Thread moving by Mods

[ffestpirate]

The problem here is that: there will never be an agreement. No matter what you say here, someone will be offended. Sadly the most logical step would be to put a disclaimer in front of the posts.

Do we really have to go to that point?

I mean it's bad enough we need to be told our coffees are hot, the way cars are driven in commercials are by professionals, we shouldn't smoke, etc....

Let's not add to that baby sitting bs. We're all adults here. Read it, if you're offended, move on. Just like on tv, if you don't like the show: CHANGE THE CHANNEL!

That would involve a foriegn concept: personal responsibility. It's easier to blame everyone else or expect the world to adapt to them.(boy am i going to burn for this one )

 

[thedaddy]

...As for the moving of threads, I haven't come across that many moved threads. This latest round is probably the largest number I've ever seen at one time and is a little unsettling. ...

... SB has given me new friends for which I am very very greatful and I will continue to participate because of the friends. But I think some people need to check their attitudes at the door.

I'm sure this post will open me up to a lot of flaming. I hope not but it was kind of nice to get some things off my chest and express an opinion for a change.

kchFLA, apologize for snipping away part of your post, but no harm intended (not trying to take it out of context). I agree with the above points you made. There are a lot of attitudes and it takes an effort to walk away from some of them. I have noticed the same on some of the law enforcement and shooting forums - the ignore function works nicely and it seems to confuse aggressors when you don't seem to notice their rants. I've considered ignoring a couple of people here, but it hasn't gotten that bad yet. I seem to have a personal problem with 'walking away' when I find myself in an argumentative thread - but am working on it.

To the scubaboard staff, I think the high incidence of moved threads is probably due to the efforts to organize the board for better service, but it does warrant attention and consideration. It can be regarded as helpful (Colorado diver's thread asking a question about Florida moved to the Conch forum) or as rude (a thread moved or removed because it irritates or offends someone). I think some guidance to moderators is in order, and some thought as to formalizing moderater guidelines. If I was volunteering and acting in good faith, I would be pretty miffed at taking a bunch of flak (I'm sure they would appreciate a policy to fall back on). Also, if you get a wildcat moderator - it makes removal easier. I wouldn't want to work on a homeowners association, and I don't envy the moderators or the SB staff.

Isn't it great to have the freedom to argue openly like this though?!

 

[lamont]

honestly, i get the feeling that a moderator moved the posts because they didn't want to read it and they sub to the florida section and not the humor one, which seems like somewhat abusive moderating...

 

[MantaRey]

honestly, i get the feeling that a moderator moved the posts because they didn't want to read it and they sub to the florida section and not the humor one, which seems like somewhat abusive moderating...

Yeah, moderators are people too...

 

[mike_s]

Humor alert - Mike_S - I hope you recognized yourself as a panhandler wannabe.

hey... I pay taxes down here and I'm down here enough!

I even ate dinner at Floyds over in FWB last night!

 

[mike_s]

BTW board censors. My above post has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Since CENSORSHIP seems to be growing here.... I feel you must violate our "Free Speach Rights" and delete the above post, even those it is not a violation of the TOS of Scubaboard.

That's the way that things are going around here.

 

[OneBrightGator]

I read a couple of the posts in question, found them to be in extremely bad taste and did my best to ignore them after that. If I were still a moderator (a job I left a few years ago), I would have moved them to the humor forum. They have no place, IMO, in any other forum and possibly don't have any business on this board at all.

I had to quote Walter's post, because I like it and completely agree.

I read some of the posts and also found them to be in poor taste and inappropriate.

As it has been said before, the only rights you have on an internet forum is what the owner(s) give to you, there is no such thing as free speech. If you don't like what they're doing, don't participate.

 

[radinator]

I read a couple of them and just thought "what are they putting in the drinking water down in florida?" They were definitely regional in-jokes and moving them to the global humor section didn't seem appropriate. I don't offend very easily though...

They struck me not as 'regional in-jokes', but 'jokes between me and my several buddies', and frankly I didn't see the point of them being on a more public board at all - take it to email. If the only thing that made them 'funny' was posting in a public forum, then the best description that comes to mind is graffiti.

I've also found that with the several pointless 'cry wolf' headlines the past several days, I've already skipped over one real accident report thread because I thought it was more of the same.

At least in the humor section, it can be appropriate ignored by those of us not in the tiny in-crowd microcosm the 'joke' is intended for, and it will be flagged as not being a real headline.

 

[photohikedive]

Well, I would have stayed away from this thread, because I don't have a dog in this fight, but I was invited to comment by photohikedive.

I read a couple of the posts in question, found them to be in extremely bad taste and did my best to ignore them after that. If I were still a moderator (a job I left a few years ago), I would have moved them to the humor forum. They have no place, IMO, in any other forum and possibly don't have any business on this board at all.

My best advice to photohikedive is to ask for feedback before you invite someone to comment. They may not say what you expect.

I feel that I have to reply to Walter's response first.

Thank you Walter. I honestly wanted to hear all sides on this issue. When I asked you to join this, I asked you to weigh in, not for your support. I feel your response was honest, not the inflamatory type that usually seems to prevail when it is an opposing view point.

In the end, what I was getting at, wasn't as much the content of the posts, as much as what the procedure should be for moderators moving posts. How much involvement should the author have? How much lattitude will the author be allowed in choosing which forum he believes best suits his (or her) thread?

 

[Knight1989]

This is deffinitly an interesting topic. Having been a mod and later an administrator on anouther forum that I used to belong to I can understand the strain that can accompany trying to manage and organize so many posts, and our forum wasnt even close to as active as this one is. While I think that the move of the posts to the humor section was done under the best of intentions, with no malice intended, I too dont agree with it.

I do agree that the humor was intended for a smaller target audiance, those in the the FL panhandle that all know each other. I dont think that it needed to be done in a PM or email. Just because a topic dosent aply or interest you dosent mean it should be kept private. There are plenty of posts made daily that I could care less about, I deffintly dont want those retricted to PM's though.

I again think that people are taking themselfs a little to seriously if they were/are offended by the posts in question. It was a joke, nothing more, lighten up folks.

Its hard to avoid overmoderating a forum, its a difficult balance to strike. I can't say one or the other if this site is, I personnaly dont think so. I think the mods are doing a great job managing one of the most active forums on the web. But the on thing that caught my attention is people are afraid, or not willing, to ask questions because they are afraid of how people will respond if they feel its a dumb question or one thats been asked before. I have seen this said many times, in other threads, people mad that people dont use the search button and they respond somewhat hostile in response. I completly understand that it can be tiring seeing the same things posted over and over, but getting mad about it is the wrong response. Think about the impresion we are setting everytime we act like that, Scubaboard is filled with arogent jerks, or older divers aren't willing to help the newer ones. Either way it sets a bad impression of the site, or the sport. If your tired of answer the same question again and again, then dont answer it, dont read the thread. Let those that dont mind answering jump in.

I think that unless we have a TOS violation, or a thread is blatently in the wrong area, it should be allowed to stay. Theres nothing wrong with a localized group of divers talking back and forth amoungst themselfs in a section of the board. the nice thing about the Panhandle section is we all, for the most part, know each other. Its nice to kind of have a section of the board where a bunch of friends can kind of relax in the forum and joke amoung each other. I dont see a problem with that in any of the subforums.

Sorry for a long rant.