Controlling active and passive participation in a thread of conversation

A messaging data processing system comprising:

• a chat thread processing module;
• a messaging user interface;
• and,
• moderator control logic comprising program code enabled to classify participants in a thread of conversation as one of either active or passive, and to permit only those participants classified as active participants to post to the thread while providing merely a view of the thread to the passive participants.

A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer usable program code for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation, the computer program product including:

• computer usable program code for creating a thread of conversation in a messaging system;
• computer usable program code for adding a plurality of participants to the thread;
• computer usable program code for classifying the participants as one of either active or passive;
• and,
• computer usable program code for permitting only those participants classified as active participants to post to the thread while providing merely a view of the thread to the passive participants.