Is "the first rule of Scubaboard is that you don't talk about Scubaboard?"

[SeaHorse81]

I always ask others if they're on SB and have been shocked, given the huge membership here, at how seldom I get an affirmative response. Of the people who are aware of it, I'm sad to say the prevailing opinion is that it's too negative and that's why they don't participate.

I always try to explain that while there is indeed an unfortunate amount of negativity (the snarkiness, rush to judgment and personal attacks that Internet anonymity seems to bring out in people), there is an incredible amount of information and support. I consider SB my go-to source, and it has never let me down. I always recommend that others spend time (or more time on it) to see for themselves.

Sadly, the negativity that does occur seems to overly color the perception of SB out in the non-SB world, at least according to what people tell me. It would be nice if there was less of that.

 

[koozemani]

How do we get any?

Go red. They sent be a couple. One on my dive tool box and one on a pelican case.

 

[koozemani]

The Scubaboard Store There will be discounts for multiples soon! BTW, the store isn't quite open yet. We still need to get a number of pictures put up.

Huuuuuurrrrrryyyyyyy!

 

[oceanbound]

I've had mixed reviews from other divers regarding SB. I have also enjoyed meeting several divers from this board and probably would not have known about a lot of things without reading about it somewhere here on SB. Many of these divers are proud of their SB names. I find that I like it when someone says that they recognize my name from the board. It's like someone else posted, you can't believe everything someone tells you in person so why believe everything on a board? Boards have some really good and useful information, as well as learning to improve on some skills from SBers. I'm not only a member on SB but also DB and each board has good information. come to think of it, being that I'm in South Alabama, I might have never known about Blue Heron Bridge which is now my favorite dive spot if not from SB and all the beautiful photos that are often posted. I've made some good friends from SB.

 

[TSandM]

I'd love to say I have a different persona on SB, but sadly I am also opinionated and arrogant in the real world as well.

Hardly!

When I made my earlier post, I forgot a very important SB member. Dive-aholic, who I met when he was still living in Arizona, and who, with his lovely wife, has opened his house to us on several occasions. He's a dear friend, and someone I would never have made any connection with were it not for SB.

 

[SeaCobra]

There are some excellent people here on SB and I do enjoy some of the discussions. But, I hesitate to refer to it as a resource, more just entertaining. New folks especially need to be careful as I have seen some real crap and wrong information posted. There isn't any accountability. If someone "grinds their axe" about a particular company or product, there isn't any follow up. I have seen where some good folks have had mud slung their way.

Just like dive buddies it is worth the time to seek out the good posters here and I will continue to browse the boards.

 

[Jax]

There are some excellent people here on SB and I do enjoy some of the discussions. But, I hesitate to refer to it as a resource, more just entertaining. New folks especially need to be careful as I have seen some real crap and wrong information posted. There isn't any accountability. If someone "grinds their axe" about a particular company or product, there isn't any follow up. I have seen where some good folks have had mud slung their way.

Really??? Maybe you should check the recent thread about Silent World. Silent World didn't have to say a word . . . .

 

[HowardE]

There are some excellent people here on SB and I do enjoy some of the discussions. But, I hesitate to refer to it as a resource, more just entertaining. New folks especially need to be careful as I have seen some real crap and wrong information posted. There isn't any accountability. If someone "grinds their axe" about a particular company or product, there isn't any follow up. I have seen where some good folks have had mud slung their way.

Just like dive buddies it is worth the time to seek out the good posters here and I will continue to browse the boards.

SB is a HUGE resource. It's not just the new posts and the current "arguments" or debates that are taking place on the site, but there is a plethora of good information here on SB, including articles, and incredible photos. Aside from the obvious, there's also great travel tips, including dining and lodging ideas in exotic locations. Not to mention there's other "offtopic" conversation about current events and life in general.

Most importantly a resource that no other single scuba site even comes close to, is our manufacturer's forums. We have almost 100 equipment manufacturers with actual company representatives answering questions about their products here on the board.

So many people learn so much about diving and the activities we do underwater, here on ScubaBoard. Even more than just the 200,000 members that have made ScubaBoard their official online "home" for diving... What about the 15-20,000 people a day from Google searches or other web searches that land on SB to answer their queries about all things scuba, and more.

Sure there are people with axes to grind... Isn't that true anywhere? Who just reads one review and then makes a conclusion? When you Google something, or look on tripadvisor, or any other open site with comments... do you just stop at the first bad review and say, "I'm not going there ever." I doubt people are that naive. If its obvious to you that there's an ax grinder, then isn't it obvious to everyone? Like any active forum, there is a lot of chatter, but somehow, the cream always rises to the top. I refer to SB as a "self leveling playing field", the truth is in there, and it's fairly easy for even the novice to see what's good advice, and what is garbage.

 

[The Chairman]

If someone "grinds their axe" about a particular company or product, there isn't any follow up.

Shenanigans! If you make some bone headed claims (like you just did) in order to unfairly attack a company, then you are going to be challenged about that. A smart Scuba Company will engender a following here on ScubaBoard before anyone has a chance to do that so, like Silent World, they really don't have to defend themselves at all. Most of the postings on ScubaBoard are incredibly positive. That's not a spin: just reality. People are normally psyched about their dives and it shows when they post.

Unfortunately, there are some bad and sad things that happen in Scuba. I think it would be remiss if we did not allow discussions about these types of things here on ScubaBoard. Personally, unless there is a reckless disregard towards human life, I will never ever identify a particular dive shop when I have a problem. I did it twice in the last few months: Does Peggy Work at Your LDS? and What would YOU do if the First Mate on your charter was a Gilligan? Mind you, people actually GUESSED who these dive ops were. The accuracy was astounding in one case. Why? Did I give a little clue here or there? I must admit that I did. I accurately described what happened and some people knew precisely who it was because they had THE VERY SAME THINGS HAPPEN TO THEM. That's not my fault. That's theirs for not fixing problems. It was kind of funny, but recently I had a call from a friend telling me that "Peggy is at it again!" Wow. After all the crap they gave me for talking about them anonymously, they still haven't fixed a thing.

It's my experience that most of the shops that complain about the negativity here on ScubaBoard are their own worst enemies. The great shops will take a negative and turn it into a positive. Look at how dvrliz1 did that here: Bad Ending to Otherwise Good Bonaire Trip. This actually brought her business... why? BECAUSE IT WAS OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE THAT SHE GAVE A CRAP! ScubaBoard is a great place to find new dive buddies and even to find some great clients. If it's not working for you, it's probably because you don't have a phreakin' clue how to use Social Media to your advantage. The upside of this is that there is help. You can learn a lot about social media marketing in our Business to Business section.

 

[Tigerman]

I have no problem talking to people about scubabard. I also have no problem being friends with people I have heated discussions with. I also dont generally really care about staying anonymous.
I do however find that internet forums is not the first thing to come up while diving (or during the beers afterwards).

And as a side note, as we here in Norway celebrate the 24th of december - Merry xmas!