When filling out an application recently to become an executive board member on my college’s Intergreek Council, I was asked a very interesting question: “What do you believe is the greatest issue facing the Greek community at Geneseo?” Instantly, my initial response was that what is at the core of the multitude of other issues sororities and fraternities had been facing recently on my campus is tension and dissonance between organizations.
I of course cannot speak for campuses across the nation, but here on my campus, there has been an almost shocking rise in negativity, hate and conflict between many of the Greek organizations. When I first became involved in fraternal life, the climate on my campus was, surprisingly, exceptionally accepting, and I remember each individual organization having only good things to say about their fellow organizations. There have, naturally, been smaller disputes over various situations between members of different organizations, leading to tension or grudges held between the groups in question, but overall, I found Greek life to have an atmosphere of support and brotherhood/sisterhood.
The contrast between my initial impression and the climate I have witnessed recently led me to ask, “What changed?” It seemed that there must be more to this unfortunate transformation than the added disconnect many of us experienced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. After much contemplation, I still failed to arrive at an answer, and had put the question from my mind in the wake of the beginning fall semester’s responsibilities. It seemed things were stagnant. Then, things began to change once again.
When I first heard mention of YikYak on my college campus, I was instantly shocked, because, as you probably remember, the social media app YikYak peaked around 2014 and quickly fell out of popularity, shutting down in 2017. The app is essentially an anonymous Twitter, except the tweets you view are limited to those sent by users within a five mile radius, making it the perfect storm for things like college campuses. Users can “yak” and vote up and down posts, earning “yakkarma,” a unit of measurement for your account’s success.
The app was recently re-released this August, and has already begun its comeback across the nation. Predictably, the most popular demographic is late teens to young adults, making the app a hit once again across campuses. In true YikYak fashion, the app is still carrying on its legacy of being a hotspot for bullying, as different student organizations and individuals now have a tool enabling them to anonymously gossip – and everyone is pressured to download the app to see what is being said about themselves and fellow students, likely catalyzed by the excitement of being back on campus and craving for socialization after the past two remote semesters.
Fraternities and sororities are a vital component in the social scene on my campus. Our college is located in a small, rural area, like many others throughout New York, making Greek life one of the few attractions socially within a short radius of campus. Naturally, as YikYak took my campus by storm, much of what was said on the platform was about different organizations on campus, and it was by NO means positive … at least, the majority.
That is not to say the content involving sororities and fraternities was as a whole more negative than any of the other content on YikYak, as its very nature will always lead to anonymous bullying. Its effects really only began to stand out to me as organizations began canceling scheduled parties with organizations due to information they had read on YikYak, not wanting to be associated with the rumors and hate certain groups were receiving. Fraternities that had received some heat in the past are now receiving more heat than ever before.
Even more problematically for the future of Greek life, platforms like YikYak and other social media allow individuals who might have been silenced traditionally to speak out about things they see and experience. I am no stranger to the reality that some organizations have more leverage on campus than others, and because of this, little is said publicly slandering these organizations, or at least nothing is said that could damage their reputation and status. As long as a social media post is not blatantly harassing an individual or organization, and is sharing a story, it is typically rare for it to be removed, even if those being discussed in the post report it.
This means social media enables individuals to skip networking and finding a platform to speak from, allowing people to spread news quickly and efficiently to wide audiences.
Secrecy and exclusivity are in fact the very foundations of the basis of Greek life. Thus, it makes sense that something like social media, designed to make the intimate public, directly clashes with its well-being. There have always been rumors, but never a record of them for students to scroll through. Airing the grievances of every organization for all to see does little to improve interest in fraternal life, and there is almost no regulation to assure false information is not accepted as the truth. Truly, social media is not compatible with Greek life.
To quote something I recently heard an old fraternity alumni say, “Thank god we didn’t have social media when we were in college!” We might have social media, but it is truly still TBD if we will continue to have Greek life as it grows…