When he saw the post about buffalo chicken sandwiches, Elias McEaneney ’27 was surprised.

During last February’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) encampment in Smith Union, comments appeared on Yik Yak—a social media platform that allows users to anonymously post and view content in their area. Some comments were supportive. Some were funny—McEaneney said he laughed at one that likened the encampment to a “lesbian orgy.” But others crossed the line into what McEaneney viewed as serious threats, including one: “If there’s no steamy hot buff chick [sic] sandwiches at 11am smith [sic] is burning to the ground.”

In an Orient op-ed published February 28, 2025, McEaneney highlighted many of these comments, including another that asked, “Who knows how to add tear gas to smith [sic] ventilation?” Though he acknowledged in the op-ed that some were likely jokes, he called for the College to take these comments more seriously.

Any Bowdoin student who uses Yik Yak has likely seen posts similar to the ones McEaneney referenced, alongside other controversial and shocking posts addressing various issues.

Yik Yak was founded in 2013 as a way for users, many of them students, to make anonymous, localized posts. However, the app soon became embroiled in controversy. In 2015, two students in Missouri were arrested for using the app to issue death threats to Black people and racist comments on Colby College’s Yik Yak drew public outcry. In 2017, former students sued the University of Mary Washington in Virginia for failing to protect them from harassment and threats of sexual violence on the platform. That year, the app shut down due to multiple scandals and a declining user base.

However, in 2021, Yik Yak relaunched, sparking renewed debate about the pros and cons of its place in American college culture—including at Bowdoin.

Most students are familiar with the call-out culture, and sometimes toxic nature, of Bowdoin’s Yik Yak. Posts using initials and class years to talk about specific students while the author stays anonymous are common. However, Yik Yak and anonymity have also impacted Bowdoin in another area: political discourse.

Bowdoin Democrats leader Brittany Yue ’27 sees Yik Yak as a forum for political discourse at Bowdoin, but not a productive one.

“I feel like a major topic of discussion from the Bowdoin Conservatives at times is that people use Yik Yak to anonymously bash them, or Yik Yak is the place where people go to complain about the [club]. So, I guess through that, we kind of use Yik Yak as a major place for politics at Bowdoin,” Yue said. “I feel like any anonymous platform is generally negative for political discourse.”

Professor of Government Michael Franz, who teaches a class on mass media in the United States, highlighted how one of the main impacts of social media on American politics has been the prevalence of misinformation and how easily it can spread. Franz explained how this phenomenon can be even more present on anonymous sites.

“This becomes a bigger problem on these anonymous sites, where you can say anything you want, have any hot take you want and can feed into the hyperventilating that happens over everything,” Franz said. “There is no accountability.”

McEaneney highlighted how it is often difficult to go back and find older posts on Yik Yak. Even though posts stay up on the platform indefinitely, new posts are prioritized by the app’s algorithm, burying less recent material.

“Other than living through screenshots, once something’s gone, even if it does technically exist, it’s so inconvenient to relocate messages and posts through Yik Yak,” McEaneney said.

Some students are more ambivalent about anonymity, citing both its benefits and drawbacks.

“I definitely think people say things that they wouldn’t just say out in the open, and that gives some people some freedom to … be more brave, but also gives people the freedom to say things that aren’t okay to say,” Tolly Kaiser ’28 said.

McEaneney agreed with the idea that anonymity gives people the power to critique.

“I do think people should have a space to be able to post their thoughts … on an upfront level,” McEaneney said. “I think there is a big value, dare I say academically, in showing certain mindsets of students on different campuses at different times. People are a lot more likely to be honest. You can see some very good critique and feedback of the school on Yik Yak because it’s not necessary to attach your name in the same way.”

However, some students questioned whether there even was an upside to such anonymity. According to Lionel Yu ’28, anonymity itself is harmful because it removes the moral element from interaction.

“If you’re not willing to conduct yourself in a certain way in front of other people, that says something about you, or it shows that there’s a discontinuity [between] who you are and what you actually believe in,” Yu said.

Some groups on campus have attempted to examine the benefits of anonymous speech while minimizing its drawbacks. In a recent report published by the Committee on Postering, Building Use and Demonstrations, a section titled “Considered but Not Recommended at This Time” includes the possibility of curating a space for anonymous posting on campus.

“One model we looked at (Providence College) includes the periodic thoughtful posting of a question on a large blackboard centrally located on campus; to engage in this would take more thought and preparation,” the report states.

Harper Stevenson ’27, who served on the committee, discussed how this model of anonymity could be more fruitful than platforms like Yik Yak.

“I think it could [be helpful] because someone would have to physically go up and do it, and maybe think a little bit more about what they’re saying and the impact it could have on other people,” Stevenson said. “Although it’s still anonymous, it would just require a little bit more thinking and commitment to thinking through the results of your actions.”

At the end of the day, McEaneney thinks the College should have the responsibility to try to curb more of the harmful speech that comes from Yik Yak.

“I definitely think Bowdoin is failing in its position to make sure that [the app] is being used safely and making sure that there aren’t students who feel particularly targeted or outed or unsafe because of the app,” McEaneney said.