Yik Yak. Ever heard of it? This is an application created so you can ‘find your herd.’ The purpose of the Yik Yak is for people to connect with everyone around them. The application’s mission is to make the world feel small again. The founders of the application stated Yik Yak had been built because Harvard students had requested it. This was a lie, but helped the early popularity of the application. The targeted audience was students, more specifically college students. This application helps you connect with the people around you and feel at home with your local community. On college campuses, Yik Yak is a place someone can go and find people who understand what they are going through. Since the application is based off location, there is a good possibility another student is complaining about exams or talking about the next big house party. If the feeling of belonging did not entice someone to use Yik Yak there were plenty of other humorous post to lure him or her in. To use the application the user must be 18 or older. Unfortunately not everyone abides by this rule. The application soon took over high schools and even some middle schools. There was an unprecedented amount of cyber-bullying that began to take place. According to an article from NBC News the co- founder had this to say on the matter.
“Let’s not waste any words here: This sort of misbehavior is NOT what Yik Yak is to be used for. Period,” he wrote. “It is not condoned by Yik Yak, and it violates our Terms of Service.”
Soon there were barriers set in place to prevent students, of both middle and high schools, from getting on the application while at school. Unfortunately, the anonymity of post continues to bring out the worst in some users including bomb threats.
LIDREHO 