Anonymous social apps are being evaluated. Yes, again. This week, University of North Carolina (UNC) System Chancellor Peter Hance announced plans to block popular anonymous social apps such as Yik Yak, Fizz, Whisper and Sidechat from being used on campus. The ban would affect 16 universities, including UNC-Chapel Hill, NCSU and UNC Charlotte, as well as one public boarding high school that makes up the UNC system.
In a letter to the UNC Board of Governors, Hans explained the reason for the ban, saying that these small, hyperlocal platforms “show a reckless disregard for the well-being of young people and a total indifference to bullying and malicious behavior.” It shows,” he said. ”
He said the app also turns a blind eye to other issues such as sexual harassment, racial insults and drug dealing.
If you're not familiar with these apps, you're probably not the target audience.
Anonymous social apps tend to appeal to younger users and are often used for nefarious acts such as bullying, harassment, and online abuse. Or, as Hans colorfully puts it, apps are “the modern equivalent of scrawling cruel rumors on the bathroom walls, except now with far more users.”
Many modern-day anonymous social sets also operate within a five-mile radius of college or university campuses and target young people. This led to its widespread adoption among university students, but it was often ignored by university administrators due to its use case. For example, Hans admitted that he had never heard of these apps until a group of research association presidents brought them to his attention.
Unfortunately, the anonymous social trend is not new. Every few years, and no matter how many anonymous apps like this one fail, someone somewhere seems to build another anonymous social platform. This is a social media cockroach category.
In fact, Yik Yik is living a second life. An earlier version cut off access to U.S. middle and high school students in 2014 amid threats of bullying and violence, and then in 2017 as the co-founders headed to Square (now Block) in a buyout. permanently closed. But in 2021, the app has re-emerged. At least the app is back with the same name and branding but under new ownership. (See what I mean about cockroaches?)
No matter how many times this trend is attempted, standalone anonymous social apps for consumers rarely lead to sustainable businesses. The abundance of harmful content has led to consumer backlash for failing to address cyberbullying (RIP Secret), app store bans (RIP Sarahah), deplatforming and lawsuits (RIP Snap Anonymous) The price will come to them in the end. social developer partners), regulations (RIP Ask.fm), or numerous campus-wide bans that impact our target market, as was the case with early versions of YikYak.
With UNC's move to ban apps from running on its network, we may be nearing the beginning of the end for this current set of apps. There have already been turf wars and consolidations within the group, including SideChat, which quietly acquired Yik Yak last year. These apps have now come up on people's radars, which could negatively impact their adoption and usage.
UNC's ban does not mean college students will no longer have access to these apps. College students can still use these apps over their cell phone plans and other her Wi-Fi networks, but this is at least an attempt to steer students away from these platforms and the risky behaviors they cause.
“My hope is that this action, while certainly a small step, will lead to more positive feedback on how we encourage students to spend their time, engage with their peers, and foster the public square that a public university deserves.” “It is a call to deep reflection,” Professor Hans wrote. .
The UNC System president said he was inspired to take action after hearing a public lecture by New York University social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, who said that our current relationship with technology and online life is a choice and that we are not separate. He pointed out that there is a possibility of making a choice.
“We were prescribing opiates to our children. [Haidt] said Hans. “I think we are approaching a similar moment of clarity for digital medicines, which have been freely administered for the past 15 years,” he added.
Yik Yak, Sidechat, Whisper, and Fizz were approached for comment using their public email addresses published on their website and terms of use. None of the companies respond and some of the published emails don't work, even though the app is up and running. Attempts to contact Fiz through his previous publicist were also unsuccessful. Sidechat quietly acquired Yik Yak in 2023.
The current app has gained a small foothold among younger users. Yik Yak is the largest in the group, with more than 3.5 million iOS installs since 2021, according to data from app intelligence firm AppFigures. Sidechat has approximately 334,700 iOS installations. Whisper has 761,044 Android installs and Fizz has 583,318 iOS installs.
Some apps have attracted the attention of universities before. In addition to the original Yik Yak, Harvard University contacted Sidechat in January over student reports of anti-Semitic posts on the platform and asked the company to do more to moderate content. Florida State University, like Florida A&M, has included Fizz in its 2023 ban on apps that threaten personal privacy and national security, along with TikTok, WeChat, and others.
The four anonymous social apps Hans mentioned have not yet been banned on UNC campuses. However, Hans asked his legal team and his IT team to come up with a plan to block the UNC System app from his infrastructure. He did not share a timeline for when the blocks would be installed.
Sarah Perez can be reached at sarahp@techcrunch.com or @sarahperez.01 / 415.234.3994 on Signal.