Are sole owners of a forum a dictatorship?
- Thread starter Katrina
- Start date
I’m wondering where did this came from? Have you seen any dictators owning a forum, recently?
No.
No, I just wanted a thread that would make people wonder why I ask it
I must say, I had NO one in mind or any forum. As I told Cedric on Slack, I was listening to the news and heard the word dictator, and I'm always thinking about new threads to create, so this popped into my head to ask about forums. It isn't about anyone at all. Maybe there are dictators out there and probably most are not? I hope? 😀
Everyone seems to be leaning strongly towards a no but I think there are sometimes shades of grey involved.
Two of the forums I own provide a paid service. A strict set of criteria has to be met before membership is granted and the terms are nonnegotiable. Because there is no democratic decision making involved I'd probably use the term 'benevolent dictator' to describe my role.
Interestingly no one has ever been sanctioned in anyway on either forum.
Two of the forums I own provide a paid service. A strict set of criteria has to be met before membership is granted and the terms are nonnegotiable. Because there is no democratic decision making involved I'd probably use the term 'benevolent dictator' to describe my role.
Interestingly no one has ever been sanctioned in anyway on either forum.
I'm the sole owner of all my forums.
If I run a dictatorship, I'm probably the most laid-back dictator you'll ever meet! 😀
If I run a dictatorship, I'm probably the most laid-back dictator you'll ever meet! 😀
Tell me about it. If I'm a dictator, I don't want to know what a saint is like!
I prefer the term 'owner' or 'operator' , etc.
I wouldn't say someone who solely runs a forum is a dictator unless they are acting like a dictator, demanding fealty, and actively implementing features or rules that assist in their dictator-like behavior.
So I guess my answer is No, being a sole admin or owner does not make someone a dictator.
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Now, if you go with definition #1, then perhaps:
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a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained control by force.
However, this definition specifically says 'country', not 'forum', so i think linguists would still say No to this question.
I wouldn't say someone who solely runs a forum is a dictator unless they are acting like a dictator, demanding fealty, and actively implementing features or rules that assist in their dictator-like behavior.
So I guess my answer is No, being a sole admin or owner does not make someone a dictator.
----
Now, if you go with definition #1, then perhaps:
.
a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained control by force.
However, this definition specifically says 'country', not 'forum', so i think linguists would still say No to this question.
Joshua Farrell
FP's Housekeeper
I generally try to act professional in my online dealings as an admin of a forum, even for the ones I create that have no point other than to have fun. This tends to get people to think I always will be tough on issues, and might be seen as like a "dictator". What it really comes down to, is, that I don't like being attacked for something minor or petty, like everyone else. I even had a moderator assume I wanted to be controlling of his job, just because I wanted to make sure he atleast understood what was spam and what wasn't, as he was trashing and permanently deleting perfectly fine content.
In terms of whether or not I believe that there are some forum owners that tend to be far too strict that, even I won't join? Oh yeah. I have tried joining forums and being active on a number of them, where it didn't take long for me to realize that I don't want anything to do with those forums. This is because of the sole owner being so nit picky, that somehow it created a pool of content moderators that are following by example of how the owner wants everything to be dealt with.
In terms of whether or not I believe that there are some forum owners that tend to be far too strict that, even I won't join? Oh yeah. I have tried joining forums and being active on a number of them, where it didn't take long for me to realize that I don't want anything to do with those forums. This is because of the sole owner being so nit picky, that somehow it created a pool of content moderators that are following by example of how the owner wants everything to be dealt with.
I really appreciate your examples you've given. It shows that you aren't a dictator, but had a true reason as to why something had to be done. Sometimes staff don't understand completely the WHYs of things until it's explained to them. And even then, they might not get it.
I think it's important to have a balance between the owner's vision and the moderators/ staff they trust to grow & help the community.
But yeah, there are times where tough decisions might have to be made.
If you do want a good example of a forum dictator, a particular hacking forum (the one using mybb) ran by Omni is a pretty good case study.
I haven't been to that one, but I'm not a hacker either 😀
I have been on a few forums (decades ago) where sole owners wanted so much control, control over what was said, responded, believed, etc. These were Christian forums. I got banned because I proclaimed the Gospel to a Christian forum, which is absolutely ridiculous, but because of that sect's beliefs, it wasn't exactly on par with their works righteousness mantra.
BeautifulAngel
Resident
I agree with you on this 100%. Just because someone owns 100% of the business doesn't necessarily become a dictatorship. Lots of forum owners who are sole proprietors to the forum are eager to get feedback because it is only through feedback that we know if it's working or not or if there are any issues. Sole owned forum owners tend to encourage feedback and it usually doesn't go on to deaf ears.
So, I would also so no, it isn't a dictatorship at all.
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