[lukev]

First, this is a serious problem. Severe bullying is one of the better outcomes if you have unrestricted, anonymous localized trolling.

Second, it seems like this could be easily fixed without compromising anonymity, using standard moderation techniques. And Yik Yak can in theory do even better than an online discussion board - acquiring a new phone number is much higher cost than creating a new online account.

In fact, this feature could enable Yik Yak to be one of the better online communities, since effective moderation is actually possible while still maintaining anonymity.

[conductor]

There are already dozens of social networks with "effective moderation". Maybe those people who use Yik Yak are using it just because there is no censoring? I bet if they add moderation, the users will migrate to the next thing with no moderation. Please, stop "solving" social problems by limiting free speech.

[A_COMPUTER]

I just installed the app to try it out. I posted a request for good books to read. After a few minutes a couple people replied with books and authors, and their post scores trickled down to negative numbers until they disappeared.

Theory: The same way that Yik Yak punishes competitor spam by incrementally lowering the score until it's modded out of existence, it detects human names in posts and applies the same punishment in an attempt to prevent bullying.

[bdcravens]

acquiring a new phone number is much higher cost than creating a new online account

Not really. Apps like Burner let you get a temporary phone number for $3-4 (well, that is still a higher cost, but makes switching around more or less trivial)

[wutbrodo]

>> acquiring a new phone number is much higher cost than creating a new online account

> Not really.

That is a much higher cost. The conversation around microtransactions is in large part about the cognitive load of having to pay for each action, and something as high as $3-4 is significantly more. I can't imagine that wouldn't deter large numbers of casual bullies, and I can't see that not having a significant effect on bullying in general.

[Buge]

Is it possible to configure YikYak with burner numbers?