BY CAITLYN WILLIAMS, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On Monday, February 8, 2022, the St. Bonaventure Yik Yak Task Force was announced to the campus community. Users of this social media app can express their thoughts anonymously about whomever and whatever they want. When I first downloaded Yik Yak, I loved it. Our campus community has a great sense of humor, and most of the jokes and comments are fun and lighthearted. However, a student can post threatening messages to someone with absolutely no consequences on this app. The anonymous aspect of Yik Yak serves as a shield and is what makes it stand out from other popular social media apps. If a post receives five dislikes or “downvotes.” the post is removed. The 15 members of the Yik Yak Task Force are to downvote any negative posts and “encourage others to do the same.” The task force seems to be a solution to a serious problem on campus, so what was the original conflict?
On December 12, 2021, a heavy stream of racist comments were posted on Yik Yak. Understandably, this upset many St. Bonaventure students, faculty, and staff. Horrible, reputation-ruining posts are still regularly made about specific people on campus. In fact, men post the phone numbers of female students they have been with, rate women and others bully fellow students. Racism, homophobia, and misogyny continue to thrive on this bully-brewing app. Recently, I saw a post on Yik Yak that was racist towards the Latinx community. That same day I saw a post claiming that students on the Task Force should harm themselves. I personally feel unsafe on a campus where rageful students freely walk around with no repercussions. This behavior does not align with the university’s Franciscan Values and creates a poor look on the students of St. Bonaventure. Furthermore, being the target of hurtful comments about race is a heavy weight to carry. No Bonaventure student should feel threatened or attacked because of their skin color or ethnicity.
However, where is the line to be drawn between freedom of speech and bullying prevention on campus? As the 1st Amendment protects citizens’ freedom of speech, I am thankful to live in a country where my words, and those of my peers, will not be censored. That said, it is also true that with these freedoms come responsibilities and a few narrow limitations. Among the limits of free speech are libel, slander, perjury, incitement and sedition.
St. Bonaventure University focuses on creating community, nurturing compassion, seeking wisdom and building integrity. We strive to live by these values, yet our campus community is doing the opposite. This app, as it’s being used on our campus, now thrives on negativity, hate speech, name-calling and racism, and there are students still on this campus who actively contribute to this harmful behavior. Consider, too, that this behavior could contribute to the decline in the mental health of targeted individuals
My advice? Delete the app and hold your peers personally accountable when you witness bad behavior that’s counter to Bonaventure values. If you decide to keep the app, consider spreading positivity instead. If you are easily triggered and don’t want to engage in negativity, delete the app. It scares and saddens me as I consider what the student community has become. I think what people fail to consider is that words can have power and influence over someone. Sure, you can say whatever you want on the app, but why name-drop someone and bully them? Bonaventure students on Yik Yak: If you wish to be treated and respected as an adult, it’s time to act like one.
