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As a college student, the old Yik Yak will be missed. I wish they would just change it back to what it originally was; it was very entertaining and useful that

As a college student, the old Yik Yak will be missed. I wish they would just change it back to what it originally was; it was very entertaining and useful that way. It's a testament to the dark side of VC's influence that this company was forced to kill their app in an ill-advised pivot just because the current model wasn't monetizing quickly enough.

echelon 10y ago
Are there new apps in the space Yik Yak used to occupy? I would have imagined that void would have been quickly filled by a newcomer.
- Thlom 10y ago
  In parts of Europe Jodel[1] is pretty popular. [1] https://www.jodel-app.com https://www.jodel-app.com
- lucasmullens 10y ago
  There's Whisper: http://whisper.sh/ http://whisper.sh/
  - ralfd 10y ago
    Judging from the website that looks like buzzword trash and the worst blog spam ("21 pet death which makes you love", "These 17 twins have dating problems ... here is why")
- pmilla1606 10y ago
  I built this: https://dropanon.com https://dropanon.com. Not the same but similar
  - s73ver 10y ago
    How do you plan on curbing harassment? I think, after Twitter, it's just plain irresponsible to not have some kind of plan for that.
    - pmilla1606 10y ago
      Honestly, I never thought that far ahead. The whole thing started as an experiment: "can I get something on the AppStore". I had/have no plans beyond that.
      - nthcolumn 10y ago
        Not an insurmountable issue. The community resolves the problem by tagging the offending items much like you stick a lollipop stick in dog turd at the park. Sometimes your kid still gets shit on her shoe but then you scan the items before they are dropped, keywords, whatevs. You could reduce the problem to vanishingly small.
    - pmilla1606 10y ago
      Honestly, I never thought that far ahead. The whole thing started as an experiment: "can I get something on the AppStore". I had/have no plans beyond that.
- onewaystreet 10y ago
  It got filled by Facebook.
  - milquetoastaf 10y ago
    fb isn't anonymous
- swiflie 10y ago
  We've thrown our hat into the ring: https://www.swiflie.com https://www.swiflie.com
- rajat1saxena 10y ago
  Pollen Chat has been around for an Year. For Android only, as of now. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.raynstudios.pollenchat https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.raynstudios... I am the creator of the app.
- joycey 10y ago
  As another user posted I would say the university Facebook meme pages have filled the void left by Yik Yak: inside jokes for people in your school. It's not anonymous, but the general use case and type of content is very similar.
- pawelwentpawel 10y ago
  I have made Hoodchat live just today https://hoodchat.io https://hoodchat.io
- deevolution 10y ago
  Not an app, but a browser extension that adds an anonymous posting board to your facebook news feed. Currently debating on weather to make it local (you only see posts from people in your immediate friend group) or to keep it global (anyone with the plugin can see all the posts). Check it out my early version at http://switchfeed.net http://switchfeed.net
pitaa 10y ago
I wouldn't at all blame the VC's for this. Yak killed their own app overnight by taking the main feature that made it popular - the fact that it was anonymous - and making an about-face to suddenly require usernames (and strongly encourage social media integration). The fact that they thought that was a good idea in the first place, along with the fact that they didn't think that maybe they should A B test the change in a smaller market first, clearly demonstrates to me that the founders didn't know what they were doing and didn't have what it would have taken to be successful. Before they shot themselves in the foot, they had a huge following among college students because the app was one of the best ways to get and share info on campus. You can't tell me that couldn't have been monetized. Hell, Durex could have made millions by offering $.50 off coupons on the app every night! It's not that it couldn't have made money, the founders just didn't seem to have a realistic vision for how they were going to do so.
- nerfhammer 10y ago
  > require usernames (and strongly encourage social media integration) very possible that they thought it would be nearly impossible to monetize anonymous users > the fact that they didn't think that maybe they should A B test the change in a smaller market first, clearly demonstrates to me that the founders didn't know what they were doing Absolutely right. It's just like digg v4.
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  > Yak killed their own app overnight by taking the main feature that made it popular - the fact that it was anonymous - and making an about-face to suddenly require usernames Wasn't anonymous harassment a rampant problem?
  - pitaa 10y ago
    Well, they blocked the app on all US middle- and high-school campuses so it couldn't be used for bullying. But past that I wouldn't call it a rampant problem. If anything the anonymous factor prevented harassment within the app, because between posts you couldn't identify anyone, thus no one could really carry grudges or become "popular." The main problems were the occasional bomb threat and the overall degenerate nature of some of the posts.

echelon 10y ago

Are there new apps in the space Yik Yak used to occupy? I would have imagined that void would have been quickly filled by a newcomer.

