Leaving the board

[pdelannoy]

Dear Scubaboard,

I'm leaving the board and I want you to know why. When I first discovered scubaboard I was really excited-I saw this as an opportunity to exchange information and be a part of objective discussions with divers that had more experience than I did since I was a new diver. However, on my first posts regarding a pony bottle I got my ears burned off. And since then, over the years I've seen this issue happen to many of the posters here. To the point where divers even preface their posts-Ok here goes...please go easy on me-as an example. I've noticed that there is a cadre of repeating offenders here, in many cases they have thousands of posts-7997 posts-in one example–this adds up to around 100 per month. The point is, they lurk here waiting for someone to make a post and then with out ever bothering to ask any questions or use any level of tact-attack that poster. I've notice that some of these individuals post in other forums where the moderators don't put up with that business and the density of other members with similar levels of dive experience is much higher–so these same posters have a much different tone of voice in their posts and responses in those forums.

I've come to the conclusion that scubaboard is simply a platform for egos and pretty much misses the mark as far as representing a place where ideas can be exchanged in a meaningful way. On a larger plane, if the attitudes here represent the greater view point of the elite–diving won't have to worry about ever advancing much beyond its current limits as long as its dominated by these egos.

Pete delannoy

 

[t-mac]

Sorry to hear this, Pete. I think SB is both an opportunity to exchange ideas and a place to get your ass flamed and I wish we had less of the latter. I think the moderators try to keep the peace, but the only enforcement I've been privvy to is against people with a chronic ability to incite the flamers, but that may only be because I don't have private conversations with the flamers themselves. Anyway, I know we have flame free zones and that's great, but it does seem to me that there is little if any attempt to enforce decorum outside of those areas. Maybe that's what people want, but it turned you off and it turns me off too -- and I do think we are not alone. I tend to ignore it and move on, but I know that's not easy.

The real tragedy of this is that this very vocal minority gives you the impression that the entire community is populated with snobs who are more interested in building their egos by tearing down others than in raising the standards of the entire community with helpful commentary. I think what you see here is what you see in the rest of the world. Most of this community is great, but we've all been out diving with some people who only seem interested in how great they are and how inferior you are with your obviously inferior gear and training. Fortunately, when you meet someone like that on the boat, they are generally few and far between. I sincerely believe it is the same here and that it is just a vocal minority that seems over-represented by the frequency and volume of their posts.

Sorry to see you go.

 

[JamesK]

Welcome to internet forums!

If you think this is bad, you should have been around some of the boards 10 years ago. This place is pretty civil IMO.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I have never heard of the OP so this is one time I cannot be blamed .

Pete (OP),

I expect you will be back. Most people that make the dramatic exit come back at some point. They'll usually stop in to see if anybody misses them and then they get sucked into reading a couple threads "since they are here anyway" and then eventually start posting again. SB is a fun place. Yes some of the egos are hard to get past and some of the personalities can be as well. But there is gold in there somewhere.....it is up to you to find it. Put people on ignore if they annoy you. Or just learn to skip their posts. SB is not the monster you seem to think it is.

No matter where you end up, keep diving and have fun.

 

[Mark Derail]

So Pete - there are sharks on the board.
Plus, like me, you use your real name.
Plus, like me, I've been burned too, why even by Jax !!!

You've stated the #1 reason(s) why most Dive Ops and dive pro's steer clear away from SB - not to have their reputation damaged.

IOW, it's quite opinionated. Pros / Ops don't want to lose sales, and are not the moderators / cannot moderate. Unlike Facebook, if you post on VW that the Fiat is a much better company, your post is deleted, or you can't even post.

(FWIW, Fiat Googlemap bombed VW with street view)

At least on SB the playing field is level. Ask questions, get many answers, sift through it and make a decision.
Just don't post your decision! That's just asking for trouble...

I've gained huge insights to better my diving that I applied last March in Grand Cayman. Was able to find an amazing condo, great places to go to. Before that, in Maui, great advice. Etc.

And should I meet in person Jax or any other poster that I ruffled, or that ruffled me, there will be no animosity, perhaps just good-natured debate! Human interactions were not designed to be faceless and soundless.

 

[drbill]

With nearly 200,000 members on SB, there will undoubtedly be several that can be irritating. One way to deal with that is to put them on your ignore list... then you don't have to see their posts. There are tens of thousands of great people here and I've enjoyed being on the board (even in the early days).

 

[TSandM]

There are a lot of opinions here, because there are a lot of people here. As with any other human endeavor, you can approach diving from a lot of different directions -- and with this particular sport, what you do and how you do it can vary a great deal with how you assess risk, and how you tolerate it.

Having had my own butt singed on more than one occasion here, I do know that there are intolerant and/or tactless people who post. Some have very valid information or viewpoints, but express them poorly; others seem only to enjoy an opportunity to be unpleasant. The moderating staff tries very hard to control the latter sort, and that is one of the reasons we HAVE the "Green Zones".

But it's also true that there are a few ways to almost guarantee snarky responses. One is to post one of the perennial hot button questions, especially without having done any kind of search to find out if they have been asked before. (Air2, anyone?) Another is to come to the board looking for validation for a decision you have already made (newbies solo diving, for example) and then argue with the people who try to tell you your decision isn't a good one. (This happens with gear choices a lot, too.)

Overall, I think the ratio of good information to noise here is pretty high for an open forum. I'm sorry you have made a different decision, but good diving to you, wherever you go!

 

[RickyF]

Pete,
Sorry to see you leave. Unfortunately there are people in all walks of life that have problems expressing a point or just look to fan the flames. Take the good info and input and ignore the rest. I have gained a lot of valuable information here, been flamed a few times, but overall the good out weighs the bad. Take the best and ignore the rest! Best of luck to you!

 

[redacted]

If you want to enjoy the honey, you may have to deal with a few bee stings.

 

[socaljohn]

As someone else mentioned that happens on a board. I was talking to friend the other day about it and he mentioned that everybody gets blasted like crazy on the drummer board he posts on.
As a re-newbie who can't wait to click over from 0-24 to the next step; I have appreciated the expert advise I receive and ignore the rest of it.