# Do you have the right to Jr. Mod your own threads? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 21, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-jr-mod-your-own-threads/674451 "2013-11-21T17:17:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-jr-mod-your-own-threads/674451/21 "2013-11-22T02:35:26Z")
I generally try to manage the threads that I start. > [@JohnT](#): > > 1. If the topic eventually being discussed isn’t the one addressed by the OP, can the OP request that everybody get back on topic? > > For example, do I have the right to say “I don’t care if you people dislike Phil Collins, this thread is dedicated to engaging in a conversation about the lyrical masterpiece that is _Sussudio_. Take the Phil-hate somewhere else.”? I would never do it in this manner though. This is issuing instructions, barking orders. Speaking as a poster, pleading, cajoling and (best and most likely) gently reminding are acceptable ways of getting the conversation back on track. Clarifications can also be helpful. I remember one poster who hilariously hijacked his own threads and seemed to think that he could demand answers of other posters that were wholly unrelated to the original post. It wasn’t quite, “And what did you have for breakfast on the morning of June 7th?!?”, but it was sufficiently close. That won’t fly. More generally, there’s no reason to heed OP instructions if they interfere with fighting ignorance, provided that appropriate topicality is understood to be a means to the same. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-jr-mod-your-own-threads/674451/22 "2013-11-22T02:48:58Z")
In GQ, at least, it’s legitimate for the OP to clarify what kind of information he is looking for, and what kind of answers he would like to get. However, if an OP starts a thread on a topic that’s by its nature highly controversial, it’s apt to end up in GD anyway. I would not take seriously requests that certain posters not respond, unless they were in the habit of derailing threads - and then I would likely take action myself. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-jr-mod-your-own-threads/674451/23 "2013-11-22T11:27:16Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 1. If the topic eventually being discussed isn’t the one addressed by the OP, can the OP request that everybody get back on topic? In Great Debates, this happens with certain regularity. As noted, the herd of cats that make up the posters in that forum tend to ignore such requests. It does happen that Mods have acted on such requests, both those that were publicly posted and those arriving through the Report function. The Mods have tended to intervene in one of two cases: in a complete hijack of the thread or in a case where the OP was looking to discuss a particular aspect of a phenomenon or situation but the thread has fallen into the same old rutted track that dozens of other threads have already followed. > [@JohnT](#): > > 1. Can I request specific posters not respond? Can I ask that they leave the thread? Posters have done that without being Modded, but the posters to whom they direct their “request” are not bound to follow that request and the Mods won’t enforce it. > [@JohnT](#): > > 1. Hell, since I’m asking… y’all ever have anybody who reported multiple posts on a thread of theirs just because they didn’t like the content? “Anybody who says something negative about [Fluttershy](http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2011/101/4/c/fluttershy_by_blackgryph0n-d3d3ef1.png), I’m going to report them!” Yeah. We have a few serial reporters. We do look at each reported post, but still use the general board guidelines to determine whether to take action. (A poster who publicly announced that he or she was going to Report a specific response would probably get a public admonition from a Mod that that was not going to happen and that such declarations were out of order.) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-jr-mod-your-own-threads/674451/24 "2013-11-23T00:12:13Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 1. If the topic eventually being discussed isn’t the one addressed by the OP, can the OP request that everybody get back on topic? Yeah. I do it because I called the meeting and have an agenda to follow because a meeting without an agenda and a strong hand on the tiller is chaos, but I don’t actually expect anyone to respect my wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-jr-mod-your-own-threads/674451/25 "2013-11-25T19:41:50Z")
On second thought, _American Psycho_ really is quite a clever movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-jr-mod-your-own-threads/674451.md?page=1)