Analysis Of Yik Yak

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Yik Yak Yik Yak is probably the biggest social trend I’ve experienced while at West Point. It is relatively new and the anonymous interface gives people next level comfort especially in an environment where there are several restrictions on what you can say out loud. Yik Yak is useful, I would argue – here more so than at other colleges – CGR can send out quick updates and a significant amount of the cadet population would see them right away; questions about formation times, gym hours and several other things can be answered with ease. However, due to the anonymity, Yik Yak has also become a platform for anonymous hate and bashing. This isn’t new and everyone knows it’s happening. We had a PMEE session talking about why people should …show more content…

During one of the questions I got a notification that a friend had sent me a picture; my curiosity got the better of me and I clicked on the notification. When I opened it I saw that it was a screenshot of a Yak – about me. It said “What happened to Jagadam.” I was shocked that anyone cared enough to ask. I wanted so badly to say something but instead I just reported the yak. Anything I commented had the same value the post had – there is never value in defending yourself to an anonymous hater. I saw the post accumulate comments – people, it seemed, had my life all mapped out in their heads. There were some semi-accurate comments, some ridiculous ones, and some that were just rude. I asked some of my friends to down vote it and report it and by the middle of the next hour it was …show more content…

Hiding behind anonymity doesn’t make you any better.” It was voted on a total of 45 times and has 19 upvotes. That’s a breakdown of 32 upvotes and 13 downvotes. While I see how people may think it’s okay to just downvote something as a joke, and I wasn’t necessarily trying to start a social revolution with my yak, I do genuinely find it concerning that there are people who legitimately don’t see anything wrong with calling people out by name in a negative light. Though it may be true that I did this to myself, I think that the fact that we’ve created a culture here where cyber bullying is so acceptable “because they deserve it” is

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