Suggestion Feedback on keeping ScubaBoard members

[gypsyjim]

This question is directed at all members, new and old. It is actually a multiple part question, and is designed to get us all thinking about what ScubaBoard is, or could be for someone just discovering us today or tomorrow.

Two weeks ago on Utila Colleen and I were part of 4 couples with no previous contact who were diving on the same boat for a week, so we had lots of time to chat. It turned out that 5 (6 including myself) of the 9 divers including the DM, were all members of ScubaBoard at one time or another, but I was the only actively participating SM user.

A subsequent conversation with a friend who is also a moderator, has had me thinking about this, so here are my questions:

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1) What attracted you to ScubaBoard in the first place?

2) Are you satisfied that the board addresses your needs adequately? And if not what would you change, if you could to make it do so

3) Why do you think other folks who have joined, have not stayed around?

4) Do you have ideas on what the board either did not provide well, or what might have done to scare them away, without becoming participating members?

5) Do you have ideas or suggestions of new ways to both attract and keep new members, new divers involved, and satisfied with this forum?
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---------- Post added March 3rd, 2014 at 08:30 AM ----------

I will start by adding my own 2 cents.

I discovered SB while researching a dive trip back in '05, and was not a terribly active member for some time. I did though, find the info I was seeking.

I did soon after that did make some friends on the board, as both DeputyDan and Herman offered advice and invited my family to join their group for a trip to Bonaire.

I also later asked for underwater photography advice, and got a lot of help from such diverse members as ScubaSteve and DandyDon, who were more than willing to help a struggling novice.

I had a few conflicts in some of the threads along the way, especially early on, with some of the more vocal know it alls, but while that slowed me down a bit and kept me quiet, it did not scare me off. I just spent more time lurking till I became more comfortable standing up for my beliefs, and not afraid of the loud mouths. It just took me time to realize by lurking that they were a small minority, and not particularly as well respected universally as they might have thought, which made me feel less the outsider.

(Note) I think a lot of that 'know it all' attitude seems to have disappeared from the boards, or at least become far less of an issue. I heard a lot of feedback from non member divers between '95 and about 2000 that this "slamming of 'stupid questions' " was a big turn off, but I do not sense this same complaint from my more recent contactsd, when discussing SB. Now it seems more like SB is not supplying what divers are seeking, and they are just moving on to other sources of info.

I know many folks have moved on to FB, but while I enjoy FB a lot myself, I have never seen it as having the potential to reach as many divers, or to serve as a useful search base for dive related questions.

 

[kelemvor]

What attracted you to ScubaBoard in the first place?

I like forums, and I like diving. I've been a user and moderator on other non scuba related forums for years. It just made sense for me.

Are you satisfied that the board addresses your needs adequately? And if not what would you change, if you could to make it do so

For the most part, I do. I would like to see more local forums, but only if they were actively used. An empty message board is a useless message board.

Why do you think other folks who have joined, have not stayed around?

Message boards can be a "tough" place. Scubaboard is no exception. Look at any post on a controversial topic. You'll find posters arguing their particular point with abandon. When a person is passionately arguing a point things can easily become abrasive. I think it's human nature. I think not everyone is willing to look past this sort of thing and use forums. In fact, this is the reason my OW instructor warned the whole class away from SB. That was the first time I'd heard of the site! Obviously I didn't follow that part of the instruction.

Do you have ideas on what the board either did not provide well, or what might have done to scare them away, without becoming participating members?

Based on my answer above the only solution I could think up would be heavy handed moderation. Unfortunately that would probably kill all the good discussions and therefore kill the board. I can't think of a good way to fix it... if this really is something that needs to be fixed. I'm not sure it is.

Do you have ideas or suggestions of new ways to both attract and keep new members, new divers involved, and satisfied with this forum?

Free beer for every post!

I heard a lot of feedback from non member divers between '95 and about 2000 that this "slamming of 'stupid questions' " was a big turn off, but I do not sense this same complaint from my more recent contactsd, when discussing SB.

You may not be hearing that, but I see it happen all the time. Maybe it used to be worse and you're desensitized.


I just looked.. at 11am (GMT-5) there's almost 3000 users online. That's about as successful as a message board can get in my opinion. I wouldn't be making any big changes if it were my site.

 

[danvolker]

My solution for fixing the "Moderation Problem"....which is both the "how" and "when" to moderate, and this solution may also reduce the need for moderation....

Right now we have LIKES which any member that views a post can add if the like.....
But...What of each member that sees a post they did not like, could respond with a "Post was in Bad Taste" , and as to WHO makes these posts....I propose SB would have the moderators "differentiate" between general audience reaction of Bad Taste, and then "un-weight" the responses of those posters known to be in an adversarial posting relationship with the person getting the Poor Taste post rating....
In other words, If I put a "Post in Poor Taste" rating on something that one of the posters I typically add LIKES to --then this will gain weight and usefulness in moderation potential.....

