{"id":1201,"date":"2015-05-09T13:42:22","date_gmt":"2015-05-09T17:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/general-education\/?p=194"},"modified":"2024-01-30T15:50:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T20:50:06","slug":"ethical-discussion-anonymous-social-media-networks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/public-safety-policy-legal-studies-educational-information\/ethical-discussion-anonymous-social-media-networks\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethical Discussions: Anonymous social media networks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anonymous social networks have been increasing in popularity, particularly around college campuses. One such network, Yik Yak, allows users to post anonymous messages publicly to other users who are within a 1.5-mile radius. After its launch, the app quickly became a huge hit on high school and college campuses. According to a NYTimes article<\/a>, Yik Yak is downloaded in the Apple App store more than any other anonymous social app.<\/p>\n

Along with the app\u2019s quick rise to popularity, there have been growing concerns regarding its use. The aspect of anonymity has enabled users to speak their minds freely, sometimes in a potentially harmful way. There are increasing concerns that Yik Yak is being used for cyber bullying, harassment, and hate speech. Due to such issues, the founders of Yik Yak made the decision to stop access to the app on high school campuses last year. More recently, according to an article in the Huffington Post<\/a>, a federal complaint was filed on May 7, 2015 against the University of Mary Washington in Virginia. The complaint alleges that the University allowed a sexually hostile environment to continue by its failure in part to respond to complaints that Yik Yak was being used to post harassing comments and threats of violence against female students.<\/p>\n

Supporters of anonymous social networks such as Yik Yak point to the importance and the value of freedom of speech. The creators of Yik Yak have stated that their intent was to level the playing field and to provide a platform for people who did not necessarily have a large number of followers. With Yik Yak, a person who posts can have their posts  read by a large audience, even if they do not have many followers. Some of the supporters of anonymous social networks have expressed the opinion that students are cognizant about how their comments online may affect their personal brand, and that this may discourage them from speaking up about certain topics.  They argue that forums such as Yik Yak may serve a positive purpose \u2013 that of providing a place for students to make controversial observations and to engage in controversial discussions.<\/p>\n

Should anonymous social networks like Yik Yak be restricted from geographic areas around college campuses because of the potential for harm, or should they remain available in order to protect the right to freedom of speech? <\/strong><\/p>\n

#spcethics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anonymous social networks have been increasing in popularity, particularly around college campuses. One such network, Yik Yak, allows users to post anonymous messages publicly to other users who are within a 1.5-mile radius. After its launch, the app quickly became a huge hit on high school and college campuses. According to a NYTimes article, Yik … Continue reading Ethical Discussions: Anonymous social media networks<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"coauthors":[197],"class_list":["post-1201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethics"],"yoast_head":"\r\nEthical Discussions: Anonymous social media networks - Public Safety, Public Policy, and Legal Studies<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/public-safety-policy-legal-studies-educational-information\/ethical-discussion-anonymous-social-media-networks\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ethical Discussions: Anonymous social media networks - Public Safety, Public Policy, and Legal Studies\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anonymous social networks have been increasing in popularity, particularly around college campuses. 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