TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — Many Troy University students use social media to connect and share stories with other students, but experts say to beware what you see online.

Students rarely, if ever, actually know who is behind a post on social media platforms. For example, the application YikYak allows users to be completely anonymous. Although anonymity allows users to post whatever comes to mind, it also enables misinformation to be spread on the platform.

Over the past few weeks, several untrue posts were made. One included supposed sightings of ICE in Troy, which turned out to be unverified rumors.

“Posting to an anonymous social media site like YikYak seems very low stakes”, said Dr. Robbyn Taylor, Director of the Hall Schools of Journalism and Communication, “but it has very real consequences because it can incite fear and panic among people and that is very real.”

Faith Kelley is a Troy student who uses YikYik. She gets some of her campus news from the platform.

“I wanna know if I’m being attacked or someone is being attacked on campus,” Kelley told TrojanVision. “That is something that should be addressed.

“It is a good thing to get to know it on YikYak.”

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Kelley did acknowledge that false information posted to YikYak can spread unfounded fear among students.

“It does spread panic, especially when parents find out cause then I’m getting calls from my mom that something is going on, and it’s not true, and I feel you should keep it to yourself knowing that it’s not true.”

Troy students are not the only ones being affected. Investigations by the Troy University Police Department (TUPD) may be hampered by misinformation.

“It takes up my investigation time,” said TUPD Sergeant Rachel Farmer. “There are other things I could looking into versus something that is completely false and having to track down that it takes up a lot of different resources that people don’t think about at the time they post something.”

Taylor urges students, and all social media users, to check their sources before posting anything that might spread misinformation or cause panic.

“If there is something that is causing fear or making you uncomfortable, don’t just take it at face value and reshare it. Verify if it’s true or not. You have to verify before you share.”

TUPD told TrojanVision that officers do have the power to subpoena social media platforms in order to find users who post false information that warrants an investigation.