Yik Yak has risen from the dead and has taken its hold on college campuses across the country.

The app, originally created in 2013, is an anonymous messaging app that allows users to see posts created within a 5-mile radius of their location.

Despite gaining widespread internet fame, the app received criticism for encouraging cyberbullying, due to its anonymous nature and lack of content restriction.

By 2017, the app had lost its popularity and was forced to shut down. It seemed like YikYak was just a fad, forced into the app graveyard alongside Vine and Google+.

Until Aug. 15, 2021.

The company announced on their website that they would be bringing the app back, with some new changes.

The new owners were “committed to making Yik Yak a fun place free of bullying, threats, and all sort of negativity.”

Users are now able to report yaks for violating the app’s community guidelines and downvote yaks off of the app.

However, many users have discovered how easy it is to violate these guidelines with no punishment.

On Bradley University’s campus, most of the violations concern members of Greek organizations.

Avie Magner, a sophomore Music and Entertainment Industry major and a member of Kappa Delta, a sorority on campus, opened Yik Yak one day, to find people cyberbullying her sorority’s president.

“KD really got the worst president huh” a yak read.

Magner said that, due to the content of the yaks, she, along with the rest of the executive council, decided the people who posted the yaks had to be members of Kappa Delta.

“It’s one thing to talk about someone with your friends, but to post it for the whole school to see is hurtful and cowardly. They should have come to [the executive council] with their concerns.”

Although members reported the posts, by the time they were taken down, the damage had been done, according to Magner.

Despite the bullying that occurs, many students still enjoy the app.

“[Yik Yak] is a great way to know what’s happening on campus,” said Cody Kopanski, a sophomore Television Arts Major.

He mentioned that without Yik Yak, Sigma Chi would not have been held accountable for their racist comments against the President of Delta Upsilon.

“[Sigma Chi] has always had that reputation, but now, there is actual evidence, and sororities are canceling events with them. It’s good to see something being done about it, even if Bradley didn’t get involved.”

The app has started to see less traffic on Bradley’s campus, however. Sam Kuhlman, a senior Studio Arts major said that it was popular at the beginning of last semester, but now there seem to be fewer posts.

“I don’t go on [Yik Yak] as often as I used to. Now, it’s just people making fun of Greek life. It got boring.”

If Yik Yak will fall back into internet irrelevancy, only time will tell; however, for now, it seems to be a large part of the university’s social experience.