Yik Yak brings anonymous messaging to university communities

Ride a Yak, that’s their tagline. But this yet another messaging app is unlike any other mobile messaging app out there. how? we are going to discover it. Before that, a brief introduction.

What is Ikuyaku?

Yik Yak’s introduction says, “Get a live feed of what people around you are saying.” From a normal perspective, you might think this is a location-based messaging app built for mobile phones. That’s true, but that’s not all. This app, created by Tyler Dror and Brooks Buffington, has taken the entire US college community by storm. They both graduated from Furman University’s College of Liberal Arts in Greenville, South Carolina, where they learned to write iPhone apps and later created Yik Yak. After graduating from there, they decided to work on it full-time and turned Yik Yak into one of the coolest messaging apps for college students.

How is Yik Yak different from other messaging apps like WhatsApp, Wechat, etc.?

There are several reasons. First of all, Yik Yak is not a one-to-one messaging app. Anyone can start a community here. The community is mainly university-specific. Students from that university can join there and post messages (called yaks). Other students can upvote or downvote your message, and you earn Yakarma, a numerical score based on their responses. Over time, your Yakarma will increase and your influence over the community will increase.

Users of the app can also peek anonymously into other university communities, allowing them to monitor what’s happening there. And, similar to Reddit, the app automatically categorizes your yaks into two sections: Recent and Hot. Recent yaks are shown to users by default, and users can switch to the latest yaks to get a glimpse of what’s happening in the community.

What platforms does Yik Yak support?

Yik Yak is available for both Android and iOS platforms. Unfortunately, it is not yet available in India. Most of our users are based only in the United States and specifically affiliated with its universities.

Iku Yaku controversy

Yik Yak has received a lot of abuse due to its unmoderated and anonymous posting nature. Most of the cases charged involve cyberbullying and pranks. Due to the rise in this type of crime, many schools have banned the use of apps on campus. Although the service is primarily location-based and yaks can only be seen within a 10-mile radius, its anonymity has led many users to post about racism and abuse on campus. It has been revealed. Yik Yak’s website says that while some people resort to intimidation, the team takes it seriously and may report it to the authorities. Although you must be at least 17 years old to use Yik Yak, it’s no surprise that many teenagers under that age use the app.

Earlier this year, schools in Canada were forced to go into lockdown after some users posted threats about guns in science labs.

For all these reasons, Yik Yak has a bad reputation in most schools. But at the end of the day, it’s just a tool. So, for better or worse, it’s ultimately up to you to use it as you see fit.

Advantages and disadvantages of Yik Yak

Some of its benefits are:

• Anonymous posting, anyone can post anything without revealing their identity
• It’s location-specific, so you can see at a glance what’s trending in your area.
• The community is easy to join, and the best posts are upvoted and ranked higher.

Cons:

• Incidents of cyberbullying, harassment, and name-calling are common on this app.
• It is difficult to trace the perpetrators of the above crimes.
• It can cause depression in teenagers.

How to block Yik Yak from your child’s phone

Because of the abuse potential of this app, some parents may be concerned that their child will become a victim of cyberbullying by using this app. Thankfully, help is at hand, and it’s built into Android.

If you have an Android smartphone and tablet running Jelly Bean or later, you can set up a device administrator within your phone and create users who can only access certain apps. This will ensure that your children are protected from harmful apps and websites. Additionally, there are several apps in both the App Store and Play Store that can block apps based on pre-set user settings.

Perhaps the best app available for both Android and iPhone is Mobile Guardian. The app comes with a 7-day free trial and has the ability to block many phone functions, ranging from calls, web pages, and apps. Considering the low price of just 2.95 euros per month, it’s definitely worth the investment.

See also: Best selfie apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone

get the iku yaku

If you live in North America, you can get the app here. Although there is no official client available for Windows Phone yet, there is an unofficial app called Yodel that you can use to follow the Yik Yak community on campus.