Censorship and SB..how far are we going to take this???

[H2Andy]

ok, today i re-read the posts, and everybody is right

(including me ... that goes without saying ... i am always right anyway)

it's kind of funny ... in any other board if staff had treated me the way i've been treated here, and my posts pulled and etc., i'd probably just would have given up on the darn board and gone on my merry way (and i have done that ... check out how many other dive boards i post to anymore, and ask yourself why .. i.e. this is the only one i find worth of putting up with the crap from)

i guess we're s.l.u.t.s for moderation. seriously, with all the interference that staff throw my way, why the heck am i still here?

i just wish i'd be left alone to have fun, and if sometimes the line gets crossed... so who's gonna die? christ, it's an internet board. stop acting like it's a law enforcement agency out to stomp crime.

i mean ... ok, so a little naughty word breaks the TOS ... so who's gonna die? it's not life and death ... chill the heck out. just seems the TOS has become an end in itself rather than a tool to let people have fun in peace

i'll say it again: too many Mods with too many rules to enforce results in a bad experience for everybody, including the Mods who have to deal with the backlash

and all these posts we make, trying to get someone to understand what we mean by not being "treated like children" and that "there's too much moderation" ... really ... we're wasting our time guys ...

that's my conclusion ... basically things will be the way they will be, and no amount of reasoning on our part is gonna change it ... their house their rules, etc.

ah well... ranting again ... need meds

i guess what i am saying is that the board ownership has one kind of member in mind to which it is geared for, and those of us who don't fit that mold for whatever reason, are just gonna have to deal with the "heat" when we try to be who we are and have fun

is there a place for that here? is ScubaBoard big enough to fit in those of us who don't quite fit the mold management has in mind?

or will we just have to deal with the annoyance of being constantly nit-picked and moderated for littering and jaywalking in the name of law and order?

i would rather have a little litter and some jaywalking going on rather than constant police presence and constant oversight, personally

as i said, nobody's ever died from reading the word **** or **** ...

so ****ing relax, ok? the constant moderation has reached such levels of frustration that people are jumping at ghosts

 

[H2Andy]

to sum it up:

the intent to keep the board clean and have TOS enforced has resulted in an unnaceptable level of interference with well-meaning members who just continue to grow frustrated at the amount and nature of the policing that goes on here

this is indicated by the almost unceasing backlash from members and threads such as this. management can write these off as malcontents or they can realize that they have a problem in their hands

this problem has been going on for so long that i find it hard to believe management has not realized that there is, indeed, a problem, and that it's not just some people trying to cause trouble

the current level and style of moderation is so intrusive that people are jumping at otherwise innocent errors.

management: it takes two to create a climate of distrust and resentment. i am sure you know what part the members play. have you understood the part you play?

someone in management used the word "disenfranchised" to refer to how we feel.

personally, i don't feel disenfranchised. i feel harassed and constantly butting against the police presence on the board over tiny infractions that get treated as though they were horrible crimes

and yes, i am aware that if we don't like it, we don't have to be here. but wouldn't it be nice if we could all fit?

 

[H2Andy]

alas... last time is the charm, i guess

for one who has been made fun of before for "walking both sides of the road" my point is that there's two sides to this coin

if management wants to know why members behave in certain ways at certain times, management must look at its own behavior and what has caused the conditions under which we operate (that's the other side of the coin)

there ARE two sides to this story ... i am afraid management either can't or won't look at the other side. you guys got the power, so ... it's up to you to make changes ... we can only follow those changes. we can't really make them unilaterally

in other words, because you call the shots, if you want us to change, you have to change first ... i.e. you have to change the conditions on the ground and let people decompress a little before asking for behavior modification from us

it's much easier to write people off as troublemakers, malcontents, wanting to walk "both sides of the road" or simply trolls than to have to look at the real situation on the ground

i am reminded of being called "a mob" by Moderators when we had valid grievances to air, and if i remember correctly, the words "the children are at it again" were used as well in a post by Pete himself (quoting a Moderator)

that attitude itself is the problem

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Andy,

I'm just curious.

There are over 86,000 registered users of this board.

Lets say 30% of them are active to any degree at all. That's 25,800 users.

Lets say that 30% of those use the board on any regular basis, no matter how infrequent.

That's 7,740 users.

Of that number of reasonably active users world-wide, how many of them are complaining in this thread about over-the-top management, wild-eyed moderators with god-like egos, flagrant and random censorship [of cuss words, obscenities, boob shots, and other Gen X venacular regularly (apparently) employed in boardrooms and in public by mature adults), and other grievous abuses of your freedoms? And of the participants in this thread, how many agree with you that Mods regularly conspire to bend SB users over 55-gallon drums and anally rape them over "tiny infrations"?

C'mon dude.

Count the posters in this thread who are waving torches and pitchforks.

