And everyone had to see it on the wall as opposed to having to be informed about and go look for it.
The point? this isn't novel and don't blame the medium.
Gee, I don't see why people are so freaked out by this gatling gun I'm carrying. It's basically a fancier sling to throw things at people.
It's obligatory.
Checking something someone told you about on the smartphone not so much. (Unless you are in high school... then the reverse:)
[1] Obviously some users check Yik Yak to see what's being said about them, teachers may check it to be aware of what students are being targeted, etc.
The "FaceBook" existed in Harvard before facebook.com...in other places, it was called "MeetBook" (check out this reference in a 1997 episode of This American Life http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/66/tr...)...but the way Facebook.com facilitates interactions, even in its early college-only days was a real game changer because of the medium, even though it emulated a function of an existing print product.
The speed, permanence, and visibility of Net communication is very much a different game.
I don't know where you went to school, but I certainly didn't see up-to-date gossip on hundreds of students plastered to the bathroom walls.
> passed around in notes
Notes can be viewed by one person at a time and can be entirely removed by a single person.
People have always been mean, but now people can be mean very efficiently.
people have been mean on the internet for quite some time now.
I predict the ease of meanness will make more of it... so much in fact it becomes diluted.
This sort of app would be much more effective at school-wide dissemination of gossip.
(which, if I remember high school correctly, would probably be just about everyone....so you may have a point).
It does seem though that the novelty would wear off after a bit as the deluge of unsubstantiated (and likely repetitive) gossip got less interesting. A flood of information is almost as good as no information for getting people not to pay attention in my experience.
When someone was on the bathroom wall it was one person or two people... everyone saw it.
You can bet almost everyone noticeable in school will wind up on this thing at some point. Hurt feelings? Sure. But at least you won't be alone:)
It's a question of which human folly you magnify with your technology. Whether it dies out quickly does not matter once the damage is done.
Also - keep in mind that what you dismiss as a flood could be mistaken for popular opinion by others.
I predict this thing will die of boredom before long. There will simply be too much junk on it.
Anyone makes a post and 17 people feel obligated to argue... even if the point is irrelevant. Very seldom do they even bother to stick around to back up their arguments.
Now, I know everyone wants to appear smart... but really... this is getting kind of silly.
Oh, don't get me wrong... I don't care. I just can't help noticing this wonky behavior.
> Anyone makes a post and 17 people feel obligated to argue
"Forget it, Jake. It's Hacker News."