If I was to put "post in Poor Taste" to someone I have been "warring with" , like Bob for instance, then the moderators should eliminate the weight of my suggestion as I would potentially be biased unfairly against Bob....
This becomes important because dog packs of 3 to 5 friends could pick on members they wanted to shut up, so this behavior would need to be eliminated.

 

[00wabbit]

1) What attracted you to ScubaBoard in the first place?
I wanted to learn more about scuba and this seemed like the best place to do it. Also I wanted to find buddies. Originally I signed up for divebuddy.com but found it was not as active.
I read every accident/incident thread. I also learned a lot about gear selection and met some of the first divers I dove with in the regional sections.

2) Are you satisfied that the board addresses your needs adequately? And if not what would you change, if you could to make it do so
I think so. I come here when I have a question and want some answers. I have good enough BS filters and have read enough on here to separate the dogma from good advice. This may be harder for a newer diver to do. It can sometimes seem that there are internal battles of things like AI computers, sidemount, bp/w, brands of regs etc. It takes a while to filter down to the why's so that you can make you own decision.

3) Why do you think other folks who have joined, have not stayed around?
I think folks have not joined because they didn't know it exists or just don't care. So many divers are content to dive once or twice a year and see it as a leisurely activity that requires no further knowledge. Also internet forums in general have a reputation for attracting blowhards.

4) Do you have ideas on what the board either did not provide well, or what might have done to scare them away, without becoming participating members?
No- I guess if they can't find it then they won't know it exists. I know a lot of members who aren't active or who have given up on SC all together. We sometimes joke when we are out about the hardcore , computers and swivels will kill you crowd. I think this is just going to happen naturally though because scuba attracts a variety of people. It also attracts some fiercely independent people that may not get along well with others. There are a lot of egos involved and people on the internet just can't stand to be wrong or see something from someone elses point of view.

In the regional section I think facebook is easier to use to find local dives and divers.

5) Do you have ideas or suggestions of new ways to both attract and keep new members, new divers involved, and satisfied with this forum?
You probably need some sort of access in the dive shop. Most people's only contact with scuba is in the shop they trained at and resorts. They don't get any outside information.

 

[gypsyjim]

Free beer for every post!

Now, this is a suggestion I could live with.



I've a hunch Pete might not go along with it though......

 

[The Kraken]

Ithink that if one were to question those who had posts removed, banned for a period, or whatever, and if that person was honest, one would find that a moderator had had a private chat or two with that member before sanctions were taken.

Anyway, this is a HUGE board and, from time to time, actions will be taken by moderators that will be viewed by some as egregious, regardless of the severity.

So, back to my regularly scheduled programming of ejoying the board . . .

the K

 

[Rich Keller]

Now, this is a suggestion I could live with.



I've a hunch Pete might not go along with it though......

Of course not! The cost to ship the beer would be too much. Airline size bottles of rum is the best way to go.

 

[gypsyjim]

I'll accept that substitution.

 

[emoreira]

1) What attracted you to ScubaBoard in the first place?

2) Are you satisfied that the board addresses your needs adequately? And if not what would you change, if you could to make it do so

3) Why do you think other folks who have joined, have not stayed around?

4) Do you have ideas on what the board either did not provide well, or what might have done to scare them away, without becoming participating members?

5) Do you have ideas or suggestions of new ways to both attract and keep new members, new divers involved, and satisfied with this forum?

1) I was searching for a board about scuba which was serious and has some degree of activity.
I'm member of many boards, for different subjects, as I think that boards are a good way to share experiences and ask questions that many has already done and have been extensively answered.
After many years of being part of this community, I'm very pleased with SB, the seriousness, the collaborative spirit and the kindness of the answers. Of course, as in any board, there are questions and answers that must be forgotten.

2) I'm very pleased with the general SB world, specially with some members, whose answers and threads are very good.

3) Not everything is for everyone. Here and there.

4) There is people that do not want to participate, who is reticent to share experiences or that do not want to "lose" time here in SB.

5) Not at this moment. I think SB is very good as it is now, so I do not imagine any improvement. Sometimes several functionalities are not as user friendly as I would like, but this is my personal way to interact with the Internet.

 

[Dive-aholic]

1) What attracted you to ScubaBoard in the first place?

What got me on ScubaBoard was a google search for local dive sites in Arizona. At that time the Arizona subforum was not very active at all. There were a couple of people who posted in there but not much. I didn't find my answer but I found a lot more.

What attracted me to ScubaBoard was the members. Within minutes of registering and posting my question one of the greeters responded to me. She didn't provide an answer but she did welcome me to the board and stated someone should be along soon to respond. I truly felt welcome. That was my first encounter with an internet forum and I didn't have an understanding of how they worked at that time. It was still cool though.

