Yik Yak is taking over Drew University, and the effects are detrimental to everyone. Students need to be more mindful of the information they are posting and consuming on the anonymous social media platform. Students, change your Yik Yak posting habits.
For students unfamiliar with the social media app, Yik Yak is an anonymous posting platform meant to connect students and create a sense of community. On their website and guidelines for law enforcement, Yik Yak states, “By letting users express themselves, exchange thoughts, and explore their world, Yik Yak helps users feel at home within their local community.”
Despite the company’s intentions to connect users and make them “feel at home,” the platform does the exact opposite. It has bred an environment where students can share negative comments about Drew and its individual members. Cyberbullying and misinformation are constant forces on the feed that have larger implications when it comes to student mental health and safety.
This phenomenon is not localized to Drew. Other institutions have noted Yik Yak’s negative impacts, such as the University of North Carolina which is working to ban the social application from the school’s network.
Yik Yak’s community guidelines directly prohibit personal attacks, discrimination, dangerous or illegal activity, promoting self-harm, excessively sexual content, excessive promotion or repetition, threats or violence, false information, trolling and more. Despite this, students have the ability to post anything and everything – including direct references to people – with little to no consequences, unless law enforcement requests more information.
Yik Yak says they monitor their site for these posts and violations of the guidelines “may result in a temporary or permanent ban.” However, the platform also makes “yakkers” partially responsible for monitoring the kinds of conversation that happen on the app. They ask that anyone who sees bullying or violation of the guidelines, downvote and report the message.
Downvoting and removing posts does not address the heaps of other problems that result from Yik Yak. The anonymity function makes it extremely difficult for administration to aid students who need support or address comments of concern.
“We have been trying really hard to get people to report incidents this year and share with us any matters of concern,” said Dean of Student Life, Michelle Brisson. “And if people feel there are safety issues, throwing something out on Yik Yak is not the way to help us make change. And we do act on the reports we get, so that is, I think, essential for us to know. Just blowing off steam on an anonymous platform is one thing, but voicing something that is a concern is just not appropriate for that setting.”
Drew’s students need to be mindful about what they are posting on Yik Yak. They also need to consider where they are posting concerns.
“If there are concerns about anything on campus, when it comes to a person, a place, a thing, use the Livesafe app,” said Vice President for Enrollment Management & Campus Life, Frank Merckx.
On Treehouse, under the students tab, there is a resources section. Students can turn here to fill out reports relating to mental health, work orders, medical resources, incident reports, students of concern reports, bias or hate based incidents, Title IX incidents and even technology support requests.
Reporting via these avenues will enact change. Though posting anonymously on Yik Yak may reach a large audience, this forum can only result in harm.
There are plenty of other effective outlets to release frustration and share opinions on a large forum. Creative outlets, publications on campus and clubs give students a platform where they can share how they feel and take productive action to address those feelings.
Not only does Yik Yak address student concerns ineffectively, but it also creates a community based on falsehoods and misinformation.
Countless instances of hate speech and defaming of student names occurs on Yik Yak, and it has a lasting impact on a student’s image and, more importantly, their mental health.
Anonymous sharing of reports regarding Title IX, bias and hate, discrimination, mental health and general safety does not help make Drew a safer place. All students should take the time they are putting into Yik Yak now to fill out a report or talk to an administrator.
Constantly consuming such negative information about other people, and, for some, about themselves, makes it difficult to see Drew as an open, welcoming and caring place.
With all of this in mind, it is the students at Drew that have the power to change the dynamic on Yik Yak.
Students must be cognizant of the fact that on the other side of the screen, there is another person with feelings and that their commentary can significantly impact a student’s life.
“The only people who can change a culture are the majority of the citizenry. People can instantly go on Yik Yak and try to make it into a more positive place,” said Merckx. Students are the ones that can make the change.
Drew students, please be mindful of how you use Yik Yak. The platform has the ability to create a strong sense of community on campus. It can be an environment of misinformation and negativity or a place where students can share good deeds on campus and generally uplift one another.
Featured image courtesy of Pexels.com.
