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

[rhadamantus]

i don't see what is the fuss about Hot Chick Friday... they are just ladies in string bikinis.

and there is a reason why surface interval is an opt-in forum. you are in no way obligated to see new threads under such popping up in New Posts. these are for people who want to talk about something else that may or may not be related to diving... and a good lot of those who are there aren't bothered by the things that irk most people who refused to go into those threads.

 

[Cave Diver]

opt in equals anything goes?

No, it doesn't have to (and probably shouldn't) mean "anything goes." What it does mean is that it provides a place for some of us to continue building the comraderie that was built over diving.

If someone chooses not to participate, or doesn't even want to see those threads, that's their choice, thus the opt in criteria.

Just because you don't choose to use all the features or areas of the board doesn't mean that someone else should be deprived of it.

I have a watch that has a built in alarm. Just because it's there doesn't mean I should chunk my alarm clock out the window and use the watch exclusively so I take full advantage of all its features.

 

[Geoff_H]

i don't see what is the fuss about Hot Chick Friday... they are just ladies in string bikinis.

and there is a reason why surface interval is an opt-in forum. you are in no way obligated to see new threads under such popping up in New Posts. these are for people who want to talk about something else that may or may not be related to diving... and a good lot of those who are there aren't bothered by the things that irk most people who refused to go into those threads.

I don't mind these sort of pictures either, but it's obviously to anyone with half a brain that some people can be offended or upset by them. As gratitous pictures posted for oogling only are not germane to any scuba discussion I think it's 100% fine they are banned.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

cut that crap. i've messed a number of people - without bags over their heads- way before this. :blinking: you do not scare me.

anyway, my piece:

i just want to be able to type s-h-i-t without **** appearing in lieu of it. cussing sometimes makes me feel better aboot things.

Fine to post S-H-I-T, but not shit? WTF? What diff does it make if we say poo, caca, crap, **** or shit? Why would s-h-i-t not offend and shit offend someone?

 

[Zieg]

I wonder how many of those who want to ogle here are posting on SB at an office that has many sites with bikini models blocked?


Try using caca instead. Same effect.

Dandy, I read Spearboard all the time in my office and can you believe it, I don't open the thread with the bikinis. Oh, and caca doesn't have the same effect.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

No, it doesn't have to (and probably shouldn't) mean "anything goes." What it does mean is that it provides a place for some of us to continue building the comraderie that was built over diving.

OK, if it's not "anything goes", what would the new boundaries need to be?

 

[rhadamantus]

I don't mind these sort of pictures either, but it's obviously to anyone with half a brain that some people can be offended or upset by them. As gratitous pictures posted for oogling only are not germane to any scuba discussion I think it's 100% fine they are banned.

that is exactly why i do not get it why some people who are offended or get upset by them would still find themselves in the thread where these pictures are circulating. well, i guess, it is fairly not uncommon, seeing as there are still a lot of smokers inspite of nicotine's role in lung cancer...but i am sidetracking.

i would still like to point out- and i am pointing out now- that that forum is created for non-diving related topics. anybody who are up for it can go look inside and see if it cater to their taste or needs.

it is not just that Hot Chick Friday theme... same goes for some words currently banned. i am with the-man-who-doesn't-have-guts-enough-to-take-off-that-silly-bag-over-his-head on this. s-h-i-t is still going to be read as what it is intended to be. and seriously, why would someone get offended with this?

 

[00scuba]

I can say I didn't read this whole thread. But I was thinking about it on my drive home. I think the point being made is that even in regular forums, it seems that everyones opinion is (or should) be subject to the rules of the board. If it doesn't fit in with the TOS, then it doesn't belong. How can we communicate openly without being able to express personal opinion. If we were all the same, that would make life pretty boring.

Now on the otherhand, I have no idea what it takes to run a board like this. To allow freedom of expression to the fullest must be difficult. Especially when someone wants respect for their business. And well, this is a business. The owner has a right to make decisions based on those parameters.

Now, how to find that happy medium. The opt-in forum is great, I love the SI and have met many great people there. I can be myself and its a great outlet. (especially during work).HCF is fun and so is NPF. But I also opt-in, and hold my resident perv card.

As far as serious threads, dive related threads, news worthy threads...that is where I think the adjustment needs to be made. Someone shouldn't be able to hit the REPORT POST button because someone thinks differently than you or may have a different background. It is frustrating to see things pulled when there are valid points being made, even when I do not agree with them.

My best wishes for finding this. Trying to see it from a business perspective and a participant makes that line a little more difficult to draw.

 

[jepuskar]

Isnt caca used when talking to a baby about #2?

I dont know how many different ways I need to explain this, but let me try again.

If a user wants to disrupt a thread, be it diving / non-diving, they will disrupt the thread, hijack it whatever you want to call it. It doesn't matter what language is allowed or not allowed. I never mentioned anything about letting the dogs loose on the entire board. A lot of people are posting comments like I am in favor of hell breaking loose on the board. I am NOT!

I proposed one idea for those of us who want to engage in not so PC topics. This would be located in the non-diving section of the forum and would also be password protected. You would not accidently stumble into this section. This area could cover any topic you wanted, but personal attacks/threats etc would not be tolerated. I never proposed this kind of an area to the whole board.

Now, what I did mention was the rest of the board needs to loosen up a little. This does not mean hijacking of threads, taking over scuba related posts and turning it into a free for all discussion on birth control etc. Those who are here for purely scuba related dialogue will still have that. As stated above, this loosening up does not promote hijacking etc...it just allows us to have more adult like conversations without using 'caca' to express a point.

So what exactly does loosening up mean? To me it means not being soo uptight and PC all the time worrying about who is going to get offended because someone made an innuendo or said a word that is used everywhere.

So try and understand what my view is before jumping off on a tangent about points I never proposed.

 

[Kim]

I don't mind these sort of pictures either, but it's obviously to anyone with half a brain that some people can be offended or upset by them. As gratitous pictures posted for oogling only are not germane to any scuba discussion I think it's 100% fine they are banned.

Well they aren't banned really are they? At least not in rebreather advertisements.

Considering what people wear on diveboats it is a bit silly really. Anyway - I think the point that people are trying to make is that when someone comes here and joins a group of friends they want to be able to discuss or joke about among themselves as they see fit - out of view of anyone who doesn't wish to participate. I think your earlier point about transferring emotions from one place to another has some truth to it - but there are rules to prevent that happening, and Mods to enforce those rules and if necessary hand out vacations to slow/unwilling learners.

I think that being told to take it elsewhere is missing the point. It's the members themselves who make ScubaBoard - not the owner. Without the members the owner would be looking at empty forums on an empty server. When these members express a desire for something, telling them to go look for it someplace else or start their own board is disingenous. Are they really allowed to contact all their mates here and do that? Actually they aren't - it's strictly against the rules. So if they want to have a community of the people they met here then that has to be here. That's why this topic comes up so many times - and why there were so many posts to it since it was started.

There are most certainly a great many members who wish they could share a smutty joke or whatever with their friends. As it doesn't have to be in public view it's hard to see why not. Maybe it's not in everyone's taste, but everyone doesn't have to see it.