“No login, no password, no traces; simply anonymous.”

That is the motto of Yik Yak, the messaging app that allows students to make anonymous posts to be seen by anybody using the app in the surrounding area, or, in our case, on campus.

We have received two letters to the editor in response to the Optimist’s decision to print yaks in the paper. Both letters bring different opinions to the controversy, and we felt both were helpful in shedding light on what role the Optimist plays in campus conversation.

The fact is, regardless of whether the Optimist prints yaks or not, the app is not going away. Yik Yak gives a voice to many individuals who previously felt voiceless, even on other forms of social media. And that can be a frighteningly powerful gift.

Whether they use this new sense of power to cowardly create inappropriate messages behind their anonymity or with good taste and nobility, we can’t control. But we can reward those who choose the latter.

Our presence on Yik Yak does not mean that we support or endorse any or all material that is posted. The purpose of the Optimist’s presence can be broken down into three goals:

1. To remind users just how far their messages may reach.

2. To listen to and be representative of all students on campus; the good, bad or ugly.

3. To transform the medium into a place where more clean, humorous or constructive posts make their way to the top of the feed.

That being said, there is no set number of tweets or yaks to be selected for every issue. Some weeks the clean and positive yaks are more rare than others. Sometimes good tweets are more plentiful than good yaks. The quantity and quality of any opinions on this page are up to the opinion editor’s discretion.