what is the difference between memeber categories?

[King_Neptune]

Walter and Aegir,

I don't fully agree and I will tell you why we decided on leaving these levels, or forms of rating, on these msg boards...

situation: Someone asks a question ...

Let's say a few people answer that only have 3 or 4 post to their credit ...

Verses ....

You, Walter (119 posts) and you, Aegir (87), and maybe Iguana Don (431 post) answer their question ...

Now which set of answers do you think people are gonna feel are the more trustworthy and which answer with other more likely respect as a legit response? Which set of answers do you think will be coming from someone that they feel like they know because they participate more here?

The more someone posts around here the more you get to know about them, their experience, knowledge and wisdom concerning various topics.

Especially for those newer to the forums, they can right away know if someone that answering their question is either a "hit and run" user or someone that is likely to stick around and further explain if needed, etc.

=-)

 

[Walter]

........to someone who's been around is likely to stay around, but someone could easily have 1000+ posts, yet only 4 dives, while another poster may have just arrived at this forum and has thousands of dives. If I'm asking a dive question, I'd rather listen to the beginning poster with dive experience vs the beginning diver with posting experience.

WWW™

 

[King_Neptune]

Walter,

I agree, fully, the only additional point is that someone with only a few posts isn't very well known, but those of you that have opened your mouth more have jumped into the fire and passed the test of others judgments ...

For example, You have posted enough Walter, that I have been able to confirm that you have enough of a clue that you must pretty much know what you're talking about, and even if I disagree with you, I have had enough dialog with you and read enough of your posts to respect your opinions and maybe even understand where you are coming from. Anyone else can do the same by looking over your posts.

Anyone can join and make 2 or 3 post about how they are the "Joe Studly Mac daddy Extra Size with a Coke Scuba McGuru"

But if they never say anything more than a couple of replies are you going to take their replies very seriously, on just their "say so" that they "Know Scuba"?

I guess you could say, it's our way of helping others know who is just a flash in the pan and who are those that are willing to share their knowledge.

You have probably noticed, Walter, that people will specifically ask YOU or some of the other rather regulars here questions because they can see that 1) You at least care enough about scuba to participate and share your knowledge 2) They are able to join, browse around, and get a pretty good idea of who are the goofballs, who are the lurkers and who are those that are sure enough of them self to speak up for what they believe...

All of these things are great tools for anyone joining a forum on any subject.

Now, I have been jumped on in the past for making this stand. People have said to me, "That's wrong, you should just go around judging people" ...

GONG!! Wrong Answer! My reply to that has usually ended the conversation ... A person with such an outlook has NO business being a Scuba Diver ... why? Because A wise or smart diver had BETTER judge EVERYTHING! I mean, it's only your life we are talking about, and unfortunately, it all too often includes the life of someone else, and their life could be at stake too. We wanted to take every step reasonable, no matter how little, to help divers wade through the tidal waves of rumors, myths and misunderstanding that all divers face.

When we decided on a style of forum, one of the last nails to seal the decision to go with this style was that we felt it was our duty to promote clear and honest communications between divers. Failing to do so, we felt, would show a lack of responsibility on our part. You will find other forums that flame us for this style of MSG board because it is "Moderated" and broken into categories.
Now, this next point is my own personal opinion, stemming from almost a decade of Internet related Programming, Developing and Consulting ... Requiring registration and using moderators within a forum is one way we combat hurtful, destructive and often false communication. Allowing just anyone to anonymously or randomly post can lead to deceptive and harmful advice being given.

In this sport or profession, this can lead to serious injury and even death. So what some may consider silly or not needed is actually done for everyone's benefit. As for the categories, it really is a no brainer... Instead of posts becoming totally lost in the shuffle and being buried in a maze of a dozen changing subjects, breaking it down helps people ask questions in an area that will more likely receive a targeted answer and not ignored or missed by those that may also care to learn or share some answers.

Statements like, "Why is the forum moderated, who made you the scuba police?" are just ignorant! Sure, the system can be easily beaten, but at least we are making an effort to make this an enjoyable, safe and responsible forum for the positive advancement of scuba diving while still trying to keep it fun, exciting and beneficial for everyone. Anyone that has been on any popular forum for any deal of time will tell you that without some control things can get very ugly and damaging towards the promoting of scuba diving.

I welcome input from anyone and we do our best to do what we can. Ok, enough of that rant, I kind of got side tracked there, hehe.


Basically Walter, aside from charging admission and placing a couple of Killer Sentry Iguanadon's at the door, it was the only way we really knew how to try to meet everyone's needs ... Sort of a compromise I guess you could call it ...

Hope this helps ...

=-)

 

[Maggie]

I, for one always looks to see who has posted each reply or question. Although I am new to the board it hasnt taken me long to work out who is liable to make the most sensible comments and who obviously knows what they are talking about. Yes, you will always get people who will post replys on any subject just to get their name in print but I dont know how you could avoid that without having someone moderate every posting. Not a practical proposition.
This is the only forum which I have read which isnt full of rubbish and where you can get sensible and informed advice on a wide variety of subjects. Keep the stars - it doesnt take long to work out who deserves them.

 

[Walter]

............actually, your first post on the topic was enough to convince me of the value of the system, I merely pointed out (and you confirmed in your second post) that the catagories are merely part of knowing who knows something on the topic.

I enjoy this board and the Diverlink board because they are moderated they attract people who are by nature polite to one another. It's is possible to disagree and disagree strongly without getting personal. I frequent non-moderated boards too. While I enoy some of what I find there, I skip over much of it.

I made two wonderful dives yesterday with 8 other divers, 7 of whom I met through Diverlink (the 8th is my brother and also frequents Diverlink and this board). I'm sure I'll soon be diving with the folks I've met here.

WWW™

 

[King_Neptune]

Walter,


Absolutely, Diverlink is another good example... It is no big secret that I really only trust a small handfull of other scuba websites out there. Now, in all fairness I will point out that I by no means know all of them personally, but of the many I do, I will say that Eddie of Diverlink.com and Jamie of DiveGuide.com are both stand up kind of guys and I trust them both, fully.

A few days ago Eddie called me and asked me to help him install and configure MySQL on his server and after I got that done we started talking more and more about a few things... and the outcome of those discussions will lead to something that I feel will be of great value to all divers online that jump aboard.

I don't know if anyone here has caught on yet but if someone was to pick up on all the dropped hints left laying around these forums, they might start to see the writing on the walls paint a bigger picture.

hehe, There are many irons in the fire right now and things are getting so close I can taste them already ... Trust me people, with all the loose mentions scattered around, when you place the puzzle pieces all together you will see that they are not a dozen hanging loose ends but many strands of the same web ...

More to come later ...

=-)