Yik Yak: Controversial Apps For College Students?

Social media has become one of the most dominate things in the lives of today’s youth. Millennials use social media for many reasons, to stay connected and as a source of entertainment. Among all the social media sites, one that is particularly popular is Snap chat. Most college and high school students check this app before twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Instagram noticed this trend early and tried to buy out snapchat, but their attempt failed and now snapchat has not only influenced its opens to copy its stories idea but also almost copy the format exactly. In my paper I will discuss two different articles that both focus on the topic of snap chat usage. I will also contrast these two articles and reveal how they have similar findings but different approaches.

Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, Instagram, Tinder - all of these most likely sound a little familiar. They are all social media sites that are easily accessible through our iPhones or Galaxies or any other phone really. In the Emily Witt’s essay “Love Me Tinder”, which is part of the bigger story as to how Tinder came to be, along with some personal experiences of the people involved in the earlier development of the application. The discussion centers around the ever-changing motion of romantic and social domains in response to online dating sites like Tinder, where people can get together for regular hook-ups or casual dates, among other things, without commitment or the complications of things getting too serious. Witt wonders what this foreshadows for the human connection through the online world where people are just constantly connecting, but at the same time, not really connecting either. In "Precognitive Police" by Henrick Karoliszyn, he discusses a different and, in a lot of ways, the more troubling consequences of computer technology in his essay, where crimes can be prevented through various algorithms that can pinpoint criminals before they commit crimes, raising a countless number of questions concerning the fourth amendment. But there is an issue - an issue of us dehumanizing each other. Nowadays, our first impressions of people become these online profiles of them or files of them along with a history of them and the things they have done. These new

"Yik Yak and Free Speech," an article by Gabriel Tyler, discuses the social media app, Yik Yak, that allows users to post anonymously. Yik Yak is used by many college students and many questions arise about the content of the posts and comments, The use of the app has many asking whether or not is should be allowed on college campuses, if it violates the first amendment, and what safety measures are being put in place. If used correctly, the app can be a valuable tool for users to communicate about hot topics of discussion, such as issues of woman's rights, however when used to mock or degrade another individual or group, such as to target race or gender, it can have detrimental effects on school morale. The app Yik Yak has been popular

In his essay, “Get Over It,” Jeff Jarvis argues that “ . . . our supposed privacy crisis, . . . could result in our missing many of the opportunities the net affords to connect with each other and with information” (430). On the other hand, Andrew Keen, in “Sharing is a Trap,” states that “. . . this increasingly ubiquitous social network . . . is invading the 'sacred precincts' of private and domestic life” (426). With all the posting, tweeting, and blogging privet lives have become open to the public. SMS, emails and even calls are being traced, recorded and reviewed every day, you are not safe on the internet. Keen’s argument regarding social media is valid in regard to the transformative nature of the Internet, privacy and “publicness.”

A social media app by the name of “Yik Yak” has been creating conflict among several colleges across the United States. Yik Yak is anonymous, meaning that the user can view and post messages to anyone within a one and a half mile radius without giving a username, photo, password, etc. Despite several situations, Yik Yak is mainly harmless, however, recent occurrences have proved otherwise. Racist and sexist posts, as well as some threatening comments have caused students to feel awkward, hurt, and even threatened. The question is, should colleges ban Yik Yak?

Cyber bullying has become easier than ever due to the hidden identities of these social network users. Content posted on these anonymous forums get considered abusive when they possess threats, dirty words, a person's name associated with foul language, and discrimination of sex, race, or gender (Lui & Sui, 116). Jayleen Lovell, a senior in high school, became a victim of anonymous cyber bullying when she downloaded the app Afterschool, another well-known anonymous discussion network. When reading the content, she discovered degrading posts targeted at her that read, "...all Jayleen has going for her in life is her looks," and " Jayleen needs to stop opening her legs" (Welch, 1). Luckily, Lovell was able to ignore these harsh comments about

The rapid growth of technology in our society has become more dominant than it was in the 17th and 18th century. Today, technology is used for almost everything in our day to day lives. But the most common usage of technology is for communication and industrialization. However, every good thing has its disadvantage if it is over used, and since technology has become very dominant, it is used by both young and older people but more predominant among the youth of the today. Even more, technology has brought about social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, my space, piazza.com, instagram, tango, and last but not the least texting. According to socialnetworking.procon.org, “47% of American adults used social networking sites like

Research Question: “Why are people, particularly college and high school students, so attracted to the idea of constructing an anonymous identity through online social media platforms, like Yik Yak?”

