You couldn’t imagine there would be any room left to sit down for a little yik-yakking with all of the tweeting, Facebooking, snapping and tumbling students can engage in to fulfill their social media needs.

But students at the University of Northern Iowa have learned there is a new social media application to post statuses, thoughts and feelings anonymously. This app is call Yik-Yak. 

Yik-Yak allows users to post “yaks” anonymously within a 1.5-mile radius. UNI’s student organization, I, Too, am UNI, stumbled upon Yik-Yak accounts which targeted minorites at UNI’s campus. 

On Tuesday, Oct. 14 administrators of the I,Too, am UNI Facebook page decided to post screenshots of the racist, sexist and homophobic yaks about UNI to show students and the UNI community what was going on.

“As a minority on campus I feel unsafe,” said Vanessa Espinoza, senior spanish teaching major. “How many of them [students] feel like this?”

Espinoza is also an administrator for the I, Too, am UNI Facebook page. 

To respond to the yaks posted, acting President Mike Licari sent out a campus-wide email urging users to stop posting hateful yaks and encourage anyone who knows something about those who yakked negatively to speak up.

“We have observed the use of this application. . . and we are disappointed and frustrated by the racist, homophobic or generally disrespectful comments some students have made,” said Northern Iowan Student Government President Kevin Gartman and Vice President Paul Andersen.

Gartman and Andersen also encourage participation in taking steps to stop negative use of the app.

Espinoza, who agrees the University should take steps against the perpetrators, believes sending emails out won’t fully reach students.

“I want to see you out there holding a sign,” Espinoza said. “Anyone can send an email, but it takes a brave person to show their face.”

On Thursday members of the Reaching for Higher Ground board met with NISG representatives, Andersen and Blake Findley, and Vice President of Student Affairs Terry Hogan to create an event to stand up against this outbreak of posts. The event is set for early November, but dates have not been secured.

I, Too, am UNI has stopped posting photos of the yaks on Facebook because it has become hurtful, said Espinoza.

UNI is not the only university in Iowa that has had issues with students posting negative yaks on the app. A Drake University student, Zachary Crisp, has been arrested and charged after being identified as a user who posted threatening yaks, said a KCCI article. 

Yik Yak can help identify users due to information in its system. 

“Why do I feel that I don’t belong here when I paid the same tuition as the kid next to me?” Espinoza said.