Alleged censorship on ScubaBoard

[greenliger]

Yes we need to get James Cameron to raise that bar again, it has gone to deep.

 

[danvolker]

But I am part of SB... did you ask if I was happy or not?


I dont see a one sided dictatorship. That is the difference.. I was serious about the pub.. SB provided us with place for off topic and political conspiracy theories chat.. it is not SB's fault you want to have that type of chat where YOU want it.. not where they have already made a spot...

This all came from my being in a post on the Basic forum, and using the Stroke Adjective to describe a well known poster, one that probably took the adjective as a compliment, not as an insult, as she had been describing herself and her methods for months--right out of the Wikipedia definition of the adjective.....And then suddenly I was banned, no warning, and told that even though I had said nothing against the rules of SB since March, there was a zero tolerance plan in effect.

So in one sense, this is my complaint for how I was treated...But, this is a policy that clearly they are using on many other members, and it does not seem to be fair---and I would be shocked to hear that this is what the majority of SB would want....I think a few individual moderators ( at least one that I know of would be happy to see me bent or dead) are looking at my posts for opportunities to ban me.....the one I expect is the most inclined to ban me...the one friends with Chatterton--whom I offended PRIOR to my outlining my future Kinder and Gentler posting style, this guy must have an axe to grind..If I am wrong, apologies, but we don't actually get to know who is upset by our posts, and who is looking for a chance to ban us.....so all I can do is infer from past posts to me....

Again, if this is happening to me, it is happening to many others....and THAT is what this post was really about...

 

[letterboy]

So you are upset because you pissed someone off and are now under their thumb?

 

[cbm32]

Scubaboard is not a democracy. If it were, I am afraid you would still be disappointed because it appears as though you are in a very small minority on this topic, and people in a minority position are not usually all that happy with what happens in a democracy.

Unless you are saying that moderation should be done by vote and that is just not feasible.

 

[danvolker]

why so?

People that bring up Nazis and conspiracy theories on a message board for diving lower the bar for everyone.

it would be a better place without them. but i am not going to start a whole thread lambasting the moderators because i think this way. it is their board.

It's kind of sad you were not able to read the posts, and understand that this was about the sociological techniques used in Germany in the 30's and 40's, and how they are being used in exactly the same manner today.... I offered specific examples, and any college professor of Sociology or Anthropology or Mass Communication, would agree that this comparison was directly on point..... This issue with you, is not that different than what can happen if someone walks into the wrong Dive shop....and instead of asking if they have any Scuba Pro Jetfins, or DUI Dry suits ( which they would respond well to....), instead ask if the shop has any DIR fins or Drysuits--and the Shop Owner gets apoplectic at hearing the word DIR, and forgets that he could actually sell $5000 worth of merchandise....all he can think of is the "word" he hates.

I really doubt you read my posts.

 

[BDSC]

why so?

Because saying something like, "If you don't like it then leave" really adds nothing to the discussion. To me it's a cop-out answer. If everyone on SB that didn't like some part of SB left, a lot of folks would likely be gone and what was left would all be of like mind. What a boring place SB would be. To me, it's all the different personalities that make SB such an interesting place. A place I like spending a lot of my time.

I don't agree with everything DV says. I certainly don't agree with a lot of what sassyalice says. But I'm glad they are both a part of SB.

 

[sassyalice]

This all came from my being in a post on the Basic forum, and using the Stroke Adjective to describe a well known poster, one that probably took the adjective as a compliment, not as an insult, as she had been describing herself and her methods for months--right out of the Wikipedia definition of the adjective.....And then suddenly I was banned, no warning, and told that even though I had said nothing against the rules of SB since March, there was a zero tolerance plan in effect.

So in one sense, this is my complaint for how I was treated...But, this is a policy that clearly they are using on many other members, and it does not seem to be fair---and I would be shocked to hear that this is what the majority of SB would want....I think a few individual moderators ( at least one that I know of would be happy to see me bent or dead) are looking at my posts for opportunities to ban me.....the one I expect is the most inclined to ban me...the one friends with Chatterton--whom I offended PRIOR to my outlining my future Kinder and Gentler posting style, this guy must have an axe to grind..If I am wrong, apologies, but we don't actually get to know who is upset by our posts, and who is looking for a chance to ban us.....so all I can do is infer from past posts to me....

Again, if this is happening to me, it is happening to many others....and THAT is what this post was really about...

I appreciate your reply

 

[BDSC]

Again, if this is happening to me, it is happening to many others....and THAT is what this post was really about...

Let me say right upfront that I haven't lost a minutes sleep over getting my first "Infraction" but here is what happened to me about a month ago.

I was in a thread along with mike_s. The thread had slowed down and not a great deal was going on. If you have seen his avatar, you will see that it's a penguin with an upside down mask. (For those that don't know, a few years back someone posted a pic of a black diver with his mask upside down and someone cried racism because of it) So a few times over the years when I'm in a thread with mike, I may say something like, "I see by your upside down mask you are a racist". I think I've done that 3 or 4 times. Never a problem in the past and mike is anything but a racist. So when I did it last month, I had a moderator send me a PM telling me I had been on SB long enough to know better than call someone a racist so I was being given a "Infraction" but it appeared to carry no points whatever that system is. (I do remember having some sort of dermerit system in jr. high school though.)

Now mike knows it's a total joke, I said it as a joke, and if you stop and think a moment about what I actually said, it's so ludicrous how could anyone take it as being serious. Mind you that mike never complained but I was told someone reported my post but it was not mike. I explained to the moderator the situation but it didn't matter. No warning, no nothing from the moderator but that's not surprising because that moderator tends to be heavy handed anyway. I was told I should keep my inside jokes private.

I would think in a situation like mine or anyones for that matter, a moderator would look at the ebb and flow of the thread and ask themselves a few basic questions before handing out "infractions" like, "have the two individuals been going at each other or have I ever noticed any animosity between them in other threads so as to stop something before it gets started" etc. It would just make sense to me to do that.

I'm pretty sure that most of the moderators on here would have either recognized my post as for what it was, a joke, or at the very minimum would have realized it after I explained what it was all about and then not issued the ever feared "infraction" even if they had removed the post. Of course I could be wrong but I don't think so. Not this time anyway.

Point being some moderators will let things go while others would issue infractions for the very same thing. I would just like to see more consistency between moderators but like I said earlier, with the various personalities and such, I don't know that it's possible.

 

[rhwestfall]

One police officer let me go at 75 mph. Further up the road, the next one........

Is the moderator's actions at their sole discression, or is there a concensus obtained prior to action?

 

[Rhone Man]

Scubaboard is not a democracy. If it were, I am afraid you would still be disappointed because it appears as though you are in a very small minority on this topic, and people in a minority position are not usually all that happy with what happens in a democracy.

Unless you are saying that moderation should be done by vote and that is just not feasible.

No one is saying that.

All I am saying personally is that I would the rules to be applied consistently and equally to all users. Whilst I believe that happens most of the time, there are a number of occasions when I believe it has not. I feel that is something which should disappoint everyone who values the board as a forum. At the time I was encouraged to make a formal complaint (which I did) and which got completely ignored. That is usually pretty much guaranteed to piss me off.