Marywood University banned Yik Yak this month due to hateful messages being anonymously shared on the app. President Lisa Lori said the app is being used to attack, discriminate and harass members of campus.
Due to this hateful use of Yik Yak, the app is being banned from the Marywood campus effective immediately. However, after testing the app this week, it still has yet to be banned over the school’s wifi.
Yik Yak is a form of social media, used mostly by college students. The app, launched in the beginning of 2013, allows students to connect, share ideas and even create memes.
Two differences set Yik Yak apart from other social media apps. The first one is that Yik Yak only works with students within a five-mile radius. This enables students to connect with people within their area.
The second twist is that all posts, messages and users are anonymous. This is bad for many reasons. This makes it easier to spread hateful messages. Along with anonymous users, this enables easy ways of pinning hurtful messages on someone who has no affiliation with the post.
In the email, Lori stated that “the misuse of Yik Yak is inconsistent with Marywood’s mission, core values, and conduct policies and procedures.”
Ben Farrell, a senior architecture major, believes that the posts allowed people to without consequences.
“Yik Yak’s anonymous posts allow for people to make fun of people and have no consequences,” Farrell said. “They can say anything they want, and even frame someone for an act they didn’t do.”
Farrell came up with an idea to limit the hateful content on the app..
“Yik Yak could add a team to moderate the posts and delete any harmful or offensive posts that hit the timelines of the app,” Farrell suggested.
Joseph Swetter, a sports management major, agrees that the developers behind Yik Yak need to do a better job at management.
“The fact that all posts are anonymous is really bad,” he said. “People can post something hateful about another person and face no consequences. But if the people behind the app can get better at moderation, what is said could come back to those people.”
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