Yik Yak - Anyone use it at Disney World?

[bryanb]

Does anyone use the Yik Yak app to communicate with other guests and CMs while at WDW?

For those who are not aware, Yik Yak is an anonymous messaging app. It uses your phone's GPS to create a live feed of what people around you are posting. It is especially popular among college students -- so there are a lot of college program cast members on it.

During my trip, I found it a particularly interesting way to peel back the curtain on Disney World. As a warning, people often use the app to vent their frustrations, so not everyone might want to spoil the "magic" by using this app. (As primarily a younger person's communication tool, I particularly caution that there is coarse language and anonymous posts about non-family appropriate activities on there.) But in other cases, people also posted really nice messages for cast members. And plenty of guests use it to express their excitement with each other about things that are going on at Disney World.

I just thought it was interesting for people who want to see what cast members and guests around you are really thinking.

 

[MCoryB]

I had never heard of Yik Yak until today when I read about it being the app used to post those racist threats at the University of Missouri.

 

[Allison]

No. Not a fan.

 

[msteddom]

Anonymity usually brings out the worst in people

 

[Alesia]

Being privy to the anonymous thoughts of those around me sounds like hell on earth. No thank you.

 

[Allison]

Anonymity usually brings out the worst in people

It certainly does on Yik Yak.

 

[Alesia]

Anonymity usually brings out the worst in people

It certainly does on Yik Yak.

Yep. Not only is it a great way to let people know they're hated without even giving them the courtesy of letting them know who it's coming from, but it's an incredibly efficient way of spreading the hate through group-think.

I have to be honest: using it at WDW sounds like a great way to turn a great trip into a terrible one. Negative attitudes are contagious.

 

[Jennasis]

Yik Yak is awful. I can't fathom why anyone would support it.

 

[gwynne]

Nope. It has a bad reputation around here. Annoying complainers at best, racists and criminals at worst.

 

[jpeden]

I work for a major D-1 University. Yik Yak caused a lockdown a few months back on campus b/c some idiot posted about how he was going to start shooting kids. Of course when he got arrested, he maintained it was all a joke. Not a fan.

 

[disrocks]

The Disboards are probably not a place with a lot of YY fans. But I do find it an interesting app as a sociologist. The anonymous aspect can make it an ugly place but on my campus the students use it as a means of support too. People afraid to admit to their peers they are homesick or stressed or depressed often find out they are not alone.

Most people will not want to peek behind the curtain, as the anonymous internet is indeed a nasty place. But like anything, it can be used for good too.

 

[jpeden]

The Disboards are probably not a place with a lot of YY fans. But I do find it an interesting app as a sociologist. The anonymous aspect can make it an ugly place but on my campus the students use it as a means of support too. People afraid to admit to their peers they are homesick or stressed or depressed often find out they are not alone.

Most people will not want to peek behind the curtain, as the anonymous internet is indeed a nasty place. But like anything, it can be used for good too.

I can see this and I feel like working on a college campus I can really see how it could help students share their fears without worrying about them being outwardly known. I think it can be used for good, and it probably would be interesting around WDW, but that one experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Cyrano]

Folks this discussion has nothing to do with Trip Planning consequently this topic is closed to further discussion.