Yik Yak is a social media platform designed for college students, by college students. The app is designed like Twitter and allows users to post anonymously and read what has been said within a 1.5-mile radius.
Posts can be up- or down-voted and commented on.
An estimated 37 percent of Auburn University undergraduate students are active Yik Yak users, according to Cam Mullen, lead community developer for Yik Yak.
According to Mullen, Auburn students are yakking nearly every 60 seconds, which makes it one of the most active Yik Yak feeds.
"We look at monthly active users, which are how many people have opened up the app in the past month," Mullen said. "We take that number and divide it by the number of undergraduates on campus. You have about 7,000 active users which is huge."
Compared to other SEC west schools, Auburn has the second highest percentage of undergraduates on Yik Yak behind the University of Alabama.
Students look to the app to vent about things they could not normally say out loud or on their other social media.
Ashley Magee, freshman in political science, said she is an active yakker, posting several times per day.
"I check it at least 20 times a day," Magee said. "I use Yik Yak for inappropriate tweets. I think it's funny so it's just a source of entertainment."
Some students use the app, but think the anonymity gives it the possibility to be harmful.
"I think the only problem is the fact that since its anonymous people don't feel any remorse for saying anything," said Ricardo Rios, freshman in biomedical sciences.
Duncan Blackwell, freshman in biomedical science, said he believes if you disagree with how the app works, that you simply shouldn't download it.
"I don't see that there is a problem with it," Blackwell said. "If you don't like it than you can delete it and you don't have to have it."
The No. 1 rule for the app, according to the Yik Yak information page, condemns bullying.
Users can downvote posts and once a post reaches negative five down votes, it is removed from the feed.
"What excites us is the more mature a community is and the more diverse a student body is in that community, the better they are at policing themselves," Mullen said.
"The community has each others backs so if there is something [negative] posted, it often gets taken off within minutes."
Allen Furr, professor and chair of the department of sociology, said he believes cyber bullying does not happen as often as it is thought.
"Research seems to show that 70-90 percent of people have never experienced any of those things," Furr said. "Just because it happens doesn't mean it happens a lot."
Furr said he feels the anonymity of the app is not necessarily harmful, but rather a way to express yourself.
"It s an enticement to act out ways you already feel and it allows you to express whatever it is you are in ways you maybe wouldn't have done before," Furr said. "It's the same as writing something on a wall with spray paint and running away."
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