Thread moving by Mods

[The Kraken]

I can't speak for the owner of the board or any other moderators other than myself, but I try to look at posts/threads as being the property of the total population of the membership.

While many members are focusing on the micro aspect of their posts, the moderators/advisors have to try to keep in mind what is best for the entire membership, the macro aspect if you would. People will have varying opinions upon what is the best for the board . . . such is life.

A moved thread/post is a whole lot better than a deleted thread/post.

Albeit, the post might be a bit more difficult to find if it has been moved, it is still, nevertheless, posted to the board. And once found, it is easy to navigate, once again, to where it resides.

Just a thought . . .

The Kraken

 

[photohikedive]

Albeit, the post might be a bit more difficult to find if it has been moved, it is still, nevertheless, posted to the board. And once found, it is easy to navigate, once again, to where it resides.

I hate to break out the horse beater again, but SB staff is who this thread was aimed at, so with one posting......

A moved thread/post is a whole lot better than a deleted thread/post.

If a post doesn't warrent deletion, and isn't blatantly in the wrong forum, shouldn't the author have if not final, at least some decision as to where it goes?

While many members are focusing on the micro aspect of their posts, the moderators/advisors have to try to keep in mind what is best for the entire membership, the macro aspect if you would.

Reading back over the threads. Of all the ones moved, I saw only one actual complaint, in contrast to the many positive replies. If it is really a matter of the entire membership over the micro?

Albeit, the post might be a bit more difficult to find if it has been moved, it is still, nevertheless, posted to the board. And once found, it is easy to navigate, once again, to where it resides.

Well, then why not move posts placed in the site support forum, to the equipent forum? this shouldn't be a problem, because it should be easy enough for him to navigate back to it, right? NO, he put it in site support, because that was the audience he was aiming at.

I am sorry for keeping this thread going, the dead horse is rotting, and it has attracted some trolls. There was a point, beyond blowing off steam about moved threads. Sometimes help isn't help, when it isn't wanted. I still believe the author, should be able to post where he wants to, as long as his writing isn't causing harm. I have yet to hear an argument as to how the posts placed in the FL forum, for FL readers (but open to any readers, even from AL), didn't belong.

 

[Cacia]

Great writing PDH, either way. Gotta hand it to Pete...and I am not just sucking up. He has an easy going "in the scope of life" attitude I like.

Can't believe I missed all this, must have been changing my avatars or something. So, I went back and read some posts, like I said, great writing! Somebody please PM me what was offensive, I am curious. Florida people can be a little touchy, I have noticed that over the years....hmmm fun to ponder.

 

[The Kraken]

Nevertheless . . .
I'm sure all will survive.

The Kraken

 

[photohikedive]

Nevertheless . . .
I'm sure all will survive.

The Kraken

It is comments like this, from the people we are supposed to go to with our problems, that leaves me disheartened.

This is a thread in the site support section, if that is the best answer I can get.....

 

[The Chairman]

PHD,

Our mods represent a BROAD spectrum of divers. We value them NOT for their ability to regurgitate party policy, but rather their ability to speak their opinion of how they see things. You may or may not agree with a particular opinion that they express, but you are the one who has called for these opinions.

So, where did these egregious posts end up? The humor section, if I recall. Was the crux of these threads humorous in nature? Why, yes! They were written with tongue firmly planted in cheek and the roots are doing just fine! Sounds like humor.

Now recently, a few of us have lost some good friends and we almost lost another. After all, diving is not without risks. The angst that your tome created in at least one user prompted them to contact a mod. They just didn't "get it", because after all: your tomes were not created in the humor section. So the mod had to mitigate between your wants and needs and the plaintiff's wants and needs.

So the decision was made, that in light of our recent losses (and near loss), that these threads be remanded to the humor section for the rest of their natural lives. Hopefully, that will ameliorate any possible anguish felt by those who might miss the humor of your posts and take them seriously.

Obviously, it behooves us to point out that this decision was not made in some Orwellian or Stalinist fashion. Au contraire! The impetus of this decision was to help everyone to realise that it was "just" a joke. It was a benevolent and not a malevolent motive here. Since the pixel is mightier than the pen and the sword combined, it is important that we pay attention to unintended consequences as well as those we can estimate.

Now, it's back to trying to figure out what is wrong with our Photo Gallery!

 

[headhunter]

photohikedive,

I'm only posting to let you know that your points have not fallen on deaf ears and that this and other issues that this is most likely related to are currently under discussion. They are just not under discussion on the "public" side of the board.

One thing that you continue to bring up is that you only know of one person who complained about your threads. You need to understand that since you are not a moderator or advisor, you do not receive the messages that come in from those people who use the "report post" button. In addition to that, I would not expect people to send a PM to you about it. Frankly, they don't want to deal with it beyond expressing their disapproval. Those messages all come to the moderators and advisors. Let me assure you that all of this is not the result of only one complaint and that most of those people do not participate in public discussions like this one about ScubaBoard policy. Their involvement ends once they have made their feelings known. We don't make any of that information available to you because it is sent to us in confidence.

You keep looking for a reason, but judging from what I've read so far in this thread, I really don't think that anyone will be able to provide you with an answer that you will find acceptable. Moderating the board is not strictly an issue of looking for violations of the TOS. It goes beyond that and sometimes things fall into a category of "I'm not sure how to describe it, but I'll know it when I see it." If we tried to put into writing every issue that might require the action of moderator the TOS would read like a legal library. As it is, it's pretty long!

One thing to keep in mind is that had you only posted one of these threads, not a lot of attention would have been brought to it and the move and subsequent discussion would probably never have taken place. However, when more of these started to pop up, the members (both in Florida and around the globe) started to voice their concerns about these threads.

