The Allure of Anonymity
Image Courtesy: @sherryczekus on Instagram
“Anonymously connect with everyone within 5 miles.” Yik yak is back on the app store and using this tagline to draw in users. “Everyone is equal on Yik Yak,'' they claim. All you have to do is “verify your humanity” with a US phone number to post anything you want . . . anonymously. Not so surprisingly, the Yik yak revival has taken off on college campuses. Because of the 5 mile radius, it provides a space that is practically exclusively for the students. They can share hot takes, campus inside jokes, and daily musings without any repercussions, social or otherwise.
Most “yaks” are jokes, particularly in the college crowd, so it stays pretty lighthearted. However, some anonymous users cross the line and target specific groups, campus figures, or other students. Yik yak has “community guardrails” that are supposed to keep it a safe and fun environment. These include prohibiting the identification of people by name, sharing personal information, bullying/harassment, bigotry, violence or threats, trolling, impersonations/fake news, and sexual harassment, among a detailed laundry list of other offenses. These sound like preventative measures to keep the anonymous platform positive, but there is a big gap in this system. Monitoring the app is up to the users. Users can upvote or downvote a Yak. If a yak gets -5 votes, it is removed from the platform. This means that a harmful yak that gains popularity will remain on the app unless someone reports it. What kind of “guardrails” does Yik Yak have in place if they depend on the moral integrity of the people participating?
This unmonitored access to total anonymity proved to be a breeding ground for cyber-bullying and harassment, one of the reasons that the app had been removed from the app store in 2017. The app had been linked to targeted bullying, hate speech, racially motivated threats of violence, and even a sexual harrasment that lead to murder (CNN). The app became infamous, and people were surprised to find its return late this summer.
The dangers of anonymity on the internet are not exclusive to Yik Yak. On most social media platforms and online forums, users can choose to conceal their true identities. This boasts a range of dangers, such as the rise of trolling. Internet trolls post to instigate and provoke an emotional response. Trolls comment on controversial political and social topics to inflame the conversation and harass specific users with hate comments. With their true identity concealed, it becomes much easier to post something with malicious intent.
The famous psychologist behind the Stanford Prison Experiment, Philip Zimbardo, conducted a study in 1969 that supported the notion that people are more likely to act unethically or immorally when they are not recognizable. He had two groups, both made up of female students, but one wore lab coats with concealing hoods, while the other had name tags on and no hoods. He asked them to administer an electric shock and found that the hooded group was twice as likely to obey his request (Association for Psychological Science). This translates to internet culture today: people feel much more comfortable posting hateful comments if they cannot be identified.
Is this the allure of anonymity? To hide behind a screen and let negativity flow? Not for everyone. The ability to choose not to disclose your true identity has created safe spaces across the internet where users can form a community with strangers over things that may be difficult to open up about. Those struggling with mental health issues, questioning sexuality, grappling with addiction, or looking for feedback on a toxic relationship can share what they are experiencing without letting their world in. Pre-internet, there were very few ways people could discuss private topics with strangers while remaining comfortably anonymous.
As for Yik yak, the truth is it is sometimes just more fun to be anonymous. It removes all social status or stigma from what people have to say. There is an extra degree of freedom of expression and a casual “nobody really cares” attitude that college students crave. However, we must be cautious in our use of Yik Yak, holding ourselves to the same standards we would have without anonymity and staying mindful of our responsibility as the moral police of Yik Yak if we want Yik Yak to truly be a place where “everyone is equal.”
Strike out,
Writer: Tess Spesia
Notre Dame
