Universal The demise of Yik Yak

[VulchR]

It seems the developers of Yik Yak have removed anonymity in posting (for those of you who don't know, Yik Yak was originally a wholly anonymous social app). What a shame - I work at a University and the students use Yik Yak to support each other. It did a lot of good last year, but now the students will be reluctant to post for fear somebody will discover their user ID. You'd think there'd be a lot of trolling in an anonymous social forum, but at least where I am trolls get down voted within minutes and were swiftly and automatically removed.

What I fail to understand is why Yik Yak's developers have persisted with the changes they made, for their app now has hundreds of 1-start ratings from users because of the switch away from anonymity. Where I am the Yik Yak community has dried up as people have moved to Jodel (which isn't as polished as Yik Yak was). What a shame... Yik Yak has become as lame as FB and Twitter.

 

[C DM]

Can't people just register as made up users basically, making it not that much different than being anonymous? Sort of like on online forums, like here, for example?

 

[VulchR]

Well sort of, but imagine posting something and not noticing that somebody has seen your user handle. Since Yik Yak is location-based, the kind of information would spread like wildfire via gossip (or at least where I am). Yik Yak used to be so good but now they've killed it. On the App Store it currently has 661 reviews and is averaging 1 star, and all the written comments amount to the same: return it to the option of being anonymous at least and bring back 'herds' (local groups that you can interact with when you travel).

 

[willmtaylor]

App was a cesspool of ignorance, hate, sexism, and xenophobia at my local school. Anonymity fostered that. I deleted it because users disgusted me so much.

 

[VulchR]

Sorry to hear that. It was fine where I was. I guess any social app reflects that nature of the people who use it. Besides, lack of anonymity doesn't preclude people posting objectionable views – just look at the PRSI forum on MacRumors...

I wonder if anybody has done serious research asking whether anonymous posting increases trolling in social networks, but in any case I got the feeling that the developers of Yik Yak had delusions of being the next Twitter or Facebook.

 

[willmtaylor]

Sorry to hear that. It was fine where I was. I guess any social app reflects that nature of the people who use it. Besides, lack of anonymity doesn't preclude people posting objectionable views – just look at the PRSI forum on MacRumors...

I wonder if anybody has done serious research asking whether anonymous posting increases trolling in social networks, but in any case I got the feeling that the developers of Yik Yak had delusions of being the next Twitter or Facebook.

Good grief, PRSI is the bane of MRF.

Many in higher education are considering doing away with anonymous course evaluations, as it often leads to gratuitous slander often bordering on sexism and racism.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I love the PRSI forum here as I never look at it. It's nice to exile that stuff to a separate category. Perhaps Yik Yak should have considered something like that.