We Downloaded Yik Yak, Tested Their Guardrails & Found 15 Of The Funniest Posts Since Their Relaunch
Yik Yak is back and better than ever!
Shutterstock / VDOVICHENKO DENIS Yik Yak is back. The anonymous online forum — a mix between Twitter and Reddit — is making its return 4 years after its shut down.
The groundbreaking app was released in 2013 and was an instant hit, but the business model wasn’t built to last, and the user base dwindled a few years after its conception amid cyberbullying concerns.
Now that it’s back, with some "guardrails" that supposedly ban bullying, harrasment and the spreading of personal information.
So we decided to hop on the bandwagon and check out what’s new on the app, how effective these guardrails are and if the app is still as funny as it once was — before the cyberbullying.
Is Yik Yak safe?
Safety seems to be central to Yik Yak's relaunch. Yik Yak doesn't allow users to post engage in any kind of bullying, harassment, bigotry or threats, post personal information or promote violence.
Their website now offers mental health resources and guidelines for staying safe.
But we can't just take Yik Yak's word for it, so I got a friend of mine to help me out and test the “guardrails” to see how well they work.
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I used the most popular first name I could think of and the name of a street in my town and made fun of the fictional person — John Grove.
My friend downvoted and reported this Yak, and within an hour the post was removed by the app.
They rely on two systems — the users can downvote posts enough times to get it removed, and the report system.
Yik Yak moderators are watching the reports to see if anyone infringed on their “guardrails,” but the community can also make the community safer together, similarly to reddit.
It seems like this time around, they’re taking things much more seriously.
This was a post that I saw before I did my test, and was also removed within the hour I saw it.
I don’t know whose phone number it was, nor did I try calling it, but the quick action from Yik Yak to remove this type of content is reassuring.
So, given that Yik Yak seems to be passing the safety test so far, we can get back to enjoying some funny content!
Here are the 15 funniest Yik Yak posts since their relaunch.
1. High Tier S--t Posting
Get ready, for some high-tier “s--tposting.” Now that Yik Yak is officially back, people are ready to start posting the (best) worst memes and jokes on the planet.
Yik Yak was truly a melting pot of some of the worst content out there, and there’s no doubt that it will soon return to its infamous former glory.
2. Applebees Is A Nice Date
Get your suit and tie and get ready to hit the closest Applebees.
I mean, this person has a point. Those half-off appetizers are no jokes. Applebees has a great collection of apps and their drink menu is pretty diverse — $7 Mana Margaritas anyone?
3. At Least Drake Isn't Dating Our Moms
With everything going on in the world and all the stressful things you’re hearing in the news, this person wants to take a look at the brighter side of things — Drake isn’t dating any of our moms.
Well, not all of our moms. Amari Bailey can’t say the same about his mother Johanna Leia, whom Drake took out on a date to Dodgers Stadium — like the whole thing.
But at least it’s safe to say that Drake knows how to impress the ladies.
4. Gen Z Can't Dance Here
In Yik Yak’s absence, the leader of Gen Z social media arose — and that’s Tik Tok.
This Yik Yaker made a funny little stick figure showing someone hitting the ‘woah’ and making fun of Gen Z kids who make dances on Tik Tok’s platform.
In fact, there’s a lot of people making fun of Gen Z on the grand reopening of the old platform.
5. Let The Cyberbullying Begin (as a joke)
Bullying was a huge concern for Yik Yak users and investors when the platform first released. Back then, there wasn’t a lot going for the app in the ways of safeguarding kids or anyone who was being made fun of.
But the return of this new Yik Yak has a lot of buffed up “guardrails” to prevent cyberbullying and help create a safe, fun platform.
6. Do Gen Z Have It Easy?
Which is why this person believes that Gen Z has it easy, frowny-face. This, and probably for other reasons.
Millennials — those now-old people who populated the app back in its prime — are coming back to the platform and seeing how things have changed.
Not only that, but they’re also at the height of their adulthood and having to learn the ways of the adult world in a stressful and unstable global state.
They’re lucky they don’t have to worry about a lot of things, but I wouldn’t say they have it easy either, and clearly it sparked a lot of debate so there are other people who might agree.
7. Just In Time
Even more luckily for them, the app is coming back at a prime time. College is starting back up soon and a lot of Gen Z are still in school.
The congregation of all those kids in a small (5 mile) radius is sure to supply the app with a lot of great content.
8. Speaking Of College Kids
Broke college students rejoice in celebration of a fellow colleague making it out of the slump — finally getting his hands on a bed frame.
This is just one of the many Yaks that have made it onto the college scene so far.
9. Bar Line Updates
This college student hatched a brilliant idea that I wish I had in college.
Live line updates at the bar would have saved many bar crawls that died from bars being too packed or having too long of a wait.
10. Millenials Are Stuck In The Past
This person is one of the few Millenials back on the platform and who knows, maybe I knew this person in high school.
Yik Yak was hugely popular in my town when I was in high school, and my town was very good at making it a wholesome place to be, throwing compliments to people they didn’t know very well and just making jokes about school.
Adding a little bit of flavor with the ‘POV’ meme template shows just how much humor has really evolved over the years.
11. What Does A Brick In A Dryer Sound Like?
Which brings me to this Yak (that’s what they call it) about some female rapper named Coi Leray.
This is the second one I’ve seen about this person, so maybe I’m just too old to know who this is, but it seems like the bullying guardrails doesn’t protect celebrities or public figures.
Although, I will say that throwing a brick in a dryer can’t result in a pleasant sound.
12. This Is A Personal Letter To Kanye West
Speaking of rappers, where the hell is DONDA, Kanye?
Even Yik Yak came out before your album. The app that was dying since 2015, died in 2017, and finally came back after a 4-year silence.
Apparently the release date was pushed back again, and is now projected to be released August 20th. Or the end of August. Or the end of Q3. Or the end of the year.
Who really knows anymore?
13. Yik Yak Is Great For Cooking Advice
People are coming to Yik Yak in search of advice from their peers. Some of those people, want relationship advice, maybe financial advice and where they should invest their money, or even what they should wear on their first date.
This person wants to know whether or not he needs to wash his onions. How they went this long without knowing how to cook onions is a mystery, but the responses are even better.
“With soap and water.”
I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m cooking.
14. This Is What They Mean By Online Therapy, Right?
This person might have a point. Yik Yak is free and therapy is not.
While the last person wanted cooking advice, this person just wants someone to listen. Well they’re in luck because unless their Yik Yak gets 5 downvotes or is bullying someone, it won’t get taken down and people will have to listen.
That’s basically what social media is for anyway, right?
15. The Twitter And Reddit Love-Child
Like I said previously, Yik Yak is really like Twitter with Reddit functionality. You’re posting tweet-like content, with anonymity and a karma system like Reddit.
It’s the perfect social media love child without all the dancing teenagers and conspiracy theories — I’m looking at you Tik Tok.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice and politics.