Students have a responsibility to be good stewards of public opinion, even when anonymous. Free speech is integral to campus life. We ought not to cheapen it.
Yik Yak is known for making expedient the expression of racist, sexist and otherwise offensive sentiments. The continuous affirmation of these sentiments as funny or relevant perpetuates their presence in the popular psyche.
Action begins with discourse. An August NPR story, for instance, revealed the behavior of college men is connected to perceptions of acceptability. Believing your friends do not tolerate sexual assault might discourage it.
The Daily Tar Heel’s own Kvetching Board has been guilty in the past of giving similarly destructive material an audience in the name of good fun.
But there is nothing fun about sexism, racism or bullying of those who, by design, cannot confront the people who attack them.
Discussions of controversial topics benefit no one without an acknowledgement of the vital role our identities play in free and honest debate.
It is not worth discouraging the wholesale use of what can be an entertaining way to pass the time or stay connected. The app has its roots in our democratic desire for self-expression.
Yik Yak’s founders said they envisioned the app as a representative hub of a town or campus — a central bulletin board. At present, it resembles the scrawlings on the wall of a bathroom stall, but that doesn’t mean UNC users don’t have the opportunity to restore Yik Yak to its ideals.
If you yak, yak responsibly. Be mindful of the link between Yik Yak’s purposefully abstract playing field and the real world its users inhabit.
