Communication Design Quarterly Mar 2017

Yik Yak and the knowledge community

Sara West

Abstract

Yik Yak is an anonymous, location-based social networking application that is extremely popular on college campuses across the United States. Because it is known mainly for the controversies it breeds, both scholars and professionals have largely overlooked Yik Yak's complexities and have instead focused on its more negative traits. This article discusses Yik Yak as a site for critical research, especially in the field of technical and professional communication. Yik Yak fuses physical and virtual space, places an emphasis on interactivity, and subverts traditional user hierarchies. By examining these characteristics and the posts that users generate, this article explores how Yik Yak serves as an impetus for the formation of knowledge communities---communities in which individuals work together to create and maintain collective knowledge. This article also advocates further critical study of Yik Yak communities and posits Yik Yak communication patterns have important implications for communication designers.

Journal
Communication Design Quarterly
Published
2017-03-22
DOI
10.1145/3068755.3068757
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Topics
multimodality professional writing

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (11)

  1. Blythe et al. (2014)
    Professional and Technical Communication in a Web 2.0 World
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Pigg (2014)
    Coordinating Constant Invention: Social Media's Role in Distributed Work
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Bowdon (2014)
    Tweeting an Ethos: Emergency Messaging, Social Media, and Teaching Technical Co…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Ferro et al. (2014)
    Technical Communication Unbound: Knowledge Work, Social Media, and Emergent Com…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Hurley et al. (2014)
    The Rhetoric of Reach: Preparing Students for Technical Communication in the Ag…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 11 →
  1. Maranto et al. (2010)
    Paradox and Promise: MySpace, Facebook, and the Sociopolitics of Social Network…
    Computers and Composition
  2. Stolley (2009)
    Integrating Social Media Into Existing Work Environments
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Vie (2008)
    Digital Divide 2.0: “Generation M” and Online Social Networking Sites in the Co…
    Computers and Composition
  4. Barton (2005)
    The future of rational-critical debate in online public spheres
    Computers and Composition
  5. Ornatowski et al. (2004)
    What's Civic About Technical Communication? Technical Communication and the Rhe…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  6. Salvo (2001)
    Ethics of Engagement: User-Centered Design and Rhetorical Methodology
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Also cites 2 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1145/1298306.1298311
     ↗
  2. Van Dijck J. (2013)
    The culture of connectivity: A critical history of social media
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 5 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2026
    Stance in CEO Statements from U.S. and Vietnamese Banks’ Annual Reports: A Corpus-Based Cross-Cultural Study ↗
    Minh Hieu Nguyen
    multimodality professional writing
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Mar 2026
    “It's Hard to Show ROI When You’re Preventing Things from Happening”: How Impact Storytelling Frames Community Health Initiatives for Executive Audiences ↗
    Margaret Hsiao
    qualitative research multimodality technical communication professional writing multilingual writers
  3. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Mar 2026
    Role of Experiential Learning Program on Business Writing Skills of Management Students ↗
    Shruti Srinivasan; Ravikumar Thangaraj; Jain Mathew
    graduate education multimodality professional writing multilingual writers
  4. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Feb 2026
    LLMs in Composition: Theory, Ethics, and Implementation in the Workplace and Classroom ↗
    Kylie Alexis Wilczynski
    multimodality online writing instruction artificial intelligence professional writing
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 2026
    Toward a Justice-Oriented Professionalism: Lessons Learned From a Critical Service-Learning Project in a Professional Writing Course ↗
    Renea C. Frey; Jeffrey M. Gerding; Ethan Nichols; Danielle Stone
    service learning multimodality professional writing