[edwinfoo]

Been thinking about this post all day today. I think the concept is absolutely brilliant.

On my forum, it’s hard enough to find a moderator let alone keep one.

Chairperson’s not the right name for it but I know what you mean. It’s more a thread host who has ‘influence’ over behavior, culture and discussion much like a dinner host would have in their own home.

I could see this working in an automated environment based on post count. For example, a post count of 100 allows thread creators to host the thread, giving them moderator authority to issue warnings, unable to be ignored by other members and the power to delete posts.

I don’t think they should be allowed to edit posts though otherwise it is possible to allow little dictators to run riot, rewriting history. Censorship is a killer of faith and confidence in communities. Besides, deleted posts can be undeleted if an affected member makes a report to the keymaster.

Great idea. I like it from the point of view as a new step in the development of self managing communities. Very forward thinking of you.