When
you think about it, finals was the perfect time for Yik Yak to catch
on. Now we can all slander each other
from our cubicles in the stacks, taking out our anger at both finals, as well
as the disgusting social culture at this school. If you don’t know what Yik Yak is, you will
soon enough. The incredibly simple app
uses a character limit and an up-vote/down-vote system to broadcast anonymous
statements to the local community. The
result is egregiously offensive content, including countless personal and
institutional attacks.
As
amusing as calling girls “slutty” and fraternities “gay” may be to the selfish
pricks who are currently dominating the Yik Yak leaderboards, statements like
these can be devastating to the individuals being targeted. While I am sure that many will argue that
these individuals deserved or earned the jokes made at their expense, I am here
to tell you that is bullshit. There is
absolutely nothing funny about anonymous hatred.
This
social emergency is remarkably similar to the one that occurred my senior year,
with High School Menes. It is all too easy to underestimate the power
of the pen, especially when there is no name attached to the ink. What people fail to realize is that one
stupid Yik Yak at the expense of an individual will likely cause a lot more
hurt on their end than joy on the author’s.
We
all go to a top-20 school, yet, we act like imbeciles when faced with new
technology. Not often enough do we take
a moment to think before we act.
Admittedly, I played around with Yik Yak pretty extensively before I
decided to write this piece. My hope was
that the banter would move toward real issues.
The comments about cigarettes outside, and study drugs inside the
library are topics that I would gladly address on this blog, because they are
interesting and relevant to the wider student body. This app has the infrastructure to unite
like-minded individuals on broader issues.
Not
surprisingly, however, Yik Yak has devolved into a garbage heap of hurtful jabs
and cheap laughs. Emory has proved, once
again, that it is composed of selfish, entitled jerks. At the very least, the participants in this
forum have proved that they are of this breed.
The
two most popular Yik Yak’s currently, with 159 and 117 up-votes apiece, address
the masculinity of ATO’s hell week and Emory’s Long Island community,
respectively. While I’m sure that
someone could make an argument that those are Emory’s two most pressing issues,
I’d like to think that we could do better.
So, for what feels like the hundredth time, I urge you to put down your
phones, mind your own business, and if you really have something to say, put
your name on it. Yik Yak is a waste of
time—might as well get back to studying.
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