NAOMI LYNCH
Special to The Leader
Suddenly, watching your tongue has become more imperative with the introduction of the infectious app, Yik Yak.
According to the application’s website, Yik Yak is an anonymous social media platform that allows you to “join the conversation, control what’s hot,” and “peek into other places.”
This app is similar to Reddit, the discussion board website where all the internet trolls reside after a good day’s mischief.
The allure of Yik Yak not only lies in being able to “upvote” and “downvote” what posts you like — all posts are within a few miles’ radius.
So, if you want to talk smack about the boy you hooked up with, then you can and everyone will know exactly who you are talking about.
Have you ever wondered what Fred Confessions would be like if you force-fed it steroids? It would be Yik Yak. Does that frighten you? It should.
Trends vary on Yik Yak: “The most popular trends are people [attempting] to hook up and [the] bashing of sucky teachers/classes,” said a 19-year-old liberal arts student who wished to remain anonymous. Other trends include getting drunk or high, complaining about college life and Calios.
Rarely will you see the same thing twice on Yik Yak but, so far, the most popular trend of all are people Yakking, “Come to Grissom!”
This trend spread across the Twitter-like app like wildfire; allusions of dozens of male freshman who are waiting with open doors for the the girls who upvote the Yak to run into their arms.
Naturally, I reached out to Eric Hotchkiss, the Resident Director of Grissom, for his opinion.
“I always encourage people to come to Grissom,” Hotchkiss said. “The Residence Life staff have many programs going on that the campus can be involved with.”
Does Hotchkiss feel the need to keep a watchful eye on his residents from all this newfound attention?
“No.” His answer was swift and crisp. “The students in the building are free to make their own choices within the guidelines of campus policy and the law. On many occasions when students do bring guests into the building, they are friends and family.”
As fun as Yik Yak appears to be, this doesn’t mean that people aren’t biased on this app: talk negatively about a popular social organization and your post will disappear like quicksand; never to be seen again.
Yik Yak does have some redeeming qualities — you can find out about parties in advance or even class cancellations. People also tend to be brutally honest when cowering behind a screen, so why not ask for some good ol’ relationship advice?
While most of the popular “Yaks” remain, you can’t spend a day without seeing a racist Yak here and a bullying Yak there. Fredonia often heralds it’s diversity factor, but … is this the Fredonia student body showing its true colors?
A few days ago, there was a media gaffe where Fredonia’s official Twitter account retweeted a statement that said “Fredonia: where the weather is more confusing than the women.” President Virginia Horvath sent out a statement about the implications of the now deleted tweet, but the damage was already done.
All over Yik Yak that night were comments about how the tweet “was a joke,” and an overall bashing of women for “taking everything too seriously.”
“There is a power in having an anonymous Twitter app such as Yik Yak,” said a senior English major who wished to remain anonymous as well. “Some people will have good intentions, but just like with many viral apps that could be useful, we just have to wait for the trolls to go away. My only hope is that Yik Yak doesn’t become riddled with bomb threats or something of the sort.”
In addition, Yik Yak has also been the first place campus news breaks. Following a break-in on Temple Street on Oct. 30, many took to Yik Yak to share the news — some expressing that they heard of it in Yik Yak first.
There have been various death and bomb threats over Yik Yak in the past few weeks, and because of the nature of school shootings in America, each threat is taken seriously. Should Fredonia become more involved in making sure another incident like that never happens here?
“Does the college community of Fredonia have a responsibility to monitor posts on Yik Yak? Absolutely,” said Hotchkiss. “But, let me be clear: when I say Fredonia, I mean every single person in this community has the responsibility to monitor what is being posted. Fredonia students are skilled, connected, creative and responsible and I encourage and challenge students to utilize these baccalaureate goals everyday, even on Yik Yak.”
It’s descended as quick as the Fredonia Plague — but Yik Yak is infamously proving that it is here to stay.