The brand new app, Yik Yak, that hit the market just last year has made a huge splash in college campuses across the nation.

The anonymous social media forum allows users to post anything that is on their minds to a newsfeed that is restricted by GPS to a 1.5-mile radius. Yik Yak creators Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington founded the social medium in 2013, as graduates of South Carolina’s Furman University. The two created the technology mainly for college campuses, of which more than 1,000 currently have access to the technology.

Users can send posts, referred to as “Yak’s,” to the newsfeed at their location and can “up-vote” or “down-vote” other users’ shared content. Yik Yakers can also “peek” into other college campuses or cities that the app covers, but users cannot post on any newsfeed outside of their location.

Yik Yak has been criticized as a college gossip forum, and numerous media outlets have picked up stories about the app’s offensive content. The Huffington Post described the app as, “bathroom stalls without toilets; they’re useless, they’re sources of unhelpful or harmful conversations, and they’re a complete eyesore.”

Users have even posted bomb threats to the app, and found out the hard way that Yik Yak is not as anonymous as they had wished. Eric Wood of Sellersville, Pennsylvania, was arrested after posting violent threats. The message read, “Hey guys, I’m not in school anymore so ha. I’m bringing a gun though tomorrow so watch out…or how about a bomb?”

Police traced the threat using the Internet protocol address, which was used in several other incidents including threats made by Luis Vela of Widener University, a student of Towson University and students from other universities in Alabama, California, New York and Mississippi.

At Shippensburg University, students use the anonymous sharing medium frequently for everything from getting other students’ opinions on professors to complaining about the construction on campus. According to senior Craig Redmond, SU students often fill up newsfeeds with negative content and gossip.

“I hear Ship students discussing their problems,” said Redmond, “and I feel that they use Yik Yak a lot to complain anonymously.”

Professor Jamonn Campbell, who has a doctorate degree in social psychology from Miami University, specializes in social media and the effects of technology on interactions and attitudes.

“Some things should be kept inside,” said Campbell. “Some of the negative things that people feel, such as sexist and racist comments, people will often speak without thinking. When you’re anonymous on the Internet you’re even less concerned with feedback.”

On the other hand, there is a positive side to the app that students and faculty recognize and appreciate.

Sophomore Mary Grace Keller talked about some of the helpful posts that she has seen, and explained that the app is not just about bullying and gossip but can actually help students.

“People let me know when there’s good food at Reisner,” said Keller. “I like knowing when there are fences coming across the quad so I can avoid that. People ask for opinions on classes and I have seen people asking about which professor to take as well. Some of [the comments] can really be useful.”

Besides the practical uses of Yik Yak, students benefit from other positive aspects of the app.

“When you’re anonymous you feel more free to disclose,” said Campbell. “That can be a positive thing, because people can share things and get things off their chest that they are unable to tell their friends or family because of the negative feedback that they’re going to get. It can actually be a healthy thing.”

It remains to be seen whether the positive aspects of Yik Yak will outweigh the controversial nature of many university newsfeeds.

As the app’s availability climbs past the 1,000 schools, only time will tell if Yik Yak will remain as the big man on campus or if it will go the way of the college dropout.

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