As the novelist and poet Oscar Wilde wrote in his 1891 essay “The Critic as Artist,” “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”
Anonymity is what Yik Yak, the nearly 12-year-old social media app, provides via a location-based platform that operates on Albion’s campus. Yik Yak users, or “Yakkers” can post “yaks” anonymously on the app, which will display posts from within a five-mile radius.
Due to its anonymous nature, Assistant Vice President for Student Development Kelly Finn said the app is “different” from other social media platforms.
“I think that with all tools, it can be used for good things and it can be used for not-so-good things,” Finn said.
At Albion, Finn said posts on the app can include “anything that’s happening across the student body,” from “something as small as what is being served in Baldwin today, all the way up to bigger cultural issues that are happening across the campus.”
Moscow first-year Ronya Riysman said she didn’t know what Yik Yak was before coming to campus in September when she learned about it from a friend.
“Everyone has it,” Riysman said. “The instinct is that because everyone has it, I should have it too.”
The Cons: Misinformation, Conflict, Discrimination
Abuja, Nigeria senior Daniel Jeremiah said that though he used to have Yik Yak, he uninstalled it in the weeks after President Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, when posts on the platform became “disgusting.”
“There were a lot of very very xenophobic, homophobic – all the phobics – stuff being said, and it was just like that for three weeks,” Jeremiah said.
Anonymity, Jeremiah said, is “100%” the cause.
Yakkers, according to item 6.2 of Yik Yak’s terms of service, may not post identifying information about themselves or other users, a general rule reiterated in the app’s community guidelines. The guidelines also include rules against bullying, harassment, racism, bigotry and more:
“If you see a yak that doesn’t adhere to the Community Guardrails, please immediately downvote and report it. Yaks that reach -5 total vote points are removed from Yik Yak.”
For Jeremiah, the app’s moderation system isn’t enough to stop Yakkers from posting content that violates these rules.
Director of Campus Safety Dave Leib said this process is unclear, and often results in “outright lies” and “hurtful,” “harassing” and “discriminatory” posts to be made.
“If something is reported and they take it down, then that’s one thing,” Leib said. “But how many people see it before it gets taken down?”
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia first-year Moon Manlaibaatar said she shares her nail art on Yik Yak, but the experience hasn’t always been positive.
She added there was an instance where an anonymous user responded to her post to “hit” on her, and others where users “name-dropped” her, spreading rumors on the app.
According to Manlaibaatar, one Yakker posted “I have a crush on Moon,” another said “I kissed her at this frat party.”
“Be aware of weirdos, every time you post,” Manlaibaatar said.
For Finn, the issue comes back to the purpose of Yik Yak as a tool of communication.
“I don’t think Yik Yak is designed to be a place where people are managing and working through conflict or disagreement,” Finn said. “But people try to use it for that reason.”
The Pros: ‘Find Your Herd’
For Hamilton junior Jessica Harvey, Yik Yak can sometimes be “the stupidest thing ever,” and other times Harvey said it’s her “morning news.”
“It’s how I get the tea of what happened at the frats last night,” Harvey said. “Or if anything crazy happened over the weekend.”
Harvey said she appreciates the anonymity of the app “every once in a while,” adding that it can be a place to talk about things one might not be able to say otherwise.
The app itself is described on the Apple app store as a place where users can “feel free” to be their “most authentic.” The website’s page opens to the message:
“Find your herd. On Yik Yak, anonymously connect with everyone at your college.”
Finn said Yik Yak, like other social media platforms, provides “a great way for people to connect and share things that they’re thinking about and are important to them.”
Once, Manlaibaatar said she wanted to go to the gym at the Dow, but “didn’t know the whole process.” So, she made a post on Yik Yak.
“I have anxiety, so I had to know every detail, every step,” Manlaibaatar said. “Someone gave me the whole rundown of the whole process, they were so sweet.”
In addition to connection, the app can also be a place where Leib said he offers answers to questions, though he added it is not a “sanctioned” platform for announcements.
However, Leib added that he engages with the platform “openly and not anonymously.”
“If I’m posting something, then people actually know it’s coming from a source that’s reliable and trustworthy,” Leib said. “I just try to be a resource.”
Safety on Yik Yak
Leib said that to be safe students should not post anything that identifies themselves, where they live, study, go to class or what they drive on Yik Yak.
Manlaibaatar said new users should be cautious while using the app.
“Just be aware that there’s weirdos there, because it’s literally an anonymous app,” Manlaibaatar said.
The Value of In-Person Conversation
In addition to being the Assistant Vice President for Student Development, Finn is also Albion College’s Title IX coordinator.
For Finn, the role she said can sometimes intersect with student’s posts on the app, though she said “there’s really not much that we can do with anonymous information.”
“Students can go on there and share things that they’ve heard about or that they’ve witnessed or things that are happening, but again, that’s not our Title IX reporting mechanism,” Finn said. “It’s very hard to investigate issues that are presented anonymously.”
In general, Finn added that she has “never seen Yik Yak be used as a good way to address an issue.”
When students use Yik Yak as a channel to bring up problems on campus, Harvey said that it can be “funny” or an opportunity for others to say “yeah, low-key I feel the same,” but a conversation would be more productive.
“We should have a conversation about it, or talk to the administration about why they’re making that choice instead of Yakking about it,” Harvey said. “I know that the whole point of it is that it’s anonymous, but sometimes I hate that.”
There is “a lot of power behind” the anonymity that Yik Yak provides, Leib said.
“My encouragement would just be to use that for good, try to bring people up instead of put them down,” Leib said.
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