Thlom 10y ago
In parts of Europe Jodel[1] is pretty popular. [1] https://www.jodel-app.com https://www.jodel-app.com
lucasmullens 10y ago
There's Whisper: http://whisper.sh/ http://whisper.sh/
- ralfd 10y ago
  Judging from the website that looks like buzzword trash and the worst blog spam ("21 pet death which makes you love", "These 17 twins have dating problems ... here is why")
pmilla1606 10y ago
I built this: https://dropanon.com https://dropanon.com. Not the same but similar
- s73ver 10y ago
  How do you plan on curbing harassment? I think, after Twitter, it's just plain irresponsible to not have some kind of plan for that.
  - pmilla1606 10y ago
    Honestly, I never thought that far ahead. The whole thing started as an experiment: "can I get something on the AppStore". I had/have no plans beyond that.
    - nthcolumn 10y ago
      Not an insurmountable issue. The community resolves the problem by tagging the offending items much like you stick a lollipop stick in dog turd at the park. Sometimes your kid still gets shit on her shoe but then you scan the items before they are dropped, keywords, whatevs. You could reduce the problem to vanishingly small.
  - pmilla1606 10y ago
    Honestly, I never thought that far ahead. The whole thing started as an experiment: "can I get something on the AppStore". I had/have no plans beyond that.
onewaystreet 10y ago
It got filled by Facebook.
- milquetoastaf 10y ago
  fb isn't anonymous
swiflie 10y ago
We've thrown our hat into the ring: https://www.swiflie.com https://www.swiflie.com
rajat1saxena 10y ago
Pollen Chat has been around for an Year. For Android only, as of now. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.raynstudios.pollenchat https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.raynstudios... I am the creator of the app.
joycey 10y ago
As another user posted I would say the university Facebook meme pages have filled the void left by Yik Yak: inside jokes for people in your school. It's not anonymous, but the general use case and type of content is very similar.
pawelwentpawel 10y ago
I have made Hoodchat live just today https://hoodchat.io https://hoodchat.io
deevolution 10y ago
Not an app, but a browser extension that adds an anonymous posting board to your facebook news feed. Currently debating on weather to make it local (you only see posts from people in your immediate friend group) or to keep it global (anyone with the plugin can see all the posts). Check it out my early version at http://switchfeed.net http://switchfeed.net

pitaa 10y ago

I wouldn't at all blame the VC's for this. Yak killed their own app overnight by taking the main feature that made it popular - the fact that it was anonymous - and making an about-face to suddenly require usernames (and strongly encourage social media integration). The fact that they thought that was a good idea in the first place, along with the fact that they didn't think that maybe they should A B test the change in a smaller market first, clearly demonstrates to me that the founders didn't know what they were doing and didn't have what it would have taken to be successful. Before they shot themselves in the foot, they had a huge following among college students because the app was one of the best ways to get and share info on campus. You can't tell me that couldn't have been monetized. Hell, Durex could have made millions by offering $.50 off coupons on the app every night! It's not that it couldn't have made money, the founders just didn't seem to have a realistic vision for how they were going to do so.

nerfhammer 10y ago
> require usernames (and strongly encourage social media integration) very possible that they thought it would be nearly impossible to monetize anonymous users > the fact that they didn't think that maybe they should A B test the change in a smaller market first, clearly demonstrates to me that the founders didn't know what they were doing Absolutely right. It's just like digg v4.
pavel_lishin 10y ago
> Yak killed their own app overnight by taking the main feature that made it popular - the fact that it was anonymous - and making an about-face to suddenly require usernames Wasn't anonymous harassment a rampant problem?
- pitaa 10y ago
  Well, they blocked the app on all US middle- and high-school campuses so it couldn't be used for bullying. But past that I wouldn't call it a rampant problem. If anything the anonymous factor prevented harassment within the app, because between posts you couldn't identify anyone, thus no one could really carry grudges or become "popular." The main problems were the occasional bomb threat and the overall degenerate nature of some of the posts.