The social media app YikYak is once again in full steam as Augustana College First-Years and returning students settle into campus. The new year brings new drama for students to share online anonymously, but the impact of these posts extends far beyond the screens, with the app causing more harm than good.​

While the app was initially created to be a space for users to voice their thoughts and opinions freely, YikYak has opened the floodgates to cyberbullying, online “trolls” and misinformation. The consequences of the social media platform have led to colleges and universities across the country, including Augustana, to temporarily ban or permanently remove access to the site on campus networks and servers.

Back on campus, students are starting to get acquainted with the social norms around the community, and with that comes frequent social media posts on YikYak. However, the problem with the majority of these posts is that they are becoming thoughtless, speculative nonsense used to rack up attention in the form of upvotes or “karma.”

YikYak’s “karma” system is designed to outline the consequences of virality –the yin and yang of fame. It is easy to lazily think up a topic to post because, as long as the post is off the rails, you are likely to make the “hot” section. Popularity on YikYak is not determined by approval; as long as there is attention, you will make it to the top.

This sense of approval prompts people to say things about others they would not normally say, to relive the addictive sense of instant gratification. However, it is damaging not to think about what your words mean and how they can affect another person. 

In the case of junior Roman Bilanicz, he is all too familiar with the real-life karma that results from a YikYak post.

“People find ways to use my name to talk badly about me, even though YikYak claims to have bots that are supposed to filter out hate speech,” Bilanicz said. “There have been nights I’ve spent crying alone because I’m getting hated on for no reason. I’m an easy target because of how many people know me.”

In Bilanicz’s experience, many of these internet trolls are going against him and his fraternity, Omicron Sigma Omicron (OZO). On a small campus like Augustana College, a Greek fraternity like OZO is a target for trolls to pin allegations against.  

Not only are most of what the trolls say without credit, he said, but they are without even knowing who the OZOs are as people. They just go off word of mouth. Most people want to be the salmon swimming against the current because it is easier to go with the group.

We need to get out of our cliques and communicate with others; otherwise, we will never escape these senseless assumptions. A quick rush of dopamine is not a real connection, especially if it is for the sake of putting others down.​

“To anybody having a hard time with hate comments and hate posts, don’t let it get to you,” Blianicz said. “It’s just noise. At the end of the day, listen to the people you know who are deserving of your time. Finally, just delete YikYak.”