Taking over campus and the minds of Coastal Carolina University (CCU) students, YikYak and Coastal Carolina’s Snapchat stories have become a beacon of drama and a way for people to communicate about anything and everything.
The main question is; what is so addictive about these apps? YikYak has allowed students to talk about on-campus and major issues anonymously, without any repercussions. Having that free speech has not stopped anyone and has allowed for heavy, political, debatable discussions.
YikYak was once banned on CCU’s campus but has now made its comeback, making it bigger than ever.
Within the last few weeks, the topic of abortion has been the highlight of both social media apps. A fellow student at CCU has openly discussed her view on abortion and allowed others to ask her questions regarding her views. Unfortunately, it is not going the way she intended it.
Alongside YikYak, CCU has its own Snapchat community. The topic of abortion had started on Snapchat but has now made its way to YikYak where people are ripping it apart, freely.
Students join the Snapchat story based on their graduating year. From there, students can see all graduating years but can only post on their year’s story. Currently, it is being used more as a way to help students find their lost items and sell things.
On our campus, social media is mainly being used as a tool for students to speak their minds and hide their faces. How can anyone get mad at you if they don’t know it’s you? Hiding behind the screen is the perfect way to say and do whatever you want, with no consequences.
There are benefits and harms of both YikYak and Snapchat. Some students are simply trying to find clubs to join and people to befriend, since this can be a very lonely time in students’ lives. Fortunately, social media is perfect for connections, but unfortunately, it is awful at keeping them appropriate.
I do not expect these apps to go anywhere anytime soon, and students can most likely expect the sagas on these platforms to continue.
