Recently there has been major hype over the new social media app, Yik Yak, which allows users to anonymously post anything they want to, seen by everyone who has the app within a 1.5-mile radius, with no clue as to who posted it

This by far is a remarkable new advancement in social media, one which I even partake in from time to time. It’s fun, it’s discreet and it allows you to say anything you want, with little to no restrictions. However, this is an upgrade that comes with a cost. For lack of a better word, and coming from a yak that I posted some time ago, Yik Yak has taken cyber-bullying to a whole new level.

Millikin’s own Yik Yak span has seen this type of anonymous harassment. From arguments about which majors are least likely to get a job to ignorant complaints about other races and sexualities, no one is safe from harassment. One specific issue on Yik Yak, which I’d rather not quote in our newspaper, was various noise complaints on various floors of Hessler, in which numerous Hessler yakkers complained ruthlessly about the noise. Another common occurrence on Millikin’s Yik Yak feed is directed towards theatre students, in which various yakkers insult their choice of major.

Although no form of social media is immune to cyber-bullying, Yik Yak’s anonymity allows anyone, more specifically those who are too scared to post something with their name on it, to gain the courage to join in the ridicule.

The yakking about theatre majors has gotten out of control. Though many people who viewed the yak could have ignored what the post was saying, as many would most likely do on Facebook or Twitter, many joined in the argument and let everybody know how they truly felt about the un-known person who made the yak, stereotyping the perpetrator and even insulting the yakker’s (unknown) major.

This type of anonymity that Yik Yak offers allows people to create the equivalent of hateful writings on a bathroom wall. It takes all the fear of punishment and one-to-one confrontation out of the picture.

Yik Yak can be a place of joy, where fellow students make the same sappy jokes about hating their schedule or spreading discreet praise of individuals, but it can also be a place of hate and harassment. So, next time you have the desire to yak, consider which group you want to be a part of.