Perhaps I have a rather unique perspective on this topic being as I have both been a Scubaboard moderator and been the recipient of a ban.
Long ago but not so far away I was friendly with several of the moderators here and one of them, Pete actually, pushed for me to be given moderator status. Finally, and I know against several objections, it was granted. Following that I became friends with the owners of the board, KN and LD.
Being a moderator here was exceptionally difficult for me for several reasons. For one thing I tend to speak my mind in what I consider a straightforward fashion but which some tend to consider as a mean-spirited way. If I feel an individual has no business in the water, I may very well say so. This is just the way I am, not really optional for me. For another thing, I had distinct differences of opinion with several of the existing moderators.
With that in mind you might guess that it wasn't long before my views came into conflict with those of some other other moderators. When I saw that this was going to be the never-ending story I decided to resign.
It actually took me several tries. KN did not want to accept my resignation. I think it was mostly just personal feelings and the fact that we are both ex military types that kept him from doing so. I choose to believe that he and LD simply liked me and wanted to keep me within the "inner circle" here.
Eventually though, other pressures came to bear. As I understand it, one of the other moderators, no names here, decided that she would "take a vacation" from moderating duties until my status was finalized. This did the trick after a few days and my resignation was accepted. I returned to "senior member" status.
A while later personal issues got on top of KN and LD and they needed time away from the board to sort things out. At this point greatly increased power was given to several of the moderators, Jeff and Pete. These powers included the ability to ban members, formerly the privilege of only KN and LD (possibly Tech Admin too, not sure on that).
Things continued on and, as will happen, I managed to get myself in a pissing contest with another member or two. One day I found I was unable to log in.
Checking my scubasource email I found a message from Pete, ironically the same guy who had once pushed so hard to get me moderator status, saying that I was under a 5 day suspension.
This seemed fair. I understood that I tend to push things a bit hard at times and that I can be abrasive. Unfortunately the letter also stated that I had to ask to be allowed back in and specifically agree to be a good boy.
My 5 day suspension stretched into many months because I was unwilling to ask for my pardon. It was, and remains, my feeling that a 5 day suspension should be automatically undone on the 6th day. Clearly Pete felt otherwise. I was also displeased that the status on my account was set to custom and continued to show "senior member" rather than my actual status which was "suspended" or "banned".
In any case, this isn't about me, its about the general state of moderation on this board. I know most of the moderators, a bunch in real life, not just here. About half of them truly care about this board and its members, they are the ones that will always send a PM or email explaining why an action was taken, the rest aren't fit to pee on an electric fence.
Now that Pete owns this place a few things are sure to change. There's been a few moderators step down, sadly mostly good ones, and a few new ones appointed, some good, some less than. Unfortunately moderators are people too. They have all the strengths and weaknesses of us peons and are just as likely to use their powers to advance their own agendas as we might be. Scubaboard is not, as many have pointed out, a democracy. Its Pete's show, to be played as he sees fit.
This is getting a bit rambling without really hitting my point so I'll go ahead and get there. Were I in Pete's shoes I would try to realize the tremendous potential, in many ways, of what I had been handed. The first thing I would do would be to clean out the chaff.
It would that he has started on this course. Unfortunately he should have started with his "mod squad" instead of letting them make the decisions of who was chaff.
Several of the recently booted should have expected it. Others shouldn't have. I'd venture a guess that if one of them hadn't tried to organize dive trips she would have been ok. Organizing trips conflicts with the occupation of one of the moderators. That's a sure loser. The only I can't figure is CobaltBabe. She probably stuck up for one of the others and went for association. Pete, you shouldn't have allowed that. Your bad.
The bottom line is that the members should make suggestions on how to improve things here. If those suggestions are not taken then your choice becomes basically like it or leave it.
WW
