Wow... so many points to address here that I might wear out my keyboard and your patience explaining them. I hope I get them all.
Consistency: We do our level best in this and that's why we not only have a
ToS but our Modiquette 2.0. However, since this forum is WAY TOO BIG for just me to moderate, we have @ 50 wonderful volunteers who do their best to keep things friendly and on topic. We are constantly evaluating our staff to see if there is significant burn out or a paradigm shift in their approach to moderation. If you feel that a moderator has crossed the line, please PM me, or send an e-mail to
abuse@ScubaBoard.com to report it. As for what gets cleaned up, that is often a product of someone hitting the report button. We try not to make up issues of our own, but rather are very receptive to you, our users, telling us when someone has violated the letter or the spirit of the ToS.
Commercial Vs Non-Commercial: There are two sides to ScubaBoard. Howarde takes care of the Commercial side, and I lead the volunteers in taking care of the non-Commercial side. While I do have a vested interest in the commercial viability of the forum I am not driven by a lust for profit (ask Howarde). NONE of the volunteers could give a Rat's patootie about the commercial aspect of ScubaBoard and that is appropriate. The tail should NEVER wag the dog.
Development: In the past we really had nowhere for those willing and wanting to write code for SB to play. It was all I could do to pay for the leased servers we were on. This past month, we went on line with our very own db server and got rid of one of our leased servers: we have two leased servers left. This past Saturday, DallasMarlow and I installed six additional servers in our newly leased cabinet at the Atlantic.net Data Center here in Orlando. You might have noticed that we were down a few minutes as we moved our DB server into our space as well as another server that we use to host various other domains for people as well as to handle SB mail. Tonight or tomorrow we will be cutting over to our new load balancers and web servers and this will culminate a project that's almost six months in the making. You are going to enjoy a far faster and more reliable ScubaBoard than ever before! In the mix of these servers is our first dedicated development server. We have already been approached by one coder wanting to help with an application and hopefully we will have more. This will give them a place to try out code without jeopardizing the integrity of the entire site.
Bans and the ToS: Not all violations of the ToS deserve a ban. In fact, very few do and I see banning as the last step in resolving an issue. Often, the mitigating factor for us is intent, or at least perceived intent. Most blunders are simple mistakes from not knowing the rules. We really don't expect everyone to "get it right" from the start and we try to council them as to WHY their post(s) need to be changed or deleted. It's the constant harassing posts (stalking), the physical threats and the repeat offenders that we take notice of. I should probably include the arrogant bastards, but he is feeling persecuted already!
Moderating multiple posts: Problems seem to occur when MULTIPLE posts are deleted. The SOP is then to just leave a Mod Post. Let's face it, they ARE volunteers, and they DO have a life outside of work and ScubaBoard. Requiring our mods to PM each and every person with their very own personalized reason for the action taken on each post would be an overload. However, if you have a question about WHY your particular post was included then pop them a PM or ask the question here in feedback. Please don't go taking the discussion off topic further by discussing it right there in the thread. Also think about the TONE you are setting when you make these comments. Asking a mod why they "blindly delete threads" is inflammatory. If you want the mod to respond to you without emotion, then don't throw those kinds of backhanded insults into the conversation.
The Community: Let's face it. ScubaBoard is a very large and active community. A few of you just aren't going to get along! ScubaBoard is often cited in books about internet communities as how to do things RIGHT and not the other way around. For our size, we have very few problems and I am rather proud of that. Can we get better? We will. But our value to the Scuba Diving Community does not come from exclusion, but from inclusion. Here you can find DIR divers and dedicated strokes. You can find the best of buddy divers and solo divers talking on many of the same issues. We have a strong contingent of those who like the BP&Wing as well as snorkelers. The strength and flavor of our community lies in our unique diversity. You just got to love it! I sure do.
