YAKETY YAK (LOOK WHO’S CUTTING BACK): Yik Yak, the anonymous messaging app that’s synonymous with headaches for many a college leader, has laid of 60 percent of its employees, The Verge reports.
Founded by two Furman University students in 2014, Yik Yak let users post anonymous comments about their campus or life in general. Soon schools everywhere learned what media sites with anonymous comments have known for a long time: incidents of bullying and harassment proliferated. The company tried to build digital tools to reduce the problem, but the damage was done.
Once valued at $400 million, Yik Yak was blocked from wifi networks at at least half a dozen campuses and growth stalled. The cutback brings Yik Yak’s headcount down to 20 from 50, but the company says it will continue to develop the existing app.
