The identity of a person, not just in a discourse community, tells how they will act in said group. Everyone has a role to fulfill and each role means different tasks are delegated to each person. They also dictate the kinds of relationships they will have with each other. Authority also plays a part in the role where different ones have more or less authority than others. It often depends on the person themself and what attributes they have. For example, a manger has more authority in a group over than their coworkers.
In my own discourse community case, a writing server with my fellow writer friends, authority can be argued to be one of two people. One is the owner, the one who created this server. She has the power to make channels as well as some other privileges. She also has three other admins other than her, me included, who have more authority than the rest of those involved. As for the other well…that would be me. I’m the oldest person in the group and have been writing the longest. As a result, they seem to value my opinion more. When we share works for critique, we all share our opinions on it. These works tend to be fiction but I’ve also recently been asked by a friend to review an essay they’ve written for a class. Wasn’t expecting that but I helped the best I could and she appreciated it. With how authority is in discord groups, it is arguable that both the Owner and I are the authority in said discord group.
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