Talk:Kik Messenger

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License?

Info about the software license is missing. In the first sentene it says "free", but I think this refers to "gratis" rather than Free Software? --80.130.144.137 (talk) 15:56, 28 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The website says ...(b) you shall not modify, translate, adapt, merge, make derivative works of, disassemble, decompile, reverse compile or reverse engineer any part of the Site or Kik Messenger, except to the extent the foregoing restrictions are expressly prohibited by applicable law - yeah that is definitely in no way, shape or form free; the user is outright put in chains with respect to enhancing the program! Objection noted - sentence corrected to "at no cost". Zaphraud (talk) 00:18, 22 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

While I do love Free Software, lets remember that the word "free" doesn't originate with the Free Software movement. ;) 2001:470:1F04:3DF:0:0:0:2 (talk) 21:13, 31 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Did the name come from a typo?

Did somebody try typing lol but ended up typing kik? I do it all the time... 74.89.128.64 (talk) 03:09, 9 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Omfg....ikr?! Me too! I just realized that...OwO

Neutrality and Controversy

Overall tone sounds like press release/ad copy. Dispute neutrality? Also, given some reports of some stuff (http://newjersey.news12.com/news/newark-teens-receive-pornographic-texts-through-messaging-app-called-kik-1.5188025?firstfree=yes), does this article merit a "controversy" section?

Who's up ?

Who's up ? Adriana fonseca xD (talk) 07:35, 10 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Non-Neutrality

Introductory paragraph sounds like an advertisement, "at no cost", "fast", among other things. I'm not sure how to make it sound more neutral, any help? ArturGhostmancer (talk) 05:14, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not a non-neutral source (I am, technically, a competitor's CEO.) but I get annoyed by advertising-like content, so I've made an edit primarily to remove some content for WP:NEUTRAL. Nuke (talk) 07:15, 10 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

To be honest, I think it still sounds like an advertisement, maybe not put so many advantages, or maybe put in some cons to kinda cancel it out? Just a suggestion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.95.222.227 (talk) 04:20, 11 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

request edit

It is requested that an edit be made to the semi-protected article at A. (edit · history · last · links · protection log)

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Controversy hasn't been added, and it is seemingly not allowed to be added. The article is written exactly like an advertisement and is now locked because someone deleted 4 words...

I do believe this is either paid editing or company sabotage.

There is clear information that police have issued warnings on using Kik, pedophiles use Kik, terrorists use Kik, etc...

Isn't controversy?

Interesting... 137.147.66.38 (talk) 16:02, 30 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There is a small controversy section. I removed a lot of fluff. While I did not add new material to the controversy section, it now comprises a larger proportion of the total.

I don't know enough about the details to know whether the WP:WEIGHT is exactly right, but I've improved it, I believe.

I'm going to mark this as addressed, but feel free to comment if more edits are needed.--S Philbrick (Talk) 21:24, 8 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Request expansion of the controversy section

The current controversy section isn't encyclopedic, in the sense that it's only showing the viewer a small fraction of the overall information. I have tried for many months to expand this section, but it has always resulted in some form of bickering with other users. I was hoping someone may be able to expand it. Although a recent edit did remove a lot of fluff, it didn't expand on a controversy section. I have included links that prove there is indeed controversy:

It is requested that edits be made to the following semi-protected articles:

D (edit · history · last · links · protection log)
S (edit · history · last · links · protection log)

This template must be followed by a complete and specific description of the request, that is, specify what text should be removed and a verbatim copy of the text that should replace it. "Please change X" is not acceptable and will be rejected; the request must be of the form "please change X to Y".

The edit may be made by any autoconfirmed user. Remember to change the |answered=no parameter to "yes" when the request has been accepted, rejected or on hold awaiting user input. This is so that inactive or completed requests don't needlessly fill up the edit requests category. You may also wish to use the {{ESp}} template in the response. To request that a page be protected or unprotected, make a protection request.

http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/nbc33/news/Police-Issue-Warning-About-Child-Predators-Using-Kik-App-220665461.html

https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Social-Network-Jihad/british-jihadis-in-syria-use-kik-messenger-for-recruitment-transport-of-foreign-fighters.html

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/12/02/kik-social-media-platform-draws-police-warning

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/526633/20131202/kik-app-social-media.htm#.U9iHbPmSzVB

http://fox17online.com/2014/01/14/new-social-media-apps-pose-predator-dangers/#axzz2xFKS5Uqz

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-23315397

http://www.smh.com.au/national/police-warning-on-social-media-messaging-app-kik-20131130-2yimo.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/common-sense-media/11-sites-and-apps-kids-are-heading-to-after-facebook_b_3991614.html

http://www.wlox.com/story/24146731/live-5-investigates-predators-using-kik-messenger-to-lure-kids

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20121004/NEWS07/710049951

http://ktla.com/2014/01/16/child-predator-may-have-100-victims-using-social-media/

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765634022/Wake-up-and-smell-the-sexting-parents.html?pg=all

