Presentation about Yik Yak Deindividuation study.

1. Yik Yak Postings: Content and Categorization
using Deindividuation Theory
Amy Bradshaw-Hoppock, PhD
Christina Frederick, PhD
Rebecca Rohmeyer, Undergraduate student
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

2. Deindividuation Theory
• Zimbardo (1969) claims that deindividuation traces back to our primal days as
humans
• “Mythically, deindividuation is the ageless like force, the cycle of nature, the blood ties, the
tribe, the female principle, the irrational, the impulsive, the anonymous chorus, the vengeful
furies” (p. 249)
• The term was first introduced by Festinger, Pepitone, and Newcomb (1952)
• “Under conditions where the member is not individuated in the group, there is likely to
occur for the member a reduction of inner restraints against doing various things’” (p. 382)
• Diener (1980) defines deindividuation as: “The absence of self-awareness and self-
regulation in group members”

3. Purpose
• To see whether or not Yik Yak users are experiencing the deindividuation
phenomenon
• To see how the participants categorized each Yik Yak post based on a set of
categories

4. Method
• Participants
• 7 undergraduate students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Ages between 18-25 years old
• Materials
• 7 desktop computers operating Windows 7
• Excel spreadsheet used to input data
• 8 packets containing ~13 pages
• Total of 453 posts from the application Yik Yak

5. Method (continued)
• Procedure
• Each participant was provided an Excel
Spreadsheet to input their data
• Drop down bars in each cell, providing each
of the categories to choose from; eliminated
typing errors
• Each participant was instructed to go through
each of the 8 packets and categorize 453 Yik
Yak posts
• Participants were instructed to categorize
them into Primary and Secondary categories
• i.e., Primary Content Category, Secondary
Conent Category

6. Method (continued)
Content Categories:
• Aggression
• Charity
• Academic dishonesty
• Crime
• Escapism
Intent Categories:
• Prosocial (helps others)
• Antisocial (hurts others)
• Nonnormative (violating social norms but without
helping or hurting others)
• Neutral (meeting none of the other 3 categories
Two types of categories: Content and Intent
• Political activities
• Sexual behavior
• Social disruption
• Interpersonal spying/eavesdropping
• Travel
• Miscellaneous

7. Results
• Most of the Yik Yak posts were categorized as “Miscellaneous”
• This may show that most of the users on Yik Yak are not experiencing deindividuation
Content Category Frequencies
Count % of Total
Aggression 564 17.9%
Charity 139 4.4%
Academic Dishonesty 9 0.3%
Crime 40 1.3%
Escapism 187 5.9%
Political Activities 22 0.7%
Sexual Behavior 301 9.6%
Social Disruption 210 6.7%
Interpersonal Spying and Eavesdropping 17 0.5%
Travel 23 0.7%
Miscellaneous 1635 52.0%
Total Content Categories Identified 3147

8. Results (continued)
Secondary Content Category Frequencies
Count % of Total
Aggression 56 24.5%
Charity 10 4.4%
Academic Dishonesty 1 0.4%
Crime 5 2.2%
Escapism 8 3.5%
Political Activities 3 1.3%
Sexual Behavior 24 10.5%
Social Disruption 38 16.6%
Interpersonal Spying and Eavesdropping 3 1.3%
Travel 3 1.3%
Miscellaneous 78 34.1%
Total Content Categories Identified 229

9. Results (continued)
Primary Intent Category Frequencies
Count % of Total
Prosocial (helps others) 447 14.1%
Antisocial (hurts others) 572 18.0%
Nonnormative (violating social norms but without specifically
helping or hurting others) 490 15.4%
Neutral (meeting none of the other 3 categories) 1671 52.5%
Total Intent Category Ratings 3180

10. Results (continued)
Secondary Intent Category Frequencies
Count % of Total
Prosocial (helps others) 28 10.6%
Antisocial (hurts others) 75 28.5%
Nonnormative (violating social norms but without specifically
helping or hurting others) 33 12.5%
Neutral (meeting none of the other 3 categories) 127 48.3%
Total Intent Category Ratings 263

11. Examples of Yik Yak Posts
• Example of “Miscellaneous” categorized Yik Yak:
• “It’s hard for me to up a yak when I know someone either copied it or took hours to
think of.”
• Example of “Aggression” categorized Yik Yak:
• “Wish I had a shotgun to shut these f***ing crows up by the COE”
• Example of “Sexual Behavior” categorized Yik Yak:
• “Sitting in class, but all I want to do is masturbate”

12. Examples of Yik Yak Posts (continued)
• Example of “Social Disruption” categorized Yik Yak:
• “Hispanic word of the day: Ebola. He went bowling and Ebola perfect game”
• Example of “Escapism” categorized Yik Yak:
• “A girl I liked chose someone else so, I finally decided to say f**k everything, f**k your
feelings, f**k trying to do it right, I’m just gonna go balls out and whatever happens
happens I don’t care”

13. Discussion
• Some improvements are needed
• Many of the participants complained that there was not a “Humor” category under the
Content Categories.
• Another complaint from the participants was that there were not any positive-type
categories. They suggested including “Happiness” as another category under the
Content Categories

14. Bibliography
Diener, E. (1980). Deindividuation: The absence of self-awareness and self-regulation in group
members. The psychology of group influence, 209-242.
Festinger, L., Pepitone, A., & Newcomb, T. (1952). Some consequences of de-individuation in
a group. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology,47(2S), 382.
Zimbardo, P. G. (1969). The human choice: Individuation, reason, and order versus
deindividuation, impulse, and chaos. In Nebraska symposium on motivation. University of
Nebraska press.