As for owning a thread - I don't see it that way. If I start a thread, it's because I thought of and/or acted upon it first. All that means is that I started it. Where it goes, the group controls. It's <b>everybody's</b>. Or at least, those who post in it. The only control the starter has is the ability to delete the thread within the first 24 hours.
As a "moderator" of a forum, the only control I have is to delete threads, move them, etc. I can't edit comments. I don't delete them either. But that's because it's "dhamsaic's weblog". Image of the Day, etc - those all belong to everyone. Tony is the administrator, and he runs the hardware, but beyond that, it's everyone's. I think that remains most true to the spirit of the Cellar (or at least the spirit that Tony has conveyed to me).
Catering to an audience - I still don't agree. On Slashdot, someone posts to boost their Karma. On the Cellar, we post because we have something to say. If we're not affected by the rating, we have no incentive to cater to it. In other words, the rating would be on the thread as a whole, which is "owned" by everyone. Obviously if someone started a rather troll-like thread, it would be marked down and probably forgotten - this is the only indicator I see of it affecting the poster. Otherwise, the rating would be indicative of the thread as a whole, not of any single post. That is precisely why I don't think we should have ratings of single posts - a thread is a thread, and all posts within it are integral to it. Some may be less insightful than others, but they're all there, affecting the thread. I'm getting off topic here, but basically, I don't believe that a rating system <b>of the specific threads</b> will cause pandering to specific crowds.
Of course having more people reading a thread <b>can</b> affect it, but it doesn't necessarily, just as having less people reading may or may not have an affect. It all depends on whether said persons decide to post or not.
I think Sycamoreland and my "weblog" are supposed to be just that - personal forums. When I approached Tony about it, my idea was to make a private, personal weblog - I like the Cellar software and I thought I could bring some new people to the Cellar (which I have). Tony thought the "private" idea was too much of a hassle, so we decided to go public with it. What is it? A place for me to post whatever I want, and for those that choose to do so to respond to them. Nothing more. It's focus is on my life, just like sycamore's is on his. I don't see a problem with this - they're fitting their intended goal.
Anyway. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the whole rating of threads issue. I'm sure that if you could say something that would convince me it's a bad idea, you would have said it by now
Just as if I were going to convince you of even its "okayness", it would have happened by now. I guess we'll just wait for others to weigh in...