Yik Yak will remain on UF’s campus

Rumors that the University of Florida Police Department and campus administration have recently tossed around the idea of banning the use of the popular, anonymous application Yik Yak from the university’s wireless network have proven false.

The social media platform Yik Yak, in which users centered around a geographic area can post anonymously, has been accused of fostering sexist, racist and terrorist behavior.

These rumors emerged after University of Florida Health researchers recently published a study on the analysis of 4,001 posts over three days from 42 different college campuses across the United States on the application Yik Yak.

Freshman Madison Zizmer, 19, checks Yik Yak on her phone after finding out about the tragic fall of a UF student from Little Hall on Tuesday morning, March 10, 2016

Erik Black, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UF College of Medicine’s department of pediatrics, and Lindsay Thompson, M.D., a physician in the department of pediatrics, were the researchers on the project.

“Yik Yak may provide the opportunity to pull back the proverbial covers on underlying sentiment on campuses,” said Black according to UF Health’s Newsroom in a February 2016 article.

The pair did not find yaks, the name for posts, that would license the site to be banned by college campuses. However, they recommend additional similar studies to build a broader understanding of the kind of anonymous anarchy allegedly occurring. The doctors found 45 percent of the posts focused on campus life, announcements and proclamations. Approximately 13 percent of the posts contained profanity or vulgarities, and about 9 percent of the yaks related to dating, sex and sexuality.

The University of Florida also sees the popular app as an opportunity rather than a barrier in helping the well-being of the student body.

Director of Marketing and Communications Sara Tanner works in the Division of Student Affairs primarily ensuring that students are aware of the many resources available to them.

“Each social media platform has its pros and cons. The downside to Yik Yak is that it is anonymous, but you also get a better idea when people feel that they can speak in an anonymous space,” Tanner said. “We are able to see the true perspectives of students rather than tailored perspectives.”

Tanner said the administration divisions often scan social media feeds, including Yik Yak, to get stay ahead of breaking news and prevent derogatory or false information from being spread.

“We try to use it as a tool to try to help students. I wish students would use Yik Yak more responsibly and be kinder to each other with it but while it’s here we will try to use it as a resource,” Tanner said

A way this practice is implemented was displayed on Thursday, March 10, as tragedy stuck UF when a student fell from Little Hall, resulting in his death. Administration used social media apps such as Yik Yak, Twitter and Facebook as a way to evaluate the mental health of students after this horrific event. They were able to use the information to determine what to address in an email to the student body.

March 10, 2016 outside Little Hall

“People only looking at one part of a story and posting about it on Yik Yak aren’t getting the full picture but it allows us to see the gaps in what picture they are seeing and help the university to be able to address these gaps in a more formalized and comprehensive manner,” Tanner said.

UFPD also uses Yik Yak as a tool to monitor and assess threats, tips and allegations since students can send in information within a five-mile radius of campus. UFPD Public Information Officer Wayne Clark said his department monitoring social media accounts will definitely have to expand in the future as the use of these applications grows.

“It is frustrating to have to monitor an anonymous site sometimes. We have to find out if the source is credible and who it’s coming from,” Officer Clark said.

Yik Yak Software Engineer and graduating UF senior Bernard Marger offers a unique perspective as a student and a Yik Yak employee. Bernard holds the tenant that Yik Yak is a forum for freedom of speech on campus.

“I think the anonymity allows for a really interesting community dynamic, but I think reality checks are in order, such as exposing the last four digits of a user’s phone number,” Bernard said.

The UF College of Journalism and Communications has partnered with Yik Yak to create a customized content feed for local Yik Yak users. The UF researchers’ data collection occurred prior to the partnership, and the researchers were not aware of the formal association at any stage during the research.

“Banning Yik Yak on campus has never been discussed. In fact, we’re quite proud of the J-School’s proactive partnership with Yik Yak,” said Todd Sanders, Director of Social Media at UF.

The popular application will live to see another day as UFPD and campus administration are in agreement the pros outweigh the cons of anonymity.

Yik Yak has proved all the more useful to the university as a tool to help students after the heartbreaking incident that occurred on the morning of March 10.

“If there is a lot of misinformation about something that has happened, if there are a lot negative sentiments in the campus climate we can use this app to help us start a dialogue with students on how to address the problem at hand,” Tanner said.