Just A Bunch Of Yik Yak
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Student Life

Just A Bunch Of Yik Yak

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There's a new app on campus -- and it might be one you want to avoid. Yik Yak, a new online app, is springing up on college campuses and may be causing more damage than entertainment. 

Our generation was one of the first to grow up with social media, and while we are still learning and navigating online etiquette, we’ve all experienced, firsthand, the power that social media can hold. A single post can go viral in a matter of days, hours, even minutes. A simple challenge can raise millions of dollars for medical research all because people upload a video to their Facebook page. But, social media can also be highly destructive.

A few days ago, I was informed of a new app making its rounds on campus.  Apparently, it has been around for a while and I’m a bit late to the game, so you’ve probably already heard of it. "Yik Yak is like an anonymous Twitter,” someone explained to me. Naturally, I was curious, so I downloaded it. Right away, I knew this could get ugly.

The difference between Yik Yak and Twitter is that instead of following people, the app simply uses your location to show you posts that other people in your area have added. There are no names, just anonymous posts -- each with an up or down arrow on the side. If other users like the post they can then click the up arrow; if they dislike the post, they can click the down arrow.

Honestly, the app can be highly entertaining, but as I continued to scroll through more posts I began to notice a nasty trend. Because the app shows you posts based on location, and I was currently on the UNL campus, I saw more and more posts regarding Greek life and other UNL students.

As I scrolled through the app over the course of the next few days, I was appalled at the amount of crude and cruel comments people had posted. There were comments about other Greek houses, racial slurs, inappropriate comments about women, and rude posts about the non-Greek community. With all of the current negativity in our world, I am consistently amazed at people’s decision to add toxic comments. Do cheap shots and digs at others really make us feel better about ourselves?  

As members of the Greek system, we know, firsthand, how capable and intelligent our brothers and sisters are. Not only in our own houses, but in every house on campus. For some reason, the majority of posts I saw on Yik Yak were cruel and destructive, often playing to hurtful stereotypes. And worse, they seemed to be posted by fellow Greeks. Taking cheap shots at other Greek organizations is going to do nothing but widening the divide between houses.

Unfortunately, the posts didn’t stop there. As I continued to scroll, I noticed posts also involved the non-Greek community.  I still have yet to see how the decision to go Greek makes someone better than another. It was apparent, however, that many users did not share this opinion. Then, there were the racial slurs about other students, and inappropriate and objectifying sexual posts about women on campus. This is not acceptable. Vicious stereotypes continue to plague our student body, a trend that is all too obvious on Yik Yak.

I found many of these Yik Yak posts to be cowardly and immature.  If you wouldn’t feel comfortably saying these things to someone’s face, what makes it okay to post online? I’m not asking that we all delete the app and take a solemn vow to never check Yik Yak again, but I am asking you to think carefully before you make an anonymous post. Anonymous or not, a post can be incredibly hurtful to students on our campus -- something we all need to take into account when using any form of social media. These cowardly, destructive posts are doing nothing to build a welcoming community on UNL’s campus. Be kind to one another, it’s really not difficult.    

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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