Tech explained.
Welcome to JOE’s weekly TechXplanation, where we take the most about talked about pieces of tech and, y’know, give you the knowledge.
This week we’re taking a look at one of the most popular apps on the planet right now – Yik Yak.
So what is it?
It’s a social media app that allows people to anonymously create and view Yaks (posts) within a 10 mile radius of their location.
People can then ‘vote up’ or ‘vote down’ your Yak and if it gets enough up votes, you’ll appear on the ‘Hot’ list.
Here’s what ‘Hot’ in Dublin today.
The majority of the Yaks are funny observations and and it seems particularly popular with Trinity students who love Yaking about the library and DIT students.
You can only vote on Yaks in your area but there is a’Peek’ option that allows you to check out what’s being posted in other parts of the world.
The objective is to build up ‘Yakarma’ which is your overall score. The more positive votes, the higher your ‘Yakarma,’ and negative votes will see your ‘Yakarma’ drop.
Why is it in the news?
We always check the App Store and Google Play on Mondays to see what’s new in the app world.
Yik Yak is currently number two in the App Store free chart ahead of Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook so its popularity is very much on the rise.
There has been some controversy surrounding the app in the US where a number of colleges have banned it because of cyber-bullying complaints.
However, we’ve been using it here in Ireland for a few months and luckily we haven’t seen any negative comments on there.
Why should I be using it?
It’s so much fun. It’s a stream of observations made by young people in your area that you are more than likely going to find funny.
Facebook is for video, Twitter is for news, Instagram is for photos, Yik Yak is for giving you a bit of a chuckle.
Irish people have a great sense of humour, you’ll find some of the best of it on the app.
Cost?
Free.
What’s the alternative?
Yik Yak has one main rival at the moment and it’s called Whisper.
Users post messages which are displayed as text superimposed over an photo, similar to greeting cards. We haven’t used it yet.
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