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-23315397

http://adland.tv/adnews/kik-messenger-app-now-overrun-porn-spammers/82322445

http://globalnews.ca/news/1135647/students-parents-warned-about-explicit-spam-messages-on-kik-messenger/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/albertans-complain-kik-messenger-spam-bot-sending-sexual-messages-1.2561695

http://www.trentonian.com/general-news/20140728/pedophile-on-kik-app-its-well-known-in-our-industry

http://www.13newsnow.com/story/news/local/2013/10/29/man-accused-of-raping-teen-he-met-through-kik-app-/14834790/

http://wavy.com/2014/10/16/va-beach-man-admits-to-producing-child-porn/

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/northern-beaches/police-hunt-for-man-who-suspected-for-trying-to-groom-eightyearold-girl-online/story-fngr8hax-1227100068105?nk=25e4e07689a7e239f2d574b29e41adcf

Discussion

Hi. Thanks for using Request Edit, however this tool is for request specific edits (there is no method of just getting an editor to write the page for you). However I have added the article to my watchlist to keep an eye on any overtly bias edits and you are also welcome to attempt to put together a neutral and well-sourced draft and sharing it here on the Talk page. CorporateM (Talk) 05:43, 30 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Controversy

This was the original controversy section. I have read through NPOV and fail to see how it could be improved. Any contribution would be appreciated. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kik_Messenger&oldid=603136363

Law enforcement agencies in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom have cautioned parents that using Kik Messenger risks exposing children to nefarious materials, usually forcing minors to partake in “sexting”, a form of child sexual abuse.[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] In Australia, the Victoria Police have warned that pedophiles are using Kik to request sexually explicit images from children, and in some cases are then using those pictures to try and coerce them into performing sexual acts. [19] New South Wales Police have described it as "the number one social media problem involving teenagers", which most parents are unaware of. [20] Cyber Safety expert Ross Bark said Kik and Instagram are a dangerous combination for teenagers, who post photographs publicly on Instagram and then invite viewers to Kik privately to chat.[21] The danger is that apps or websites allow communication with strangers, who share their Kik usernames publicly,[22] and the conversations and images can't be viewed publicly, which makes it much harder for parents to monitor Kik, as opposed to Facebook or Twitter. Police are concerned that drug dealers and pedophiles “trawl” Kik, taking advantage of that hidden communication.[23]

There are cases where people have used Kik Messenger to commit serious crimes, such as sexual assault, by luring victims to various locations. In the U.S. an Irving man, Jesus Adalid Madrid-Dubon, 27, raped a woman who he met through Kik Messenger, Madrid-Dubon was found to be involved in a series of similar cases. In 2013, a Dallas teenager was abducted, the victim told investigators that she was "kidnapped by a man whom she met on Kik".[24] Children in the U.S. and Australia are continuously targeted by pedophiles and predators, who coerce victims into sending sexually explicit materials and groom them for sexual acts via Kik.[25] [26] When the children would not comply with predators demand for explicit photographs, they threaten and harass them.[27] Kik lacks age verification and conversation scanning software that sites like Facebook use, which allows them to flag questionable conversations based on keywords and the age of the participants. As a result, Kik Messenger is largely unregulated. [28]

Jackson Roland Westermeyer, 18, was charged by Huntington Beach Police Department for posing as a girl and threatening more than 100 boys to send him explicit photos. More than 1,700 different conversations were found stored on Westermeyer's Kik; some dating back over a year, police said. Law enforcement were still trying to identify pictures of 50 to 100 more children found in Westermeyer’s possession, according to Huntington Beach Police Chief Robert Handy. [29] The UK's online child protection agency is appealing to children who may have fallen victim to an internet sex abuser to come forward.[30] Various social media writers and experts, like, Kristen Thompson warned parents to check their children’s smartphones, and to regulate the usage of Kik Messenger and other apps for their children’s safety.[31]

When asked about the risks and dangers of using Kik Messenger, Kik said usernames identified users, rather than personal information, such as mobile phone numbers and email addresses. Kik said users are also able to block "any and all contact" with another user, without revealing to the other user that they had been blocked, which "instantly terminated any undesired contact from another user". There is also an "ignore new user" feature, allowing users to hide messages they received from people they had never talked to before. Kik said it had policies in place to respond "in the best way possible" when something was reported by a user or police "Kik actively cooperates with law enforcement agencies all over the world, to ensure the safety of their users," it added.[32] But in spite of all of the above countermeasures, the crime rate against the children through Kik Messenger, due to its privacy, minimization of authority and somewhat difficult reporting options,[33] are increasing at an alarming rate.

In 2014 an advertising company reported that Kik has been “overrun by porn spammers”. [34] Pedophiles have used automated spam bots to distribute explicit images and text over Kik Messenger. [35] [36]

JT2958 (talk) 10:21, 9 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Don't get it

Is it just SMS? Don't see the point of the app, article needs to make clear why it's a thing. Lycurgus (talk) 01:48, 8 March 2015 (UTC) jk its pretty dope[reply]

Link

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Hi, I'm with Kik's marketing/PR team. We'd like to add a link to an article on Microsoft's web site about the PhotoDNA cloud service, which is already mentioned in the Wikipedia entry's History section. The article is at [1], and references Kik. Can someone make this addition if they think it's OK? Or, let me know if I can do this myself. Thanks for considering -- CK.Kentchristine (talk) 16:55, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Declined. The tone of the link you provided is promotional. If you would like someone to add information about Kik's use of PhotoDNA to the article about Kik, try to find reliable sources that are independent of Kik and Microsoft. --Dodi 8238 (talk) 20:52, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]