Yik Yak is a social media app that has taken college campuses by storm, including the University of Wyoming.
Around the United States, an app called Yik Yak has made itself a staple in the young adult community’s social media world. On this app, people are able to post whatever they want, anonymously.
Yik Yak has a few content restrictions: no names, no slurs, and, to an extent, no foul language. Users of the app are able to ‘upvote’ and ‘downvote’ posts, similar to the ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ feature on other social media platforms.
Despite these restrictions, posts that include students’ names; racist, sexist, and homophobic comments; and harmful words are still made. The app is known for being anonymous, meaning no registration, no regard for others, and no consequences.
The posts that users see only come from those in a five-mile radius. So if you’re posting on or about UW’s campus, anyone using Yik Yak that is in Laramie will see it.
Yik Yak’s slogan is “Find Your Herd.” This slogan is ironic because most of the posts made on the University of Wyoming’s Yik Yak page are bullying individuals and organizations around campus.
Some posts are so popular that students are able to recognize individuals on campus mentioned in posts that were making fun of them.
Posts on Yik Yak have mentioned specific individuals they have seen or know, and those individuals are later pointed out and interacted with on campus, no matter whether the posts were positive or negative.
Many of these posts hurt the people and groups they are about. This has been seen not only on our own campus, but on other college campuses too.
In 2017 the app was shut down because of frequent reports of harmful harassment, threats, and bullying. Despite its original failure, in August 2021, Yik Yak returned with no changes to its format, policies, or guidelines.
The posts that have been occurring on Yik Yak as of late have been taking a toll on students’ mental health. The app is so popular that even when deleted, there is still talk around campus of the things being said.
Students at UW are seeing harmful posts regarding race, political affiliation, sexual identity, gender identity, and appearance on their feed daily. This is not only affecting the students that are being targeted, but the students that are being influenced by the things they are seeing and intaking.
Harassment and bullying should not be normalized, especially in a place where young adults are learning and progressing in their personal, academic, and social lives.. The negativity coming from the insults, gossip, and hate speech occurring on Yik Yak is not something that the University of Wyoming campus needs.
