Expanding ScubaBoard to social media

[The Chairman]

I'll just wait and see now.

What's a dog pile? Is it when a number of people disagree with someone? Nope. We're not going to stop everyone from disagreeing with you.
It's when a number of people start to attack the poster with OT stuff from other threads or platforms.

In reality, it's often defined by you, the user. When you see a thread going off-topic, hit the report button on the bottom left of the first post to do so. Be sure to fill us in on why you think it's bad and why we need to clean it up. If you don't hit the report button, we may not see it or feel we're being too sensitive. We really want the community to let us know when things are going south.

Yeah, we'll soon hear some macho crap like "I've never reported at thread!" You don't have to be offended to report an issue. ScubaBoard was never meant to be a cage match. Petty off-topic crap really silts out a discussion. Oh sure, the popcorn gets broken out if you're juvenile enough to enjoy the spectacle, but it really detracts from a meaningful back and forth. I have a few users who bait me all the time with petty crap and I've learned to not even acknowledge it. Why? Because it's counter-productive to a good discussion. By reporting these kinds of discussion-destroying kerfuffles, we all benefit. People shouldn't be looking over their shoulders worrying about who's going to ambush them here.

 

[Wibble]

What's a dog pile? Is it when a number of people disagree with someone? Nope. We're not going to stop everyone from disagreeing with you.
It's when a number of people start to attack the poster with OT stuff from other threads or platforms.

In reality, it's often defined by you, the user. When you see a thread going off-topic, hit the report button on the bottom left of the first post to do so. Be sure to fill us in on why you think it's bad and why we need to clean it up. If you don't hit the report button, we may not see it or feel we're being too sensitive. We really want the community to let us know when things are going south.

Yeah, we'll soon hear some macho crap like "I've never reported at thread!" You don't have to be offended to report an issue. ScubaBoard was never meant to be a cage match. Petty off-topic crap really silts out a discussion. Oh sure, the popcorn gets broken out if you're juvenile enough to enjoy the spectacle, but it really detracts from a meaningful back and forth. I have a few users who bait me all the time with petty crap and I've learned to not even acknowledge it. Why? Because it's counter-productive to a good discussion. By reporting these kinds of discussion-destroying kerfuffles, we all benefit. People shouldn't be looking over their shoulders worrying about who's going to ambush them here.

Is this an example of an off topic discussion ;-)

 

[The Chairman]

Is this an example of an off topic discussion ;-)

A bit, sure.

Discussions on ScubaBoard are allowed a certain amount of latitude. Were this sub-discussion to grow, one could report it and a mod would probably split it off into its own thread.

 

[AfterDark]

AFAIUI faecesbook is purely ephemeral and not searchable. Thus utterly useless for knowledge sharing and as a resource.

besides 99% of the "info" is pure BS as far as I know.

 

[Wibble]

A bit, sure.

Discussions on ScubaBoard are allowed a certain amount of latitude. Were this sub-discussion to grow, one could report it and a mod would probably split it off into its own thread.

Hell yes, and we love it for that. A modicum of thread drift and 'opinion' is a great relief and part of being a family. A forum that's always on topic doesn't exist. OK, maybe in tax accounting forums...

 

[stoneshirt]

I would remain happier, if what happened on Scubaboard stayed on Scubaboard

Proselytize,don't Advertise...Too many Fish in the Sea,as it is...

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Proselytize,don't Advertise...Too many Fish in the Sea,as it is...

That wasnt by any human language definition Advertising. We are ON scubaboard.....just an fyi.....lol. if it were advertising that person would be dancing on tik tok about scubaboard, singing on instagram, or saying the site is dem or pub on facebook.

Then it would be advertising......

 

[NAUI Wowie]

I suspect we're looking at the inverse of a line I saw in a post from the Chairman, 'We have the divers you're looking for,' likely speaking to the potential use of Scuba Board as a place to market products and services.

Some people don't use much in the way of social media other than forums. Granted. But probably most of the 1st world populace does in some form, and if building Scuba Board's 'brand awareness' to a broader audience of potentially engageable divers is a goal, having a presence there can be a plus.

Let's say Scuba Board posts some high value content links on Facebook, and the content shows up in my feed. I might 'Like' or 'Like' and 'Share.' That content might then show up in other divers' feeds. And so on.

Advertising is one of the keys to market success, and if you want to grow, you've got to go where the eyeballs are. Diss Facebook all you want, they got the eyeballs.

Facebook manipulates people directly. Their algorithms are now made to cause disagreement and dissent so as to cause people to reply more. Its all over the news. Employees are coming out stating this. Facebook is becoming the place you go to argue. They were promoting a lot of activity that we wont go off topic about here. Suffice to say facebook is the least believable place in the internet as its the most watched. Most eyeballs is not a good thing when those eyeballs are all being directed where facebook wants you to see. Insert sheep meme here....

 

[drrich2]

Their algorithms are now made to cause disagreement and dissent so as to cause people to reply more.

It becomes a chicken-and-egg question. With the News, it's long been said 'If it bleeds, it leads.' Media producers target what gets people's attention and reaction. In a consumer culture, you serve what the customer will consume. Yes, that scenario leads to a range of problems, but with some caveats:

1.) There's a lot more to it than that. It's still got lots of cute cat videos, uplifting memes and sayings to Like and Share, content from loved ones and associates you wish to follow etc...

2.) Users have the option to also get news from other sources (as I do), exercise some discretion and common sense in interpreting what they see, etc...

A lot of the criticism against Facebook boils down to 2 concerns, each understandable:

1.) Foreign propagation of fake news to meddle in elections. Understandable concern.

and

2.) Concern about what politically and otherwise opposed people seen as more ignorant, bigoted, hate-filled or whatever do using or in response to what they see on it. In other words, it exacerbates those 'deplorable' types. Problem: free speech can do that. Efforts to pressure Facebook into becoming more paternalistic have their own dangers.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

3) Pictures of Facebook users' meals.