2) Are you satisfied that the board addresses your needs adequately? And if not what would you change, if you could to make it do so

I am. I use the board to interact with other like minded divers. Unfortunately, the area of diving I have devoted myself too - cave diving - is full of egos. While not all cave divers have big egos, a lot do, and that's just not for me. So I spend a lot of time solo diving which doesn't allow for a lot of social interaction on diving. ScubaBoard fills this need when I'm not away visiting some of the great friends I've met through here.

3) Why do you think other folks who have joined, have not stayed around?

There are a few members that are a little harsh with their responses. Those of us that have stuck around typically know who they are and have learned to just read over their responses. New members may not realize that. They register. They visit a few times and get turned off by some of the responses and decide they don't want to stay. Some just visit for specific information, get that information, and then leave. I think we have a good mix of members here and not keeping every member who registers around is not necessarily a bad thing.

4) Do you have ideas on what the board either did not provide well, or what might have done to scare them away, without becoming participating members?

It's a big board with limited resources. You can't please everyone and you can't make everyone stay. I don't think folks who have not stuck around are necessarily scared away. I found the board looking for information and decided to stick around because diving is my life. Not everyone is like that. Most divers only dive once or twice a year. It's not their main focus. I think most of the members here are hard core, dedicated scuba divers whose primary interest is diving. That's why there are a lot of members from Florida here. There are lots of places to dive in Florida! That's probably also why the Arizona forum wasn't that active when I first joined. There's just not much locally there. That did change somewhat when I was still living in Arizona.

5) Do you have ideas or suggestions of new ways to both attract and keep new members, new divers involved, and satisfied with this forum?

I think things are going well as they are. It's already the largest internet forum for scuba diving. Like I said, we can't please every single member all the time. I recently had to delete a reported post because it violated the TOS. I got a response from the member that moderation was why he had left ScubaBoard in the first place. He came back because he thought things might have changed. Well, apparently, he had an issue with violating the TOS and felt he was above moderation. We don't want to keep people like that around. If he stuck around he'd likely eventually be banned. But he decided to self ban, which is fine. When other members are reporting posts then we don't need those members around.

My only suggestion would be that when you invite other divers to visit ScubaBoard let them know that not all members here are "nice". Some will give automatic responses of "Use the Search function". Others will come out and tell members how stupid a question is, maybe not in so many words, but the message will be there. New members might have to have thick skins and just ignore some members. They need to know that these are just people sitting behind a keyboard and they don't intend it to be personal (well maybe some do). Some of them just have nothing better to do. But this is what makes ScubaBoard such a great community.

Many of us would still visit here without the drama, but how many keep coming back because of the drama? I'm sure there are quite a few. I know I've gone into threads just to see what so and so has to say this time. It's part of what this community is about.

 

[divin'dog]

1) What attracted you to ScubaBoard in the first place?
I wanted to see what other divers are thinking about. Primarily informational. To get different perspectives. Nice to read about other diver's experiences.

2) Are you satisfied that the board addresses your needs adequately? And if not what would you change, if you could to make it do so
I think it does satisfy my needs. I read and reread my posts to try to make sure it reads as I intended it before posting. Wish there was an inflection for what we write other than smiley faces. I think it would eliminate a lot of misinterpretations, maybe.

3) Why do you think other folks who have joined, have not stayed around?
Some are not as hard core, some probably don't like the initial attitude if someone was rude, some just don't have a need to be on here or care to be a part of this community. It's the ones that want to be on here but don't sign up because of "whatever" that you need to figure out. How do you reach those that don't sign up or don't stay long enough? Maybe a poll for non-members skimming through the forums? Guest section?

4) Do you have ideas on what the board either did not provide well, or what might have done to scare them away, without becoming participating members?
You can't be all things to all people. Find your niche and foster it, then grow from your strength. I think the moderating has been sufficient for my tastes. I've had no problem with the way it's been run. How about a way to designate a thread as flame-free, in any area, so you won't have timid posters being reluctant to post? Other threads can be all out or standard moderation. Maybe you can also do a thread/area that is very lightly moderated meaning almost anything goes other than total chaos for the thicker skinned and argumentative types.

New divers or soon to be new divers, looking for info, may not know what terms to use to search for what they are looking for because they are new. How about some kind of directory or index for them? There are some stickies but I think you need to break it down for them even more. Make it easy. Make it inviting. A guide for new divers and what might be interesting reading for them about basic stuff. I suppose a glossary of terms with links to searches for threads would help. It can be intimidating and formidable to wade through this stuff as a new diver.

5) Do you have ideas or suggestions of new ways to both attract and keep new members, new divers involved, and satisfied with this forum?
Someone mentioned having more local/regional SB get-togethers. I think that is a great idea but someone has to organize it. The attraction to this forum is about being social and sharing experiences/knowledge. To meet up with other SB members might be a good way to promote and keep people active here. Could be a dive or could be lunch.

If you want to promote SB more to new divers, go to where they are... the dive shops. Give the dive shops a reason to talk up SB so that you get more eyeballs and they get more exposure. Make it a win-win situation.