Yik Yak: The Next Social Media Trend Or New Site For Bullies?
By Edward Cardenas
SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - Yik Yak, a new location-based social media app, allows users to take part in anonymous local conversations about everything from the weather to pick-up lines.
But that anonymity also led to issues of cyber-bullying and threats at schools around the country.
The app, which was founded in 2013 by Brooks Buffington and Tyler Droll, had its roots on college campuses. It has since grown in popularity across the country, showing local conversations within 1.5 miles of the location of user, according to Washington Post.
"With Yik Yak we want to connect people in an open way based on location and experiences," Droll told the Today Show.
A sample of "yaks" in the Southfield area include:
- "Still in bed just to prove that I am committed to my bed,"
- "why does ltu schedule things at noon. I'm not event awake by noon,"
- "thank god I saw a picture of the sunrise on instagram I didn't know it came up today."
According to the rules on the app, users should post "quality content" and no one under college age should be on Yik Yak.
Users are urged not to bully other yakkers; clutter people's feeds with "useless" or offensive yaks. Those who post on offensive items, could downvote or report the posts, or "yaks."
While there is banter about going to class, there were also more threatening posts which led to police action including:
- A University of Southern Mississippi student who was arrested after making a threat against the campus,
- A California school was placed on lockdown after a bomb threat,
- A male student at a New Jersey university posted a link to sex tape on Yik Yak without the permission of a female student,
- Cyber bullying posts at a Connecticut high school.
There have been no reports of local cases of bullying or threats on Yik Yak.
