The yaks under these locations are written by an Atlanta comedian, Ben Popkin. A few of these include Hogwarts, Hunger Games Coverage, and Yik Yak HQ. There are also various featured locations. The locations users can choose from include Furman University, University of Virginia, Boston College, and the University of South Carolina among others. Through the “peek” option,users can choose a location and see recent or popular yaks in that area. Yik Yak doesn’t restrict users to just their own area. “They wouldn’t have been able to get in touch with so many people otherwise,” said Buffington. He advertised the event over Yik Yak and 1,100 people showed up. At Vanderbilt University, a student held a cotton swab drive to test for blood matches for a fellow classmate with leukemia.
#Discussion board apps download#
More schools are being added to the blocked list as the creators of Yik Yak and Maponics acquire the GPS coordinates.ĭue to these bullying incidents and other mature content such as profanities, alcohol or drug use references and sexual content on the app, users must be 17 years or older to download it.Īlthough Yik Yak has caused problems at high schools, it has had a positive effect on college communities. Sending and reading messages is disabled.” A message will appear saying, “It looks like you are using this at a high school or middle school which is not allowed. This technology disables the app when the GPS detects it is within the confines of a school. However, the creators of the app addressed this by working with Maponics to create geo-fences around 80 percent of high schools and middle schools in the country.
“It’s disheartening as a creator to see it used in an unintended way,” said Buffington. In this screen grab, the app tells a user they cannot send any yaks or use the app because they are in or near a school.
Bomb and shooting threats have also been posted on the app, resulting in school lockdowns. Students used the app to anonymously spread rumors and make offensive comments about other students. The app began to cause trouble at middle schools and high schools by facilitating cyberbullying and in some cases to make threats. While the intent was to share information about what’s going on in different areas, Yik Yak has encountered some controversy. There is also an option to report a yak if it is seen as inappropriate or share a yak on both Twitter and Facebook. Users can up vote for yaks if they like them or vote them down if they don’t. Users can choose to display their GPS location when they yak or to add a “yik yak handle,” any name of the user’s choosing, to their post.
Yaks are limited to 200 characters and shared with users within a 1.5-mile radius, which makes it ideal for school campuses. “We wanted to give everyone a voice on campus,” co-creator Brooks Buffington said.
The co-creators felt that too few voices on campus were being heard and created this app to change that. Instead, they can just download the app, open it and start “yaking.” However, the app will ask for users’ locations so that they can view the top yaks in their area. There is a feed that features new and popular posts but there is no log-in and users do not need a username or password. The format of the app is similar to Twitter and acts as a community bulletin board. The app was created by two Furman University graduates who intended it to be used on college campuses in order to connect the university community without having to “follow” or “friend” anyone. Since then, it has faced scrutiny for allowing teenagers to easily cyberbully each other at school behind the cover of anonymity. The increasingly popular app was released in November and allows users to write posts without anyone knowing who wrote them. WASHINGTON – What happens when social media, GPS and anonymity are combined? An app called Yik Yak.
0 kommentar(er)
