News By Rubyanne Moley
Yik Yak, an anonymous social media platform that was once removed from the app store due to potential dangers, is back again and very prominent on the campus of Arizona State University. When it comes to topics like gossiping about roommates to opinions on the daily dining hall menu, the students flock to the app to share their thoughts. But it still generates bullying, threats and other issues which make the app controversial.
Users can choose to be completely anonymous, or comment only with the affiliation of an emoji. It has a proximity radius of five miles, prioritizing posts within one mile. Posts are often a sentence or two long.
“I love it. It is super fun because you can see what your peers talk about,” said Nichole Alatorre, a freshman at Arizona State University.
Because of its anonymous aspect, posters aren’t afraid to speak their mind. This creates a breeding ground for heated discussions and comments directed at others or about others. Yik Yak sometimes restricts hateful posts due to an automatic bully detection system; However, many users find ways around this.
According to Forbes, Yik Yak’s prominent age demographic is college-aged students. The app sees high traffic when it comes to talk about the panhellenic community at many colleges, especially at ASU. Comments often include accusations towards fraternities and sororities. Topics like “assault” and “racism” seem to be thrown around on the app every day.
“We go to ASU and greek life is really prominent here…Greek life is where all the tea is at right now, so I like Yik Yak to keep me updated on the tea,” said Vanessa Michalik, a freshman at ASU.
According to New York Times, the app has seen “bullying, discriminatory speech and threats of bomb and gun violence.” This brings up the question as if Yik Yak should even still be around in 2022.
“If Reddit exists and the 4chan exists that made the January 6 takeover of the capital, then why can’t Yik Yak exist?” said Alatorre.
After School was another anonymous social media app like Yik Yak. It has since been removed from app stores. Other gossiping apps like Yolo and LMK have also been suspended as of 2021 following a teenager death related to cyberbullying, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“It’s intense. There’s a lot going on,” said Emanma Ssoud, a freshman at ASU, on the topic of After School. “We’d be 14, and they’d be like ‘Nina has a fat a**.’”
Many students interviewed on the downtown campus argued that the app allows them to exercise their “first amendment.”
“I like to exercise the First Amendment on Yik Yak,” said Michalik. “I don’t think Yik Yak is a form of bullying because I think that it is actually a form of self-expression.”
Yik Yak also creates a sense of community on the many campuses of ASU. While students may live in the same building or proximity, they might not all interact face-to-face. Yik Yak provides a way for anyone to join in on the conversation.
Yik Yak has shown controversy in the past, so it may just be a matter of time of when the next issue arises on whether it will remain available. As of now at ASU, Yik Yak is popular and constantly receiving new posts as its users are thinking of their next “Yak.”
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