How much authority does OP have?

Gisteron wrote: Your journal is the place you go to say things you do not wish discussed in any way. Or so I thought until I learned that apparently any and every thread can be essentially a journal, if only one declares that they ought be. It turns out, don't you know, that which ever thread one creates one gets to be King in, because of a reason too obvious to be explained in the rules.

This could be a potentially useful discussion. There is a precedent of topic starters having some authority about the direction the topic is meant to take. Zenchi’s Dark Side Meditations thread is one that comes to mind for me because i remember him specifically telling people it wasnt intended as an open discussion and it wasnt going to become one. But it doesnt seem like a good idea to me that the entirety of the forum be made into some kind of intellectual safe space, where we all have the privilege of silencing any idea or opinion that is contrary to our own. How much authority should OP have? None whatsoever? Dictator status? Is there some reasonable point between?

Nevermind

nevermind.

It should be none. If you want a private journal (i.e. not an IP journal), put it in the journals subforum and title the thread clearly as a journal. Unless you're one of the 5 mods, there's nothing you can really do to enforce your will, so you might as well just follow the rules in place to prevent people from accidentally commenting on your personal monologue

I think the authority lies with the section of the board not the OP. I've been told this before, that I dont get to makes rules about my posts I start or get to decide content or direction if it's like in open discussion or whatever.

The OP has the authority to request a certain level of conduct in their thread, but does not have the authority to punish anyone for not respecting such a request (insofar as no rules are broken). Some threads have been locked, if I remember correctly, based on the OP's request in the past. That seems to be about it.

TheDude wrote: The OP has the authority to request a certain level of conduct in their thread, but does not have the authority to punish anyone for not respecting such a request (insofar as no rules are broken). Some threads have been locked, if I remember correctly, based on the OP's request in the past. That seems to be about it.

So how do they have the authority if they cant enforce that authority? Recently a thred was locked here by leadership only because they did not like the opinion of the thread. Authority that has no actual authority is not real authority.

Fyxe wrote: So how do they have the authority if they cant enforce that authority? Recently a thred was locked here by leadership only because they did not like the opinion of the thread. Authority that has no actual authority is not real authority.

They can enforce that authority by typing it in their OP post. That is, they have the authority to make a request, as anyone does at any time. No one is obligated to follow a request, but it is generally considered impolite to reject a request for civility.
In my view, the words anyone chooses to voice here are the same as words a person says aloud. If someone wishes to respond, they will. You make the decision of what to say and whether or not to say it, but you have no ultimate control over anyone else or what they say in response to you.

Let me add to my previous post:
OP sets the subject for the thread, and only in journals can tell other people to not participate. OP can't say "everyone except X person or people with Y opinion can participate." However that has the caveat that it's not in a SIG, where certain discussions are bracketed out.

If a thread is just becoming a pissing contest and running off the rails, it can be locked. OP can ask the participants first and then mods if it really hits at that level.

You could theoretically make any subject kosher, but 99% of the time moderation action happens it's not because someone committed thought crime, but rather because they were breaking ToS and just being a pain

The OP sets the tone for the topic, but he/she has no authority over how others respond, and it would be silly to assume you can truly control the direction of a conversation.