Some people voiced concern about the subject matter and felt that fake diving fatalities for the sake of humor were just not funny. You are never going to find agreement with people on whether or not these types of threads are appropriate on ScubaBoard, so let's not bother trying to argue that point one way or another.

Others, were concerned about the possibility of too many of these threads eventually hijacking the forum as someone's personal venue for delivering their brand of comedy.

When these reported posts come to us, we seriously take a look at them. More often than not, nothing is done. If a post is moved it is often the result of a simple judgement call that not everyone is going to agree with. When a "redirect" is left in the original forum pointing to where the thread was moved, often the original poster is not notified since it's pretty obvious where it went.

You believe that the original poster should always be consulted about their thread and expect a discussion to take place about where that thread should be. That sounds like a great way of doing things and occasionally that's exactly what is done, but on a board with over 60,000 members this would lead to a sort of paralysis in moderation if we were to try to do this all the time. It's simply not practical.

I hope that this helps you understand that things are really not black and white and that your comments are not being ignored. All of the staff members at ScubaBoard are volunteers and there is only so much time in the day for us to devote to "running" the board. Given that we also like to participate on the board as members, it may sometimes seem that we are not spending enough time on one particular issue.

Keep in mind that you are participating in this one thread and think about how much time and energy you have spent here. Now multiply that into the many issues that come up for us everyday. I understand that there is no way for you to really know how many of these come up daily, but I'll let you know that sometimes this can be a little overwhelming. By the way, most of the discussions of issues that I'm talking about don't make it out here as a discussion in the public eye, but that does not mean we spend any less time on them. Sometimes the discussions amongst the moderators in the back room are twice as long as those out here. This is because we really are concerned with doing the right thing for the greater good of ScubaBoard.

Thanks for bringing some things to our attention.

Christian

 

[photohikedive]

Some people voiced concern about the subject matter and felt that fake diving fatalities for the sake of humor were just not funny.

so they were moved to the humor forum?

a good argument was made that the threads touched a little close to home for some people. I would understand such a claim, and had that been the reason, I know I, and likely the others with similar posts would have stopped, and even asked the threads removed. in that light, yes, I can see the how the posts would be detremental to the board as a whole. not until now, has that point been raised as to why threads were moved. but, in the assault on the panhandle posters, a thread about daily dive reports was moved. while there was humor in it, it was posted as a running thread about one person who frequently dives in an area.

Others, were concerned about the possibility of too many of these threads eventually hijacking the forum as someone's personal venue for delivering their brand of comedy.

so is the problem, we were using scubaboard.... too much? and again, I point to the "daily dive report" here we were taking what would be a string of dive reports, and making ONE thread of them. it was moved. also I believe without notice.

as far as hijacking for a personal venue, three words... jep's troll bridge (talk about rewarding bad behaviour)? not pointing out one person, but a type of poster. there are plenty out there who's sole goal is to hijack threads. our threads are not meant as trolls, they are regionally aimed, fun friendly conversations. none are intended to disrupt or cause problems. yet other people who's self proclaimed aims are disruption and argument starting are rewarded with thier own forums. we weren't wanting to hijack, we were just using scubaboard for what we thought it was meant for... conversations with other divers, in most cases, ones we wouldn't know, if it wasn't for scubaboard.

You believe that the original poster should always be consulted about their thread and expect a discussion to take place about where that thread should be. That sounds like a great way of doing things and occasionally that's exactly what is done, but on a board with over 60,000 members this would lead to a sort of paralysis in moderation if we were to try to do this all the time. It's simply not practical.

El Lorans seems able to post in the thread when he intends to make an adjustment. CBulla and others have let me know when they thought moving the thread might be in my best interest.

Now multiply that into the many issues that come up for us everyday. I understand that there is no way for you to really know how many of these come up daily, but I'll let you know that sometimes this can be a little overwhelming.
[/QUOTE]

then if there are so many pressing issues on here, then why bother with moving something like a daily dive report? I can see something like the satirical news articles, that may offend people, but plenty of other posts are being shuffled that are regionally specific, and non offensive.

 

[photohikedive]

So the decision was made, that in light of our recent losses (and near loss), that these threads be remanded to the humor section for the rest of their natural lives. Hopefully, that will ameliorate any possible anguish felt by those who might miss the humor of your posts and take them seriously.

I appreciate this view, but do not think this was the reason the threads were originally moved.

When I posted the satirical threads, I had not connected them to real life situations that they might be mirroring. Had this been brough to me in this light, I would have asked the threads to be removed. I am sure the people I know who made similar posts would have asked the same.

In all the time since the original post, not until now, has this view been raised. I have been spoken to, and conversed with mods in this period. Not once has real events been brought up as a reason for the move.

Mostly that it wasn't found funny, or that we were talking too much in the forum. The idea that people from Florida and just over the border talking and joking in a Florida forum, are in the wrong spot....

I would still be willing to let the threads about scuba incidents be removed. I can see how they could be in bad taste, with bad timing. This would have maybe been a better solution than moving them to the broader spectrum of the humor section, where they would recieve a larger audience, with more opportunity to be commented on, and therefore spend more time in the new posts section.

Please don't use a hindsite answer as the reason the threads were moved though. It is obvious that wasn't it. That seems more offensive, than the posts themselves.

 

[Kim]

You already have been told the answer. The threads were moved because there were too many of them. There are other factors at play that have since been brought up as well, but the original (and simple) reason was that there were too many of them and people were complaining, (not just inside the threads but by PM and reported posts as well).