Piedmont’s Yik Yak Community follows the herd with comments no matter if they are harmful or harmless.
As a Piedmont student, I did not have Yik Yak because it never peaked my interest until my junior year when my peers encouraged me to get the app because of the post being comedic. I gave in this year as a senior and downloaded the app. Yes, there were funny comments like the party at GB and the golden egg in the quad, but now there seems to be more hate than laughter.
Recently, there have been attacks on athletics, sexualizing faculties and staff and inappropriate comments towards others. Piedmont prides itself on offering a safe place for students that feels like a family, and I understand family banter, but these comments are cyberbullying.
“When I saw these comments for the first time, I was unphased and I was laughing because I was like this joke is going to last a day and then move on. I was wrong, when I saw these comments every day and started to make fun of me for something I didn’t do, I was getting confused and wondering why are people doing this to me? It hit me very hard, and I thought it was basically the school against me.” said Leandro Forero, one of the many athletes who received comments. As Forero mentioned, usually these comments are just for a day or two, but the Piedmont Yik Yak community just kept posting. There are hate comments on athletic teams such as the volleyball team, the basketball team and cheerleading, all dealing with their performance, personal relationships or the debate on if they are even considered a sport.
On the other hand, Yik Yak has had its comedic or wholesome times with the posting of cats or posting Halloween costume ideas. There are times that the Piedmont Yik Yak community can create memes as well as advice to talk to your crush. These are all what the Piedmont Yik Yak Community was really made for, which was to make people laugh, help each other out or get information out. But that has slowly been fading out as more comments are becoming inappropriate. The same topics are repeated about sex, bullying, sexualizing and other harmful contexts.
There are resources in case you are triggered by the comments, within the app you can report the comment. On campus, we have counseling services available for anyone who wants to have someone to talk to. Walk-ins are available or you can schedule an appointment. At the end of the day, you could just delete the app because you will get the information from Yik Yak either way through word of mouth.
