When I first came to Beloit College I was excited about many things: classes, being gendered properly, studying alongside people who are literally the future. Yet the thing I was most excited about was getting to do more than just lurk on Yik Yak.
For those of you who don't know, Yik Yak is an app for college students on which you can anonymously post messages as well as reply to those that have been posted. On Beloit College's Yik Yak, there are certain types of Yakkers whose presence you'll certainly notice. Let me introduce you to them.
1. The Bathroom Stall Yakker
This Yakker is on the toilet as they're Yakking, and most of the time they're not too happy about it — that is to say, the quality and satisfaction level obtained from... er... excreting. Not too many of them seem to mind taking guesses at what exactly they ate, and 9 out of 10 times it's Commons that gets the blame. I suppose this is one of the great things about the anonymity of Yik Yak: you can literally review your last trip to the bathroom in as much detail as you like, without ever having to worry about backlash.
2. The Yakker Who Hates Commons
Commons is the easiest way to get food here at Beloit College. I personally think their food is delicious; unfortunately, the vast majority of students do not share my opinion. Apparently it is affecting several people's bowel movements, and apparently there was a day on which they served alligator meat. Here is one of my favorite Yaks from that day.
3. The Thirsty Yakker
An article about the different types of Yakkers on Beloit Yik Yak would be incomplete without this Yakker. The Thirsty Yakker really wants a hookup, and decides to find one by posting a yak saying they would like to do the do. People do respond to them... although this process is usually quicker if you're a woman. Many of the Thirsty Yakkers I've seen have been straight men who get replied to by other straight men and then say "No thanks."
If you're bi on Beloit College Yik Yak, well...
4. The Classifieds Yakker
The Classifieds Yakker saw someone who's very aesthetically pleasing. Are they Miley Cyrus when I was in sixth grade? 'Cause they can't wait to see them again. Yaks by this person either mention a name or include a brief description of what the person looked like, and then follow that with heart-eyed emojis and a variation of "I find you attractive." They are posted in the hopes of that person reconnecting with them by seeing it, realizing it's them after further questioning, and then possibly meeting up. If it makes you feel better, Classified Yakkers, one of my friends who has done this got a date with the person they yakked about.
5. The Social Justice Yakker
This Yakker has a lot to say about feminism, microaggressions, racism, and transphobia. These Yaks are generally the most up-voted, which likely has plenty to do with the type of students that go to Beloit College. For the most part, Beloit College's student body is very left-wing and will agree with these sorts of posts. Generally when you agree with a post you up-vote it - therefore these posts will generate more up-votes than...
6. The "Beloit College Is Too Politically Correct!" Yakker
This Yakker is quite different from the Social Justice Yakker, in that they have more of a neutral or moderate stance as far as politics go. Although they might not necessarily be against feminism or social justice, they really don't like to hear about either of those things, nor do they like people who talk about them. If you're an ally who speaks out against oppressive acts towards groups you're not part of, they think you're a white knight trying to gain brownie points with your friends who are oppressed on that axis. If you're part of an oppressed group and you speak about your oppression, they think you're being too sensitive. For people who claim to hate people who complain so much, they sure do a lot of it themselves. I can't be the only one who finds that odd.
7. The Painfully Unheard Yakker
This Yakker thinks that the students of Beloit College are a hive-mind, a monolith, and are so much in agreement with each other that when it comes to the Painfully Unheard Yakker's views, they shove their fingers in their ears and shout "La la la! Not listening!" I don't know what the Painfully Unheard Yakkers' views are and whether or not there's a reason why they are being shut out in this way.
I do believe that if their views are not oppressive to anyone then they have just as much of a right to be heard as those who refuse to listen to them. However, I also believe that if the reason why they feel they are not being listened to is because some of their yaks got down-voted, that's not the same as not listening to them. It is simply an indication that people do not find their yaks pleasing. Should there be discussion on the matters presented in their yaks? Perhaps - but I maintain that down-voting someone's yak is not the same as silencing them during, say, an anthropology class or a student government meeting.
8. The Conservative Yakker
This Yakker is also a Painfully Unheard Yakker, and their reason for feeling so Painfully Unheard is because of their conservative beliefs. "Please, tell me more about how inclusive you are as you s**t on my beliefs," one Yakker lamented. I do not know what the beliefs in question are, but if they are "I will not be forced to use your pronouns because my religion says I should condemn people like you" or something equally intolerant and hateful, I do not sympathize with them in the least. Though I see very few of these yaks, I thought I would include them because I would not have otherwise known of these individuals' existence.
9. The Proudly Problematic Yakker
These are the Yakkers who are not just problematic, but they are irritatingly blunt about it. They make pronoun jokes. They talk about how they think black students "only got in because of affirmative action." They think oppression is a joke. One person also flat-out said they were "shamelessly transphobic." (Troll, or shamelessly transphobic? You decide.) Most of these either get only a few up-votes or are down-voted into oblivion, but this one did not:
Forty up-votes on a yak that makes fun of trans people with unconventional pronouns.
I took a look at the comments hoping maybe it wasn't received well, but...
...not so much.
A note for everyone who I hope up-voted this stuff out of ignorance and not malice: These jokes are transphobic and mock trans people's pronoun choices. Please stop up-voting them.
10. The Racial Fetishist Yakker
During New Student Days, you would not believe how many yaks I saw talking about how sexy Latina women are. I saw another that said interracial couples were adorable, and here was one of the comments on it:
You stare at interracial couples, Pink Paw? Yikes — and one should not be glorifying interracial couples; they are just normal couples and are not inherently more progressive than non-interracial couples. Furthermore, I know for a fact that if the relationship I am currently in was known about on campus, I would not want "admirers" such as this one gawking at us... however, I suppose that's a story for another article.
