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Yik Yak app review: a social media platform with location-based feed

Reviews

Introduction

Yik Yak is a social media app for iPhone and iPad that works similarly to Twitter. You don’t need an account to sign up, you just accept the notifications, and you’re off to the races including an iCloud backup option.

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Yik Yak

Free

What Are You Thinking?

Yik Yak is a location-based social media platform that allows users to share a quick thought, and then those close by will see what you have posted. The idea is that by being nearby you can keep in touch, see common thoughts, and so on. For example, if you are stuck in construction, you can post that the delay is a long one, and people passing through the area will know to take a different route.

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Another purpose is for college and university students to share their experience with certain classes, tests, and such. I live near to a university, so when I opened up the feed there were a lot of students posting about exams, classes that aren’t interesting and so on. The site is all anonymous, so there isn’t any accountability. It took me a long time to get to a screenshot without a lot of swearing posted.

Benefits

If you prefer an anonymous platform, then Yik Yak is your app. You can add a handle, but you must do so each Yak, so it gets tiresome. There are also clearly stated rules to indicate no bullying, no targeting, and so on. Before you post your first Yak, you are shown the six rules, and requested to report anything that you feel is against the six rules. I appreciate this, as sites and social media platforms are known for their dangerous sides.

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There are also no photos. There are social media platforms based entirely on photos, and this one is text only. No adding extra pieces, but you can add links if you’d like. I really appreciate that the platform is so easy to use and look at that I can see how it would take off in high schools, universities and the like. For adults in everyday life, I’d be interested to see how it plays out. As mentioned above, for applications such as weather conditions and driving conditions it could definitely be beneficial.

Yik Yak

Free

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Free
  • No clutter
  • Add a handle or remain completely anonymous
  • Rules that are simple to follow and simple to understand
  • Easy to report those who don’t follow
  • Up vote, or don’t

Cons

  • No photos when you’d like to, but this isn’t what this platform was intended for

Final Thoughts

Yik Yak is a social media platform for posting location based tidbits. If you are in a college or university town, your feed will be full of exam comments and professor comments. I can also see if being used by high school students for party finding, but I’d be curious to see how it is used for traffic conditions, bus delays, and the like. Overall, it is a cool idea and I’m interested to see how the use develops.

 

Yik Yak

Free
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