Vanity Fair and TechCrunch recently reported that Yik Yak is in trouble, a company that raised over $70 million dollars and valued at around $400 million. At the time it last raised, Yik Yak had exploded across thousands of campuses in the US, propelling it to the top ranks in downloads on iOS and Android.

Here’s the problem: Yik Yak rocketed because it was entertaining and relatable to their college demographic. But, like most entertainment products: novelty wears off, interest wanes, and attention moves on.

Almost a year ago, I decided to shut down a product called Secret. Similar to Yik Yak, it exploded in popularity. Secret had lots of users and lots of money was invested in it. But, we saw the same pattern over and over again: a community would discover the product, it would spread like wildfire, and then die off, almost as quickly as it came.

The cycle is analogous to video game release cycles. When a quality game releases it sees a spike in usage and attention but is then shelved as players move on to the next thing. Such as Portal, Braid, and Dragon Age. However, some games break this cycle and go on to become highly valuable and lasting franchises; games like Counter-Strike, Minecraft, and League of Legends. So what is it that sets these games apart? Community.

For an entertainment product to survive a hype cycle it has to provide unique utility, evolve with its customers, and foster communities.

Like Secret, Yik Yak captured the imagination of millions of people and provided a lot of entertainment value, but it doesn’t foster community the way social products that last do. I like to refer to this as the Fantasy Land Theory, because most anonymous apps are rooted in just that: fantasy. And like most entertainment, they’re designed to provide an escape from reality.

This presents a quandary. While anonymous apps provide an escape, it seems that comes with an inherent expiration date. A quick look at the charts below show how these apps tend to rise in popularity, and then quickly fall, often multiple times.