display their bodies and their sexualities. These expressions of oneself, although liberating, come with many dangers attached. The anonymity provided as a tool for fun was exploited in a far less modest fashion, but was greatly used nonetheless.
On the positive side of things, not all aspects of anonymity at UPRM were so disheartening and kinky. Popular since around 2015, the facebook page-turned-group, RUMingle, was arguably at the center of student relations. At its peak, the facebook page garnered over forty thousand likes, and its posts could reach upwards of a hundred thousand people from all across the island. Here’s how it works: anonymous confessions reach the page through a google link. From there, administrators and moderators read them, evaluate them, and decide if they’re fit for posting.
Student interactions within YikYak and RUMingle were similar only in their rootage of anonymity. RUMingle’s control of confessions created a more PG-13 environment, whereas YikYak’s NC-17 atmosphere became too much even for the app creators themselves; not to mention the detrimental effect it had on some student relations before its ultimate deletion from the app store due to legal problems. The sexy times were fun for the app users while they lasted, even though they didn’t really last long.
What can we learn from these ventures into the world of anonymity? Truly, nothing. But also, everything, if that makes sense. We cannot control how others act when they feel protected from consequences, but we can control our own actions and reactions. Anonymity, in its actual forms of semi-innocent confessions and popular “finstas” (fake instagrams), has a less problematic semblance than it did in the early to mid 2010’s. So, live anonymously if you wish, but remember kindness matters even if you don’t see where it comes from.