Yik Yak is an app for university students that is sweeping the nation. It is steadily climbing the social media ranks at Ashland University. 

Users can post anything he or she pleases and it will remain anonymous. Others can then comment and up vote and down vote anonymously on a post. This can recreate a whirlpool of both negative and positive posts, and Ashland has seen its fair share of both. 

There are four types of usual posts seen on the Ashland Yik Yak. These include “I need someone to cuddle with”, “This redhead I saw in convo was really hot”, and “Ermagerd! This isn’t a party school but we are going to make it one!”. There is also the occasional person trying to actually hookup with someone, but “Meet me outside Kil, I’m in a green hoodie” can seem pretty sketchy to anyone. For all anyone knows, green hoodie girl is probably a guy. The fourth type of post is basically cyberbullying a person or organization on campus. During Greek recruitment, there were many negative posts about sororities and fraternities. Many students blame Yik Yak for the low recruitment season. 

Yik Yak is currently the talk of the campus, but is what students are posting hurting the university? I did a Q&A with junior Allison Glass, a Yik Yak aficionado and the person who introduced me to Yik Yak, to find out.

Q. How did you hear about Yik Yak?

A. I heard about it from other students. I think I was really drawn to the anonymity of it. It’s a great idea, but the practice is questionable.

Q. Do you think it has had any affects on campus?

A. Absolutely. The negativity that is described of campus organizations on Yik Yak has greatly influenced public opinions of those organizations, especially to those who are new to campus. And not just a problem here, but everywhere. My boyfriend was just telling me yesterday that Yik Yak influenced destruction of property and breaking and entering on his campus. The Crozier center for women on Kenyon College’s campus was broken into and had all of their supplies for Take Back the Night stolen because some people felt threatened by them on Yik Yak. It has a far-reaching effect on campuses nationwide.

Q. Why do you think college students are interested in Yik Yak?

A. There are many reasons, but I guess ultimately the anonymity factor is the greatest point of intrigue. Everybody seems to be loving the fact that they can say whatever they want without fear of retribution, because nobody has any idea who said it. It’s a simple way to get away with the negative aspects of society: racism, sexism, etc.

Q. Because AU has such a small campus, do you think things said on Yik Yak have more effect here than say OSU?

A. In certain ways, yes. Because our campus is so small, we have a small and manageable number of “yaks” to read through, because of this, I think, we can agree and dissent with a number of them, while also voicing our opinions by replying to them. At a bigger campus, yaks would be drowned in the din of constant posts and therefore we would lose a genuinely good opportunity for social discourse.

Q. Do you think cyberbulling is an issue within the app?

A. Absolutely. For instance, I was once involved in a Yik Yak conversation about slut shaming and the importance of feminism and the only response that my adversary could come up with was to call me “the fat girl in high school, who nobody wanted,” which is obviously untrue. Any anonymous forum will present cyberbullying. I think the biggest problem is whether or not that cyberbullying is detrimental to the population at hand. In this case, I think it is. Everyday on Yik Yak, someone posts something negative about another person, and sometimes even goes so far as to mention them by name. I think that kind of negative aspect of Yik Yak needs to be addressed and corrected.

What’s your Yakarma?

A. Um let me check, 1600.