Is Yik-Yak building community, or breaking it?

Erin Cropper
Contributing Writer

YikYak, an app that lets you anonymously interact with your local community, has taken college campuses nationwide by storm. Originally made in 2013, the app allows you to  anonymously post thoughts and anyone within a five mile radius can see it. Users can also “up-vote,” “down-vote,” or reply to other’s comments. 

However, because it is completely anonymous, many of its users have absolutely no filter behind what they post. So much so that the app got banned in 2017 due the incredible amount of cyberbullying and hate speech. Flash forward to 2021 where the app makes a comeback with new owners, who promise to create a more friendly, positive community in this cyberspace. But are the app’s deeply rooted toxicities still overshadowing them? 

Students were recently polled, anonymously of course, on whether or not YikYak provides a positive environment or a negative environment. Answers varied greatly. The user with the Unicorn icon summed it up best by saying:

“I think it [the app] is a double edged sword that wholeheartedly depends on the people who are using it. So long as the community remains positive towards one another, the app is fun.” 

Many students also expressed that it’s simply not an app to be taken seriously, whether comments are pleasant or not. 

“I think it swaps between the two often. Someone will be toxic and then people will satire them so hard that it either goes away or becomes funny somehow,” a user with a robot icon said.

Dr. Rhonda Jamison, a non-app user and UMF Psychology professor,  had a different opinion.

“When students use YikYak to advertise events, or try to get a small group together for an impromptu meet up, then that is likely a positive use of the app,” she said. “The most concerning part of the app is when people are singled out, by name or by obvious characteristics.  Anonymous criticism or bullying is not less harmful.  And in a small community like UMF, even one post about an individual can make them feel unsafe or like they don't belong.” 
As she acknowledges, posting specifically about people and using their names is an ongoing issue on the app. On the day this is being written, September 12th, at least six people were singled out within the last 24 hours on YikYak. There have been a lot of benefits that have come along with an anonymous cyber-community like YikYak, but the toxicity has definitely overshadowed that. 

“My opinion is that the app probably does more harm than good.  The community-building and information-finding could easily take place within a forum that isn't anonymous.”