"I wonder if there is a way to take all the the crappy things people think and all the terrible things they want to do, and make that public information without consequences."
That was probably the thought process of the inventor of Yik Yak. In my opinion Yik Yak is one of the worst things this world has come up with. I have only gone on the app two or three times, but I distinctly remember where I was each time because I was in such shock by the nasty things people come up with and that this kind of platform exists. This app is a hub for bullying, racist, sexist, gay, religious, political comments. Yik Yak is a breading ground for bullying because there is seemingly no identity connected with it. Now reality wins on this because to sign up you have to give your phone number which is used to locate you so that the yaks you read are relevant to your area. Yik Yak is very good at finding you location. When I used it on campus, almost every thing I read was about UNK. The other time I used it was when I was visiting the Air Force Academy and everything I read was about the academy. It appeals to a large crowd because realistically people are terrible, and if they can get away with something wrong, they most likely will try. However, IP addresses are also tracked, so if you were to make a threat, say about the UNK library, authorities can just collect the IP address and then bam you are no longer anonymous. I will give credit to the developer because they new how to make something that appeals to a large audience, but its too bad that it became a real platform, because nothing good comes out of it. That being said, I do not think Restore Ministries (my NPO) would benefit at all from being on the site.
David,
ReplyDeleteI also looked into the Yik Yak platform, and I was rather unimpressed. After doing a little bit of research on the platform, I figured out that it is basically just an application for users to post whatever is on their mind. You are right, it is basically a social media platform for users to post 'anonymous' comments, that generally are derogatory. The only time that I have been on the site, was when I was looking into what it entailed. Basically, a hub for negative comments that are relevant to a certain area, like you stated in your blog. I don't see how any non-profit organization would benefit from using this platform.
I have heard of and used Yik Yak. When I used it it was usually just stupid things that people were thinking of at the moment. I did see some bullying but not as much as I would expect coming from an anonymous I do not think that my NPO the Arc of Buffalo County could use it in anyway possible.
ReplyDeleteYik Yak is probably my least favorite platform. There are very few positive things said on it and some of the things that people post are very upsetting. People will say anything when they think it's anonymous. I agree with David that no NPO would benefit from this platform.
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