Alyssa
Fabulous
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How do we define authority? And does authority mean you have power? Or can you have power, without the authority?
Recently, I have been questioning, whether in the sense of this community or in real life contexts, how does one have power? And what makes a person powerful?
In discussion with a few people I have discovered many meanings to these words, and have reached some conclusions.
Authority
Accepted power: power that people agree to follow, and a figure that people think are worthy of their respect. They also have the justification to exercise their power by being an authority figure.
Authority is a type of power: Those with authority have the power to influence the community, and people will listen
Authority can also be explicit or implicit:
Power
The ability or potential of an individual to influence others and their actions. Anyone in the community can have power, and could possibly influence ideas and create movement in the community.
Does friendship give you more power?
You can also have the power to do something, but not the authority.
· In Australia, we drive on the left
· However, you have the power to drive on the right if you want as you are in the car and have control of the car
· But you don’t have the authority to do that
A super villain has a lot of power over people, whereas a superhero could have both power and authority
Discussion
This discussion that I’ve been having over the last few weeks has left me with a few questions?
Is Authority without respect just power? Or can you have authority without the respect?
For example, in this community:
Do you see major events being more frequently driven by inherent authority (like staff members) or people with implied authority (like reputable community members)? What are some examples, and can you isolate some of the driving factors?
From you!
I would like to know what you think about Authority VS Power?
How would you define them?
How would you answer some of the questions I have been left with?
People that influenced this thread: Mooclan SixZoSeven Sempiternal WitheredGold GetRidaHim G33ke and my Mum, Dad, Sister and Godparents x
Also a massive Thank You to Mooclan for helping me out with this thread and making it make sense!! I really appreciate it!
Recently, I have been questioning, whether in the sense of this community or in real life contexts, how does one have power? And what makes a person powerful?
In discussion with a few people I have discovered many meanings to these words, and have reached some conclusions.
Authority
Accepted power: power that people agree to follow, and a figure that people think are worthy of their respect. They also have the justification to exercise their power by being an authority figure.
Authority is a type of power: Those with authority have the power to influence the community, and people will listen
Authority can also be explicit or implicit:
- Explicit, in this community’s sense, is the staff, who have the authority to handle trouble makers on their own
- Implicit being, for example, a VIP who could have connections with the staff, and when an issue arises they can get the issue resolved possibly more easily and quickly
Power
The ability or potential of an individual to influence others and their actions. Anyone in the community can have power, and could possibly influence ideas and create movement in the community.
Does friendship give you more power?
- As a person that is friends with a lot of staff members, will they listen to me more about something that goes wrong, than the average player?
- The nice answer is no they’d treat everyone equally right?
- But is the correct and more honest answer, that they will listen more to their friend in the community, and be more inclined to do something for them, rather than the same thing but for a community member they don’t know
You can also have the power to do something, but not the authority.
· In Australia, we drive on the left
· However, you have the power to drive on the right if you want as you are in the car and have control of the car
· But you don’t have the authority to do that
A super villain has a lot of power over people, whereas a superhero could have both power and authority
Discussion
This discussion that I’ve been having over the last few weeks has left me with a few questions?
Is Authority without respect just power? Or can you have authority without the respect?
For example, in this community:
- A Moderator inherently has ‘power’, but to have ‘authority’ do you have to have respect?
Do you see major events being more frequently driven by inherent authority (like staff members) or people with implied authority (like reputable community members)? What are some examples, and can you isolate some of the driving factors?
From you!
I would like to know what you think about Authority VS Power?
How would you define them?
How would you answer some of the questions I have been left with?
People that influenced this thread: Mooclan SixZoSeven Sempiternal WitheredGold GetRidaHim G33ke and my Mum, Dad, Sister and Godparents x
Also a massive Thank You to Mooclan for helping me out with this thread and making it make sense!! I really appreciate it!