Hint: You're not a mob.

What, a dozen out of 7,740 or more? A dozen users are foaming at the mouth over not being able to say "****" or "****" or "bitch" or post boob shots on a bulletin board about scuba diving?

Because thats how "everyone talks" when they're carrying on with their lives?

Please.

Guys I know are going out on patrol in Iraq today with loaded weapons and they may or may not be alive this evening.

My youngest kid is going to be deployed next year, to either Afghanistan or some other garden spot, with the Special Forces. I've no idea whether he'll come home again or how.

A young guy rolled by me in a wheelchair yesterday who had no legs.

There are people in this world with real problems and issues, and you guys are coming unglued because evil mods won't let you say "****" or "****" or "bitch" on a scuba board?

So give me your opinion, Andy, because I'm real curious.

Just how big a problem is this on ScubaBoard, and for how many users?

And thanks for alerting all of us to this overwhelming threat. I'm sure the powers that be will be pondering how to address the concerns of the "mob".

I'm going diving this weekend. You guys have a great time raising hell.

P.S. Jep? Nice troll!

pd:

 

[H2Andy]

C'mon dude.

clearly, you as part of management dont' think there's a problem

and i am not surprised, since ... ah ... that was like my point?

need my point need further proof... just keep re-reading Doc's post

And thanks for alerting all of us to this overwhelming threat. I'm sure the powers that be will be pondering how to address the concerns of the "mob".

this is what i would call "condescending," and exactly the kind of attitude that is fueling the flames

You guys have a great time raising hell.

again, exactly my point regarding management's attitude towards people who voice their opinions on a Feedback forum.

voicing my opinion, in a Feedback forum of all places ... is "raising hell"?

why even bother to have a Feedback forum if you're going to treat those who post this way?

gotta love it

and Marvel, an Advisor, probably the second most powerful person in management, thinks Doc Intrepid's post is worth giving a "Thanks " to

a post that is condescending and dismissive of people posting on a "Feedback" forum ...

oh irony...

 

[jepuskar]

It does seem like a troll doesnt it? However I learned my lesson about that...

It is never fun to receive a death threat in your snail mail.

 

[BTravlin]

Hey, Jep, I'm glad you clarified that new avatar since I didn't know whether to be titillated or repulsed. Turns out it was neither and the censors can now rest easy.

 

[jepuskar]

You know you stared at it long and HARD. Prolly even tilted your head once or twice...the one on your shoulders.

 

[redrover]

Andy,

I'm just curious.

There are over 86,000 registered users of this board.

Lets say 30% of them are active to any degree at all. That's 25,800 users.

Lets say that 30% of those use the board on any regular basis, no matter how infrequent.

That's 7,740 users.

Of that number of reasonably active users world-wide, how many of them are complaining in this thread about over-the-top management, wild-eyed moderators with god-like egos, flagrant and random censorship [of cuss words, obscenities, boob shots, and other Gen X venacular regularly (apparently) employed in boardrooms and in public by mature adults), and other grievous abuses of your freedoms? And of the participants in this thread, how many agree with you that Mods regularly conspire to bend SB users over 55-gallon drums and anally rape them over "tiny infrations"?

C'mon dude.

Count the posters in this thread who are waving torches and pitchforks.

Hint: You're not a mob.

What, a dozen out of 7,740 or more? A dozen users are foaming at the mouth over not being able to say "****" or "****" or "bitch" or post boob shots on a bulletin board about scuba diving?

Because thats how "everyone talks" when they're carrying on with their lives?

Please.

Guys I know are going out on patrol in Iraq today with loaded weapons and they may or may not be alive this evening.

My youngest kid is going to be deployed next year, to either Afghanistan or some other garden spot, with the Special Forces. I've no idea whether he'll come home again or how.

A young guy rolled by me in a wheelchair yesterday who had no legs.

There are people in this world with real problems and issues, and you guys are coming unglued because evil mods won't let you say "****" or "****" or "bitch" on a scuba board?

So give me your opinion, Andy, because I'm real curious.

Just how big a problem is this on ScubaBoard, and for how many users?

And thanks for alerting all of us to this overwhelming threat. I'm sure the powers that be will be pondering how to address the concerns of the "mob".

I'm going diving this weekend. You guys have a great time raising hell.

P.S. Jep? Nice troll!

pd:

I think you’re exaggerating the voices, attitudes and complaint, certainly mine. El Orans stated (early on) he was the only Moderator moderating this thread and I’m not clear if this has changed, Doc as Staff is speaking as a Moderator here. If so, this post illustrates the perceptive of the discussion I’d like to have some respite from.

 

[redacted]

C'mon dude.

Count the posters in this thread who are waving torches and pitchforks.

Hint: You're not a mob.

:

You should not assume that those who choose to remain silient are in any way supporting current censorship policies.