A question about Scuba Board posting etiquette

[DandyDon]

By the way, I never know when I read one of your posts whether you're T, S or M.

None of the above. That's Dr.Lynn but she answers to Lynn nicely. Outstanding source of help here.

 

[CT Sean]

Also keep in mind it is the internet -
- sometimes responses intended to be helpful can be worded a certain way can be taken different ways,
- sometimes people don't take the time to "wordsmith" a response to make it warm and fuzzy for those who read it (for example: the classic response of "read the manual")
In either case an attempt to "teach a man (or woman) to fish" comes accross as "you should know this already". And then sometimes people just take the anonymity of the internet as a license to be a jerk.

A certain amount of thick skin is often the best . As a visitor/contributor of several forums, I find SB to be quite accepting of the common "weekly questions" compared to other forums. There are forums out there that go so far as to encourage the flaming of newbies who ask the common repetitive questions (like it's some kind of initiation).

 

[TSandM]

TSandM was the name of our horse breeding business, named after our three cats, Tizzle, Squeeter and Mini. Since, prior to SB, I had only participated in horse-related forums, I had used that user name, and when I signed on here, I didn't even think about changing it. On all the other diving boards, I use my initials.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

As a new diver, I'm fascinated by all the new things to learn. So what I do is, I post a question. Many of the replies are friendly, interesting and helpful. But some of the replies are delivered in a sort of veiled irritation; the gist of them is that they think I should have read up on the answer to the question before posting it.

But then Scuba Board simply becomes a source of information, and only information not contained somewhere else. As the sum-total of all scuba knowledge is approached, the amount of permissible questions to be asked on Scuba Board will diminish to near-nothingness.

To me, the purpose of Scuba Board (and any social forum) is interaction with others of similar interest. Some of this interaction is the transfer of information.

If I were sitting on a dive boat with others going to a dive, and I asked a question, such as "Say, what's saturation diving?", nobody would say, "You can find the answer to that question in any advanced diving manual." This would be a rude response. Yet on Scuba Board, this is a very common sort of response.

So my question is: Are questions that I could have found the answer to by doing a simple web search permitted or not?

That's a matter of personal opinion ... mine is that the purpose of discussion boards is to discuss. There are literally millions of posts on this board that one can sift through ... given enough time and determination ... to find an answer to virtually any conceivable scuba-related question. But the thing you gotta ask yourself is (a) how trustworthy are the answers, and (b) am I going to use ScubaBoard as an encyclopedia or as an interactive way to get information? I think interaction adds value, and gives each of us a sense of ownership to the information we offer. In other words, we want to use ScubaBoard for more than just a database.

I personally don't mind answering a question that's been asked dozens of times. New people come on board all the time, and many of them ... including people who are very new to diving ... have a perspective to offer that adds value to whatever may have been brought up before.

Discuss away ... decide for yourself whose opinion provides the answers you need. To my concern, "do a search" adds nothing to a conversation. Those who don't want to participate in an interactive discussion should just click away, and let those of us who want to participate in the thread do so without their rudeness.

... they call it a "discussion" board for a reason ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Dirty-Dog]

By the way, I never know when I read one of your posts whether you're T, S or M.

It doesn't matter. They've all been assimilated...

Bear in mind that some of what comes across as "rude" is simply the lack of facial expression and body language.

 

[DandyDon]

Bear in mind that some of what comes across as "rude" is simply the lack of facial expression and body language.

You see a lot of my posts...?? :blush:

 

[Dirty-Dog]

You see a lot of my posts...?? :blush:

:rofl:

I've posted a lot of things, starting with USENET, that got misread simply because of the lack of facial/body clues.

 

[DandyDon]

:rofl:

I've posted a lot of things, starting with USENET, that got misread simply because of the lack of facial/body clues.

Sometimes I say dumb things in person, see a poor reaction, and move quickly into apology and other damage control.

Sometimes I type dumb things and don't appreciate the damage until it's too late to make amends. I generally mean well, but appear otherwise at times.

At least I never get picked for a jury.

 

[Shasta_man]

<<TSandM was the name of our horse breeding business>> ah, mystery solved...

 

[Thalassamania]

That's a matter of personal opinion ... mine is that the purpose of discussion boards is to discuss. There are literally millions of posts on this board that one can sift through ... given enough time and determination ... to find an answer to virtually any conceivable scuba-related question. But the thing you gotta ask yourself is (a) how trustworthy are the answers, and (b) am I going to use ScubaBoard as an encyclopedia or as an interactive way to get information? I think interaction adds value, and gives each of us a sense of ownership to the information we offer. In other words, we want to use ScubaBoard for more than just a database.

I personally don't mind answering a question that's been asked dozens of times. New people come on board all the time, and many of them ... including people who are very new to diving ... have a perspective to offer that adds value to whatever may have been brought up before.

Discuss away ... decide for yourself whose opinion provides the answers you need. To my concern, "do a search" adds nothing to a conversation. Those who don't want to participate in an interactive discussion should just click away, and let those of us who want to participate in the thread do so without their rudeness.

... they call it a "discussion" board for a reason ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Bob is spot on, ScubaBoard is not Wiki and Wiki is not ScubaBoard, they are different and serve different needs, but both are useful. As far as "read the (manual, thread, post, etc.) responses are concerned, as oft as not they are in response to someone posting nonsense that has already been referenced as being in the: manual, thread, post, etc. It is a good idea to either read the thread first, if if it is really long, to begin with a statement that you've not been able to do so.