Does YikYak feel like that one ex you keep crawling back to, and you never know why? Karma Sabbich ’25 recently conducted a survey on this topic for her RHMS research project, and she has graciously shared the results with us for publication. Her central research question asked why people return to this app, even when it seems to consist only of angry rants of various degrees of ferocity and yearnings for romantic interests who are simply not worth the anonymous posters’ time.
Using the app to anonymously fight with other students was a common theme, with many Political Science students citing that they like to use the app to practice their argumentative skills in preparation for any course where a spirited presentation of online political rhetoric is deemed an acceptable substitute for actually doing the reading. #thinksmarternotharder.
One of the major categories of posts chronicled the highs and lows of college relationships. A major theme among freshmen was anonymously posting their classroom crushes. Tess Tickles ’28, a SOAN major, admitted that she only likes to go on YikYak so that she can feel better about her own evil boyfriend.
“I just like to know that there are people out there doing worse than I am,” explained Tickles.
Many students also said that they liked to use the app as an anonymous dating site or as a means of finding out if there will be any parties on Friday (seriously, is there going to be a party Friday? Does anyone have K? Lean? Please let us know).
Lastly, on-campus residents (Holmes specifically) overwhelmingly agreed that they like to use the app to complain about the subpar water heaters and loud trucks in the hopes that maybe they can manifest better living conditions. This feat has yet to be accomplished.
So why do people return to the app? We may never fully know, but there is just something that keeps students returning to its servers, whether that is to complain about the quality of Bon food (which, really, get a hobby) or to argue with fellow students about whether or not furries should be allowed on campus (you would not believe the discourse). We would never tell you how to live your life and instead, all we can do is ask … are there any parties this weekend?
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