Yik Yak is a social media app that allows students within a certain area to make anonymous posts and comments. Whitworth’s page has many posts a day as students interact on the app.

The comments range from crude jokes to hot takes, often pertaining to Whitworth specifically. The app was created in 2013 by a company that also created Yodel, with the Yik Yak slogan “find your herd.” These platforms are designed to have anonymous comments that users can react to by liking or disliking comments. According to Business Insider, both apps were created by Brooks Buffington and Tyler Droll, who met as fraternity brothers at Furman University in Georgia.

First-year Micah Flint heard about the app through an upperclassman and was curious to see it for himself. “It’s like a message board. Basically, you throw something out into the abyss, and somebody will see it,” Flint said, “I think the goal is normally to just cause chaos. Because it’s anonymous and ambiguous, you can’t trust everything you see.”

Second-year Dara Wiebe, who has known about Yik Yak for two years, said, “I think there’s a problematic nature in that it’s anonymous. I think people feel too open in saying both really negative things about real people and real experiences.” According to Wiebe, the app has grown fast in popularity in recent years. “Students think it’s entertaining. And we’re a small campus, so drama travels fast,” she added.

The Social Science Research Council is a nonprofit group that writes and analyzes social challenges and dynamics. In an article by Dannah Dennis, a professor at Hamilton University with a doctorate in anthropology, she said, “After an initial wave of popularity, it faced sustained public criticism for enabling cyberbullying along with racism, sexism and other toxic discourses.”

Zoe Niblett downloaded the app because her friends downloaded it. She doesn’t think there are any benefits to the app other than students being able to interact with one another.

“Recently, there was a conversation about a certain student that attends here, and they used initials, but I believe everybody knows who that person is, and it wasn’t a good conversation,” said Niblett. “I think a situation like that could lead to a decline in the app,” she added.

When asked if there are any positive elements to Yik Yak, Niblett said, “Not really, it just kind of sits on my home screen.”

The unique aspect of Yik Yak is its anonymity compared to other social media apps. “Somebody may or may not respond, but it’s like a shout in the dark,” said Flint.