Yik Yak: An Exploratory Study of College Student Uses and Gratifications

摘要

Publically launched in 2013 and discontinued in 2017, Yik Yak was an anonymous and geographically restricted social mediarnapplication. A uses and gratifications theoretical framework and a mixed-methods research design were selected for thisrnexploratory study regarding differences between Yik Yak users and nonusers. College students (n = 264) from a westernrnuniversity completed online surveys regarding Yik Yak in November of 2015. Results indicated that Yik Yak users werernsignificantly younger than nonusers, and no significant differences were identified between Yik Yak users’ and nonusers’rnreported time spent with other social media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat). Qualitativernresults indicated that college students who used Yik Yak did so for informational, entertainment, agency-enhancement, andrncommunity-building purposes. Nonusers chose not to use Yik Yak because the application did not meet their needs, theyrnwere unaware of Yik Yak, and because of unfavorable content.