Like any website or Internet-based service, Colgate could use firewalls to block users of our network from accessing Yik Yak. Decisions to block access to any service or website are made extremely carefully – balancing security needs with the protection of privacy and freedom in education. Additionally, blocking Yik Yak would not preclude individuals from accessing and posting to Yik Yak through other means.
Several colleges have blocked Yik Yak from their networks, including Utica College and Augustana College, but posts continue. Yik Yak requires a mobile device with an Internet connection and presence within a geographic area. When Yik Yak does not have a successful wifi connection, it will automatically flip to use the mobile device’s cellular signal to ‘yak’ within an area. In other words, anyone in the area with an active mobile Internet connection can post to Yik Yak without using our wifi. ‘Yakkers’ need not even be Colgate students, staff or faculty. For these reasons, even when other colleges have blocked Yik Yak, the posts have continued with individuals ‘yakking’ through the cellular network.
If you see a post that threatens physical violence on Yik Yak or through other online activity, please preserve the information through a screen capture of the post and note the time you viewed the post. For e-mail, please preserve the e-mail. To report a threat, please call Campus Safety through the emergency line (x7911) or through the routine line (x7333).
