Yik Yak: Finding Community in the Swamp

It can be difficult for UF students to find common ground in the Swamp. The age-old struggles between Greeks and geeds, STEM majors and business majors and everyone in between can make it hard to feel like a single community. There is a place, however, where all UF students come together to connect — a place where students find their “herd”: Yik Yak. 

Yik Yak is an anonymous social media app where college students can share posts, or “yaks,” with members of their school’s community. When someone posts on the platform, their yaks can either be upvoted or downvoted by other users. The more upvotes a post or comment receives, the more “yakarma” that user will be awarded. When a post or comment from a user receives more than five downvotes, it will be removed from the platform. This feature was introduced to ensure that the platform remains positive and engaging.

The UF Yik Yak feed ranges from communal mourning when the Gators lose a football game to the latest buzz on which Midtown spot to visit on a Friday night. Yik Yak serves as a real-time, first-resort news source for students.

In moments like these, Yik Yak disseminates information more effectively to the student body than traditional communication channels. This shared digital space creates inside jokes that resonate across the entire student body. Posts with sayings like "We will rebuild" when there's a slight sign of damage on campus,  “Stop the count” when a student shares a screenshot of their grade in a class pre-exam or even sharing sightings of campus icons, like Tenders the cat. 

The power of Yik Yak goes beyond just entertainment: It’s a prime example of how public relations and marketing can thrive when a community collectively engages with the same content at the same time. When a post gains traction on Yik Yak, it spreads like wildfire across campus with every upvote it receives on the app. A single positive post about a new food spot near campus can lead to lines out the door the next morning. This phenomenon showcases the power of organic word-of-mouth marketing.

Word-of-mouth marketing has always been one of the most powerful tools in PR, but Yik Yak amplifies it by giving conversations a digital platform. When a trending joke or notable event hits the feed, it doesn’t just stay online; it becomes part of the campus vernacular. This ripple effect is what makes Yik Yak so compelling. It is why students instinctively check the app first when they hear something is happening on campus, in pop culture or even on a global scale.

Yik Yak is a prime platform for observing audience engagement and earned media. The anonymity feature adds a layer of authenticity, encouraging candid and unfiltered dialogue. Marketers aiming to capture the attention of younger demographics should learn from Yik Yak’s success. The app illustrates how sentiment can spread within a community when the content is relatable and both culturally and locally relevant, proving content is most effective when it is produced by communicators who understand the audience they are reaching.

At UF, Yik Yak isn't just an app; it's the pulse of campus life. As long as students crave community, humor and maybe some harmless gossip, YikYak will remain their digital home. While the Swamp can feel unfamiliar at times, Yik Yak provides students with a unique way to connect and share their experiences with those around them.