Good post, Pete ... but I'm gonna take exception to this comment ...
NetDoc:
A few, including Bob, see this as my problem and that's true to some extent.
Actually, I don't see this as your problem ... it's every member's problem ... if, in fact, you want to consider it a problem at all.
My correspondences with you are more by way of information sharing than ownership ... you're in a different position than I am to do something about it. I WANT people to feel welcome here ... and I can only do so much to make them feel that way. SB staff has much more control over that than I do, and so I try sharing my views with those I think might consider them. You're not the only one I share those PM's with. I sent another one to one of your senior advisors not too long ago, in the hope she'd share it with other staff members ... not because I think they own the problem, but because I felt it might be helpful with the discussions I know go on behind the curtain with respect to what to do about it.
I don't own any responsibility for someone else's behavior ... only mine. And I try being a positive influence ... particularly when addressing the questions and concerns of newer divers who are developing a context around which to view their scuba diving activities.
I think when we read bitterness or negativity into posts, sometimes it's there ... but most times it's really a matter of people taking something that was posted differently than the author intended. And sometimes it's as simple as not getting the response you wanted or expected.
There are those on ScubaBoard who chronically use attacktics to make their point (there's that punishment again) ... and my personal feeling is that those people tend to drive some folks off the board ... often resulting in us losing valuable contributors while the people we should be losing are allowed to continue posting in a way that puts others off. That's the issue I tried bringing up in our correspondence ... that the attacktics people needed to be put on a shorter leash because they're driving real contributors out of the house.
As a long-time member, I feel a certain sense of "ownership" for the well-being of this board. This is particularly true when it comes to responding to our newer members, particularly those recently-certified people who come here looking for answers they didn't get in their class. But we both know that you cannot confront those who resort by posting negatively, or who see everything not like what they do as somehow wrong or deficient ... or even those who chronically complain that scuba instruction is so much worse today than it was 40 years ago. You have to let those people be who they are, and attempt to respond to their posts in as constructive a manner as possible.
That said, I really don't see a lot of this coming from instructors. Some yes ... but certainly nothing that would warrant a blanket condemnation of instructors as a whole ... I think most of the instructors who post frequently here are a wealth of information that you simply won't find anywhere else, and should be appreciated rather than put down because of the occasional comment that maybe isn't as constructive as it should be. I don't see it as fair when we all get lumped together as though we're some sort of monolithic entity. There's a lot of instructors represented here. Most contribute in ways that sincerely attempt to be helpful ... particularly to the newer divers. The actions of a few should not be used as an example of them all ... nor should the majority be somehow held responsible for the occasional bad behavior of a handful. That's just not fair.
You know as well as I do that responding to negativity just feeds it ... whether it's publicly or in PM. And frankly, there's very little I'd say in a PM that I wouldn't say in public ... nor do I feel I should have to. If someone posts negativity, we all have two options ... respond to it, or ignore it. It's up to each of us to decide which is appropriate based on the circumstances. I will not sit by and allow a more experienced diver ... instructor or otherwise ... to put down someone simply because they are less experienced. That's gotten me in trouble a few times, as you well know ... but I'm not the sort who has patience for that sort of thing.
While none of us has any ownership over what someone else posts ... we do own how we choose to respond to it. And, to my concern, that's true whether you're an instructor, a staff member, a long-term member, a poster with a reputation for trollery, or someone who just joined the board yesterday. Take ownership for your posts, post responsibly, and if you can't respond constructively to a sincerely asked question then don't respond at all ... because otherwise all you're doing is inhibiting someone else's desire or ability to get what they came here for ... and that doesn't serve any of us well.
I'm still not sure what Matt's seeing that caused him to post what he did. That doesn't mean I don't respect his right to ask, or believe that he's sincere in asking ... it means I don't see it, nor do I agree with the premise that it's a particular problem here.
Most of the negativity I see on ScubaBoard comes from a handful of chronic troublemakers ... who for some reason are allowed to continue their posting privileges here. And occasionally, someone from staff does something that I perceive as abusive to one or more members of the board ... and frankly Pete, sometimes you can come across as pretty abusive or insensitive yourself.
Welcome to humanity ... nobody's perfect. Maybe what we all need to do is take a deep breath and give each other a little margin for being human ... with all the range of emotions and imperfections that implies ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
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