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Yaking on campus: Yik Yak is a different way to use social media for students at campuses all around the nation

Courtesy of Trish Da Costa

The creators of Yik Yak Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington pose with the Yik Yak logo. The app is like an anonymous Twitter or Reddit feed that anyone can post on.


“Thank you to all the men and women who have served and who are serving to protect our freedoms.” This is the hottest yak of Tuesday, Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day, with 78 up votes.
Cam Mullen, the lead community developer at Yik Yak, describes the app as an anonymous Reddit or Twitter feed.
“People are able to post whatever they want, while keeping their privacy and then the community around them gets to see their posts or yaks and up vote or down vote their yak,” Mullen said. “They can reply, they can share, et cetera.”
Mullen said that the company is very excited about Yik Yak.
He said the idea of the app is to give voices to those who usually don’t have them.


“The idea is the quiet kid in the back of the class might be the funniest kid in school, but he doesn’t feel comfortable speaking up on Twitter or Facebook or in person,” Mullen said. “But on Yik Yak, people will send out yaks and messages to thank him and you can have a very interesting and insightful discussion without having to be uncomfortable or go outside comfort zones. That’s one thing we really love about it.”
Mullen said currently the company is targeting college students as their main users.
“People are going through similar experiences, so they can all identify with each other,” Mullen said. “Exam weeks or big football games, when something dramatic goes on on campus, they can look at Yik Yak and connect with the people physically around them.”
Kristin Dohner, a third-year majoring in recreation therapy, said she uses Yik Yak, but does more scrolling than posting.
“It’s an interesting way to see what people are actually thinking and what they will say when they have this anonymous wall to hide behind,” Dohner said.
Mikayla Becker, a first-year pre-pharmacy major agrees with Dohner.
“It’s a way to pass time and is sometimes funny,” Becker said.
Dohner said she thinks it gets out of hand sometimes and people can take certain things too far.
“I’ve noticed racism, sexism and plain old stupidity,” Dohner said. “Being in Greek life, I also really hate when it turns into a Greek bashing session.”
Mullen said keeping your privacy by not having a name involved lets you say things that you wouldn’t post on Facebook or on Twitter.
“Kids are often connected with their parents, their uncle or their professors; you are kind of limited on what you can honestly share because of your reputation,” Mullen said. “On Yik Yak, you’re really able to share your sensitive topics and get feedback from the community around you. Which really, you haven’t been able to do before Yik Yak was around.”
Becker said she thinks it has the potential to be a really good app.
“However, now that people have lost their originality and it seems people are only yaking to complain about professors and make sexually-degrading comments, I’m not so sure it’s a good thing to be on,” Becker said.
Dohner said when it is not being used as a way to bash others, it can be good.
“It allows for a sense of uniting among students and definitely provides entertainment,” she said. “On the rare occasion I yak, it usually has to do with BG sucking or it just something I find witty or relevant.”
Becker said she yaks about everything.
“The ones that seem to be upped the most are the ones about typical college laziness and about things going on on campus,” she said.
Mullen said by going on Yik Yak students can immediately find out what’s going on around them on campus and what people are thinking and what they’re saying.
“You should use it because you can get a poll from your campus that you can’t get anywhere else,” he said. “I guess someone could create a hashtag, but you have no idea where people are posting the hashtag from all over the world. With Yik Yak you know what people are talking about right around you.”

 

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