Yik Yak, is a social media app that allows users anonymous posting on the site to anyone with iOS that has the app within a five-mile radius. Posts on the app are only available for 24 hours after the post is made, but users can see their past Yik Yaks and comments they have made on posts. This creates a community for anyone with the app on campus to be able to communicate without anyone knowing who they are.
Yik Yak was first introduced in 2013 but was removed due to many cyberbullying situations, it was no longer anonymous, and other social media platforms began gaining more popularity. Yik Yak made a return in 2021 and has become increasingly popular in the past year since it has relaunched. Yik Yak is being featured with their page on TikTok by showing what various campuses are writing on the site. College students across the country are taking to the app and allowing users to share how they feel about peers, classes, professors, and more.
When users comment, get “upvotes,” or interact with other posts they get points towards their Yakarma scores which is just a counter to see how much users are interacting with one another. Each user has their own Yakarma to watch their progress. The app features a yak emoji as seen with the iOS emoji systems. The app operates by allowing users to download the app and gain an emoji at random that they can identify until they choose to change their emojis.
Yik Yak did make some changes since its 2013 release. The app now has certain rules and regulations that keep the peace on the app as well as the anonymity of its users. Some of the rules are that you cannot post anything with anyone’s full names, you can change your emoji as much as you want, you cannot share any info about yourself or minors, no bigotry, all yak’s must be posted in the English language and many more rules and regulations that are enforced on the app. Yik Yak has an automated algorithm that will automatically take the post down if it detects content against the code of conduct.
When users post a Yik Yak on the site other users can “upvote” or “downvote” the post. When a post receives an “upvote” this shows that people like what the post said. The more upvotes a post has the higher it will be in the “Hot” category of the site. The “Hot” category just groups together the most liked posts within the five-mile radius of most “upvotes” to least. When a post receives a “downvote” that means that users are not liking the post. Once a post gets to negative five “downvotes” it is removed by the users.
On the app when it tells a user their post has been removed it will say “A yak you posted was removed because it was downvoted by your herd.” On the site, a yak is a post a user makes. The herd on Yik Yak is the community or the other users in the five-mile radius. Even with the rules and regulations that the herd must agree to before making a yak users are still saying wonderful things about the app.
When asked what Yik Yak means to users of the app it was clear that users had a promising idea of what the app was created for. Users were also asked about what the app has changed for them being on a college campus and what their favorite thing about Yik Yak is.
Sarah Pope, a University of Idaho student, has been using the app and discussed her experience with it.
“Yik Yak is basically a local anonymous Twitter,” Pope said. “I now make sure to check my Yik Yak once a day to see what everyone is talking about,”
Yik Yak has become a way for users to discuss what is going on or what they have heard about around the campus. Yik Yak is connecting people who do not even know one another over topics that they are posting about.
“I love keeping up with all the Greek Life drama! It makes me feel in the loop,” Pope said.
Katherine Johnson, a student and user, was also asked about what her favorite thing about Yik Yak is as well as if she saw any issues that the app could present.
“People always say what the undercover cop cars look like in Pullman and Moscow,” Johnson said.
Although, a rule and regulation of the app the automated system is still not clearing all of the hateful and rude messages out of posts that users may be putting on the site. Luckily, with help from other users hopefully, the hateful posts are being “downvoted by the herd.”
“Any issues that Yik Yak could present would be because it is anonymous and it is super easy to say whatever you want,” Johnson said. “Which some people take advantage of so like some pretty hateful stuff can be said.”
With connections, opportunities, safety nets, relevant campus information, and much more Yik Yak offers a lot for the users of iOS. Yik Yak was able to market to a specific group of users and with over one million downloads it has done that across many college campuses. Yik Yak has released no plans currently for the future of the app, but the app can be downloaded in the App Store by anyone with iOS.
Ducati Schiff can be reached at [email protected]