Anonymous apps shed light on bad ideals

Every afternoon when the boredom hits and I can’t force myself to study I, like a lot of college students, open Yik Yak. Now, I know there are much better things to do but like a good amount of people with the app, sometimes I can’t resist. 

You just have to check and see what someone is mad about today.

 What drama is happening in other people’s lives that shouldn’t worry you but is way too fun to hear about. The issue is that it’s anonymous, meaning there aren’t any real consequences for those who go too far. That’s the whole premise behind the app, you can say things anonymously for people in your area to see. 

There are so many studies about how people act when they can be anonymous, and the students here are certainly the rule not the exception on that.

Some of the negative yaks I’ve seen recently are rumors about a ton of people having STDs, people saying homophobic slurs or ideas, a ton of things fat shaming people on campus, someone trying to physically fight people who make comments about the football team, a ton of comments about people’s love lives, calling women ‘sluts’ or ‘whores’ any time they think the person behind the screen could be a woman and many more negative things.   

Now that’s not to say there aren’t some positive things. Recently I’ve seen some yaks that are optimistic about the football team, offer relationship advice, a few just telling people to have a great day, or even the “Weather chic” who reports the weather every morning on the app. 

But those are far and few between all the negative things on the app. 

According to an article on physicologicalscience.org by Joe Dawson, “Scientists have found a tendency for many people to act rudely, aggressively, or illegally when their faces and names are hidden.” This isn’t a surprising fact; everyone knows how easily people can act very differently depending on the situation. This is especially true in group situations, no one wants to be the one person going against the crowd.

So, it’s especially sad going onto an app where we can see how people in Chadron think or are willing to admit they think when their faces aren’t attached. 

So many seem to be willing to admit and voice that they’re homophobic, fatphobic, sexist, or overall, just full of awful opinions that only hurt others. 

The people behind the screen might think that it doesn’t matter because no one will know it’s them. And maybe it won’t come back to directly bite them in the butt. 

Unfortunately, the sharp words they write can hurt real people and I think that can be too easy for people to forget. They can say just put down the phone and walk away or just don’t get upset about it. 

But for some people you could be voicing their insecurities and it’s hard for them to not feel badly or take it to heart. 

It might just be words on a screen for you but for other’s it’s someone telling them their biggest fears.  

It’s sad to think that these people who write such awful things when they can hide are the people I have to go to class with. It feels like a good number of students have forgotten what empathy is. 

And although it’s not surprising, it’s sad to know the majority of campus thinks so poorly of each other.