Yik Yak Let’s Users ‘PEEK’ at Updates From Around the World

Anonymous messaging app Yik Yak has announced a new feature called PEEK. The feature allows users to see the posts and updates from areas around the world, without actually being in that location. The announcement from the company envisions everything from checking up on your college campus during the holidays to getting on-the-ground reports from areas of struggle, such as Ukraine.

“Imagine being able to PEEK into Thailand to learn about the political tone of the region or Ukraine to read the unfiltered stories and comments of local citizens,” said Tyler Droll, Yik Yak CEO and co-founder. “Not only are users logging in daily to check out what’s happening on their home campus, but we see PEEKing as the only way to get a true, unfiltered look at what’s happening in a certain area at any given moment.”

Given that Yik Yak has tackled an abuse problem in the recent past, the PEEK feature was considered very carefully. It only allows users to view and read statuses, not interact with them. “Users can look into other locations but may not post, reply or vote on that location's feed,” Droll told SocialTimes.

Yik Yak’s claim to fame is that unlike some other anonymous apps and services, it functions as a hyper-local network. And despite the addition of PEEK, Yik Yak remains that way: Users can only post locally. PEEK allows users to get a look into the mood of an area, from the college campus to a presidential inauguration, which could very well change the nature of sourcing breaking news.

“The potential for Yik Yak’s PEEKing feature during important global events, or even an event such as the Super Bowl or Presidential Inauguration, is unmatched with any other social platform,” said Brooks Buffington, the company’s COO and co-founder.

Indeed, users are taking to PEEK quite readily: 40 percent of active users already use the feature daily. “Users love PEEKing,” Droll said. “PEEKing into somewhere is the most real and unfiltered way to see what is happening in a location at that exact moment. PEEKing lets users keep up with events, but more importantly, it truly conveys the overall attitude, tone and personality of people in specific location.”

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Yik Yak Let’s Users ‘PEEK’ at Updates From Around the World