Yik Yak is an anonymous social media app that allows users to share and view posts from people in a five mile radius. The app was initially launched in 2013, but was shut down in 2017 due to controversies surrounding it. The app was relaunched in 2021, and has since regained popularity. 

The popularity of Yik Yak among high school students is largely due to its anonymity and the option to view locally made posts.

 Freshman Boldin Krause said, “Yik Yak is useful when it’s used in the right way. It’s a way to connect with other students.”

 The app also features the ability to upvote or downvote posts, which decides how visible a post is. The more upvotes a post has, the higher it is promoted in people’s feeds. If a post gets five downvotes, it is automatically removed from the feed.

Yik Yak was co-founded by two graduates from Furman University, Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington, with the goal of allowing students to connect across their campuses. There is limited knowledge on the legitimacy of the apps anonymity and how accurate the locations shared within the app. 

Junior Chloe Ingvaldson said, “Because it’s anonymous, people feel like they can say whatever they want.” The official Yik Yak website shares resources for mental health and bullying in response to the controversies that surrounded the app in 2017. 

With its initial launch in 2013, Yik Yak quickly spread to campuses across America. According to Insider, “1,600 college campuses are using it [Yik Yak]. A few months after launching, Yik Yak had been downloaded 100,000 times.” Now, in its return to the limelight, the app has surpassed two million users. The app continues to grow as it increases in popularity across both college and high school campuses.