Yik Yak The Next Big Thing?
[Editor’s Note: We want to acknowledge the controversy surrounding anonymous apps such as Yik Yak. Not only for some of the bullying issues it is causing on college campuses, but also how these apps may be used for concealing the communications of terrorists.]
In the tumultuous world of social media, contenders rise and fall on a regular basis struggling their way to the top of the heap, but a new contender has been drawing some real attention recently. This new contender is the Yik Yak app, an anonymous social media network that is especially popular among college-aged individuals. Two twenty-three year old graduates created the yik yak social media service in November 2013. What helps to set this network apart, and has been drawing in publicity and investments is that it’s an anonymous app, one which doesn’t require you to create a profile, one that can’t be traced back to you by any conventional means, and one that doesn’t track your activity.
Yik Yak’s main feature is allowing its users to make posts (“yaks”) completely anonymously. These posts are then upvoted or downvoted (similar to the popular website Reddit), and can be commented upon. Users then earn reputation points or “yakarma”, another reference to Reddit, with the more upvotes they receive. Another aspect that sets Yik Yak apart from the herd is the fact that it limits your ability to see or post things to a 1.5 mile radius of your current location. This is because Yik Yak is meant to be a localized social media network; one that is especially useful in pre-localized communities such as universities. Together these features have lead to what the creators call “a localized social forum without prior relationships or friendships for the purpose of delivering relevant, timely content to hyper-local areas of people.”
Recently a social media app which had a similar set up of anonymous posting, Whisper, was revealed to be tracking its users despite its promise of anonymity. This has led to a bit of mistrust in claims of anonymity in social media, yet Yik Yak has shown no signs of compromising its integrity by breaching its users privacy. Honestly, in a world where social media sites track your every bit of activity and sell it to corporations to let them know what you want to buy, a world where someone who gets into your profile can have access to the absolutely obscene amount of personal information people share everyday, it’s nice to see one that doesn’t decide to go in that direction. It’s a refreshing change of pace to not have to fill in your name, date of birth, address, and a million other bits of information to be able to use a service. Yik Yak seems to understand that a social media service should service the person, not vice versa.
In the world of social media, many up and coming services seem to try to get big by copying what’s already popular in their haste to be the next big thing. Social media is an ever growing and ever changing medium, and in the race to the top of the hill it’s refreshing to see something like the yik yak social media service coming up the back of the hill and carving their own way to the top instead of trying to rush their way up the mountain by the trails already laid. The app doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon, with the creators stating “We are always looking to expand our app as more users start interacting and realizing the value of the hyper-local forum we provide. We expect to have a strong presence in a list of other regions and countries in 2015.”