Students who belittle other students over social media should not be allowed in college either. Over 25% of students have been bullied through and over social media in their lifetime. Not only can these students’ opinions bully and harass these students, it may drive them to suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in college students, following car accidents. Students who are bullied go to school to get away from this harassment and should not have to deal with the students who bully them at school. The students who post negative thoughts about other people to belittle them should not be able to surround themselves with other

The inauguration of online social spaces has influenced adolescents’ identity formation and development. Surfing on social networks, teens tend to use three main kinds of online identifications; true identity that is the same offline identity, pseudonymity which refers to the use of fake names, and anonymity which means full obscurity. (Donath, 1999) online social networking sites used among adolescents include Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, blogs, interactive computer games, and chat rooms. Adolescents think that online integration and acceptance in the previously mentioned online setting to be a sign of socialization and well being. (Slagter Van Tryon & Bishop, 2009) In a study conducted by Reich’s (2010) suggests that 25% of high school students and 21% of college students have experienced problems with friendships due to activity on social networking sites. The main

“As the use of social media increases and becomes an integral part of nearly every student’s life, problems arise when student expression on these sites turns into threats against the school or other students, implicating both student safety and the speaker’s right to free speech” (Hughes 208). There’s no denying that social media has become a part of most people’s daily life. We have sites like Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. These websites, or apps, allow us to express ourselves in any way possible, whether it’s supporting families who lost a member in a mass shooting, trying to impeach the latest president, or donating to those who are victims of natural disasters. It’s not always that social

The internet was invented roughly about 30 years ago by the World Wide Web. However, the first social media came out circa 20 years ago. The name of it was Six Degrees and it was created by Andrew Weinreich in the 1900’s. Six degrees users had the capabilities of uploading a profile, making friends, and sending messages with family and friends. Nevertheless on 2004, Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg, a 19-year-old who created the biggest social media that changed the world. Till this day, Facebook probably has up to 2 billion users and still counting. Nonetheless, most people seen on Facebook ranges from their teens to mid-40s, that have the capability of spreading information across the globe setting a chain reaction that created and spread fake news. Social medias’ fake news is spread by a heap of people that are easily convinced by false statements. According to Gretel, “In the midst of a nationwide debate over the proliferation of fake news on social media sites – and, as one 2015 study by the Media Insight Project shows, at a time when nearly 9 in 10 Millennials regularly get news from Facebook – the numbers, at first glance, may point to a bleak, uninformed future.” (n. pag.) Therefore, teens need to use social media to disintegrate some of the repercussions of real news.

With the development of advances in technology, communication through social networking has risen immensely. Communicating is not only less complicated, it is also relatively inexpensive. “Many teens in relationships view social media as a place where they can feel more connected with the daily events in there significant other’s life, share emotional connections, and let their significant other know they care” (Lenhart, Anderson, and Smith). However, the ease of access to social networking has allowed many adolescents to become overly involved. Networking has the potential to influence adolescents both emotionally and physically which in turn may lead to negative behaviors. An article from procon.org stated, “The use of social networking sites is correlated with personality and brain disorders, such as the inability to have in-person conversations, a need for instant gratification, ADHD, and self-centered personalities, as well as addictive behaviors” (ProCon.org). Essentially, social networking has rising negative influences on teens because of increased cyber bullying, lack of respect for personal privacy, and its addictive qualities.

Social media. We have all heard of it. We have all raved about it at some point in our lives. There is no doubt; it plays an imperative part of people’s lives today – users are reliant on social media. It is great that Mark Zuckerberg reminds us to say, “Happy Birthday” to our friends. Yet, we have all seen the dangers it can cause. From identity fraud to cyberbullying - we become exposed to the dangers of the internet. Not only is it hackers and frauds that cause destruction, but social networking posts. Every day, you scroll through Facebook, or Instagram - liking, sharing and commenting on posts. What people don’t see is how words on a ‘status’ or ‘tweet’ can hurt someone. They can’t see that a person’s feelings behind the screens on a computer have been destroyed, because they can’t see what they don’t want to see.

Can you imagine living in a world with no social media or smartphone? No instagram, twitter, facebook or snapchat? Believe it or not, that world existed before us millennials did. According to an article found on the Pew Research Center.com, entitled “The Demographics of Social Media Users”, the amount of Facebook users is “72% of adult internet users [and] 62% of entire adult population.” Facebook along with other media outlets have easily become the norm for young adults and older adults in today’s society. The rapid growth of accessibility to social media networking was made possible from the creation and use of smart phones. The combination of social media sites and smart phone users has single handedly eliminated the need for human interactions, but also has provided a repertoire of information at our fingertips. I will discuss the following: the history of Facebook and its impact, the creation of the iPhone and its development of social media apps like Instagram, and the effects of cyberbullying. The purpose of this essay is to explore the productive qualities and destructive qualities that various social media outlets have presented to our generation.