Yik Yak: A Story of Discovery

YikYak_MaryDugganSo, I would like to think that I’m technologically savvy, and can pick up on the latest apps and internet trends in a millisecond. But what in the actual world is Yik Yak?

No. Seriously. What is it? Also, what kind of animal is that even supposed to be?

For the longest time, I genuinely couldn’t figure it out. Is it like a new form of dating site where you can hit on random people anonymously? Is it a secret blackbook to all of the hottest parties around State College?

From what I have concluded, despite the insanity of it all and the weird bison-themed icon, it is absolutely hysterical. So, I decided to do some experimenting.

In case you are not aware, Yik Yak is a new app that connects you with your current location, and allows you to see a stream of random, anonymous posts. Most of the comments are irrelevant things about everything from making fun of Greek life, to praising Canyon Pizza to basically trying to “subtweet” other people.

Being the elite social media wizard that I am, I clearly figured out immediately what I was doing and had the best first “yak” (as they weirdly call it) of all time.

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Obviously, I received no “likes” on this. I was extremely heartbroken by this turn of events, and quickly deleted my “yak” in shame.

But my shame did not last. I soon became famous.

The best thing about this app is you can post random thoughts that you have about things you might not even want to say out loud, and you can generate opinions from the consensus of likes/dislikes. So, I asked a very important question.

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Clearly, at least 22 people in the State College area besides myself find spin the bottle to be a completely understandable form of quality entertainment. Solid.

Now that I had this screenshot to put on my resume, I decided to move forward. Besides general opinions and hilarity, could this app be used to actually make connections with people?

I play volleyball like clockwork every Friday, and it’s (no pun intended) a hit-or-miss. Sometimes the best people show up in the Intramural Building to play, sometimes it’s just me and my roommate. This time, I tried to use good old Yik Yak to increase my chances.

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Yup. That didn’t help, either.

Okay, so if Yik Yak was not reliable to meet people that way, what was it good for? I would figure this out late on Friday night. Maybe nobody wanted to play volleyball with me, but there are definitely people who use this app to uh… try to have a good time.

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The classic love story of our generation proceeded this way: random yik yaker also “yaked” me his snapchat. My male friend and I took a rather attractive selfie and snapped it back to him. He replied with a very cute one that impressed us both. My friend gave him his number via snapchat. The rest is history. Nicholas Sparks, here I come with your newest best-selling novel.

That experience was enough to convince me that this was the most ridiculous and genius app to come around in a while, and it is still on my phone even after I concluded my experiment. Whether you’re looking for a good laugh in the middle of class, a new friend to play checkers with on Saturday nights or a way to discretely tell a fraternity how much it sucks, Yik Yak might be the app for you.

Still not convinced? I compiled a list of some of the more hilarious yaks I came across:

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Photo by Mary Duggan

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