Students at Fort Hays State University are moving beyond traditional social media with a messaging app that allows users to post anonymously called “Yik Yak.”
The appeal of anonymity is taking FHSU by storm as the popularity of Yik Yak grows throughout Hays and the nation. The app, which was developed in late 2013 by two college students in Atlanta, Georgia, has spread to college campuses nationwide over the past year and can now be found on the devices of students around the FHSU Campus.
Yik Yak mixes the ease of use that social media apps offer with the concept of anonymity that online discussion boards like 4chan and Reddit have been using for years. Users of Yik Yak can post short messages called ‘yaks’ anonymously.
The messages posted can be up-voted, down-voted or replied to by other users within the same geographical area. Users can also ‘peek’ into the ‘yak’ stream of another area, but cannot vote or reply.
The app, which was virtually unheard of at FHSU last year, has become increasingly more popular around campus during the fall semester. Hundreds of yaks are posted near FHSU daily now.
“Its funny to read other student around here complain and tell jokes,” said Mark Lattner, a freshman at FHSU, “I get on Yik Yak whenever I need a good laugh.”
The Yaks appearing around FHSU range in topic from complaints about classes and instructors, to party stories and everything in between. While a lot of the messages on Yik Yak are harmless complaints and jokes, a good number of the ‘yaks’ posted daily are very negative.
Bullying, cursing, and harassment can be found on Yik Yak everyday, posted by users taking full advantage of the anonymity offered by Yik Yak. Issues like these have lead many high schools and even some colleges to ban use of the app.
“Yik Yak is a good way to vent, but a lot of the stuff on there is ridiculous,” said Katie Beck, who is also a junior at FHSU, “It’s bad that people saying terrible things on Yik Yak don’t have to face any consequences.”
Even while the app features the anonymity, posting on Yik Yak isn’t exactly a free-for-all. The down-vote option for every yak enables users to relay their opinion and even remove yaks that are negative or inappropriate. If a yak receives 5 down-votes, the message is pulled and the user that posted the yak receives bad “Yakarma.” If a user receives enough bad “Yakarma”, they will be unable to post on Yik Yak .
The down-vote function works well for yaks that are not appropriate, but the same function can also be used in a negative way against other users. The down-vote function can be used the same way to remove yaks that aren’t negative or inappropriate.
“I don’t like how people can disapprove other people’s messages, and get them removed just because they don’t like a post,” said Beck.
Whether Yik Yak will become successful as a social media app or just another fad is yet to be determined. For now though, the app continues to grow in popularity and is used on over 1000 college campuses.
Yik Yak is available on the Apple App Store and the Android Market.