Yik Yak, one of the latest applications available to smartphones, has taken Azusa Pacific by storm. Providing an outlet and a channel for students, faculty and strangers alike to express their inmost thoughts and feelings about anything and everything they want anonymously, Yik Yak produces a live feed of posts (called “Yaks”) relative to the geographical location of those who carry the application on their devices.
Users can like (or “up”), dislike (or “down”), and reply to messages, again unidentifiably. Certainly, Yik Yak could be used in fun, innocent and harmless ways; however, this overwhelmingly has not been the case at APU. The entire essence of Yik Yak gives users the false notion that through anonymity they are free of accountability and consequences of reputation.
Character is a simple concept.
Who are you when no one is looking? When no one can place the blame on or point a finger at you, how would you choose to live your life? When you post that Yak about the “fat girl” behind you or that person you “hate,” do you like you right now?
If a report of your Yaks became public, with your name plastered to the top, could you calmly, confidently, proudly hand that report off to someone – a friend, family member, loved one or potential employer? For most of you, probably not.
Yeah, but that would never actually happen. It’s anonymous, so it doesn’t matter, right? Wrong. If those are your thoughts right now, you may want to re-examine how valuable your character is to you. That is something you, and only you, can decide for yourself. Did you think that your posts could not be tracked? Think again.
You are using a mobile device to which that application you downloaded is now linked, an application that uses GPS as the base for its entire functionality.
After reaching out to the media relations team, Yik Yak representative Zack Nola said in a statement that “due to Yik Yak’s use of geo-location, users’ locations can be tracked, however, there is no signup and Yik Yak collects no personally identifiable information.”
In other words, you don’t have a username, email or password, but you can definitely be traced if the right people wanted to find you.
In a less extreme and highly possible scenario, you want to Yak about how sexually frustrated you are? First let me say, who isn’t? Even married couples experience this problem, and Yik Yak is not the way to channel that. But that’s an opinion piece for another day.
The danger here is that police are not the only people who know how to trace geo-locations and hack devices, just something to consider. Anyone from a total creeper to a future employer could figure it out if they really wanted. Be accountable to, and look out for, yourself.
Lastly, are we not in college? Because I thought we were.
“Yik Yak is being used by the population to bring the troll mentality from online forums to real life,” said Tyler Casey, senior business administration major. “To those who abuse it, all I can say is grow up. This isn’t sixth grade.”
No, this isn’t sixth grade. This is a university in which we are preparing for our future careers and being able to function in the “real world.” In the “real world,” grownups face their problems and even people they don’t like, and deal with it accordingly.
“What is it about anonymity that gives us the platform to elevate our perceived sense of value over others, and why are most people more than happy to engage in a social media platform that allows them to do just that?” said Andrew Rinard, junior youth ministry major. “It seems to me that there is more than ‘just a bit of fun’ going on when someone makes a post highlighting the failure or mishap of a fellow human being living in the same community.”
As the on-campus cliche goes, “Words matter,” and they really do. Just because you are not held accountable for them does not mean that they don’t have lasting effects on others, and it does not make you any less of a cyber-bully just because your name was not attributed to the post.
Consider that the next time you “Yak.”