{"id":4672,"date":"2017-03-10T09:49:18","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T14:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=4672"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:07:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:07:40","slug":"think-before-you-yak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2017\/03\/10\/think-before-you-yak\/","title":{"rendered":"Think Before You Yak"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\n\u201cSomeone come hangout!!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s down to go skiing wednesdayyyy?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are so desperate it\u2019s nauseating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny guy wanna hook up?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so heart broken right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

These are just a few examples of the kind of content you can expect to find on Yik Yak.\u00a0 Yik Yak is a location-based, social-media platform.\u00a0 It can be used to make anonymous posts that people located near you can read.\u00a0 What exactly draws people to Yik Yak?\u00a0 What sets it apart from other apps and social media platforms?<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can be as honest as they want, and they can say things they wouldn\u2019t normally say,\u201d freshman Lily Logidice said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve seen some pretty nasty stuff on there, like threats.\u00a0 People will say anything when it can\u2019t be traced back to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March of 2016 Yik Yak introduced a new feature: handles.\u00a0 Users are now given the option to label their yaks (posts) and comm<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can use my name and my handle, everyone knows it\u2019s me,\u201d Ethan Dube said.\u00a0 Dube uses the handle Twilight Realm on Yik Yak.\u00a0 Why does Dube use the app?\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s something to do when I\u2019m bored.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nature of the app makes it easy for conflicts to arise.\u00a0 \u201cThere are definitely ways people can abuse that.\u00a0 You can say whatever you want without fear of reprisal,\u201d Dube said. \u201cIt kind of turned into people targeting other people and directly calling people out,\u201d Dube said in reference to a conflict involving him and other Yik Yak users.<\/p>\n

The altercation began when someone yaked about Dube and his roommates.\u00a0 A personal dispute was put on public display.\u00a0 Everyone on Yik Yak got front row seats as the action unfolded.\u00a0 Dube and his roommates were accused of reporting the yaker and his friends for drinking in a dry dorm.\u00a0 The OP and Dube went back and forth in the replies, arguing about morality.\u00a0 Other users joined in and started posting their own opinions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you actually want to talk it over, come talk to us.\u00a0 You hide behind social media,\u201d one of Dube\u2019s roommates replied.\u00a0 The comments became increasingly hostile, vulgar and immature.<\/p>\n

Yik Yak\u2019s use of anonymity takes social media to another level.\u00a0 It gives people a place to say things without being held accountable.\u00a0 The opportunity to be anonymous is an ingenious way to attract new users.\u00a0 It piques the interest of many, regardless of their intentions.\u00a0 People drawn to the app may be surprised by how differently they act wearing the veil of anonymity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSomeone come hangout!!\u201d \u201cWho\u2019s down to go skiing wednesdayyyy?\u201d \u201cPeople are so desperate it\u2019s nauseating.\u201d \u201cAny guy wanna hook up?\u201d \u201cI hate my life.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m so heart broken right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8884,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672\/revisions\/8884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}