Was April Fool's Prank funny?

[The Chairman]

Others tell me my choice is wrong. Others tell me to leave. I see a big difference. Am I missing something?

Others have expressed that they disgree with you and have no more said YOU are wrong than you have said THEY are wrong.

I don't recall "you should leave" in that statement. He pointed out that you might want to have a forum where there are no shenanigans, not that you should leave this one.

Dear friend,

there is room for many different types of divers here on ScubaBoard, from the staid to the infantile. Saying that, it is obvious that we can not provide anyone an environment devoid of humor or devoid of diving. It goes against our founding principles. Should one wish one of these types of environments, we would not be able to oblige them.

 

[piikki]

What fight?

The fight about the horrors of being attacked for an opinion, the hurting, and quality of SB, you know exactly what I am talking about. This “Do I have the right not to be amused by same joke” is exact same thing as was already at length discussed here by same participants:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=185293

I’d rather people contact a Mod in the original thread if things start going haywire, and they feel violated rather than drag the issue to every thread where the same topic is (more or less) discussed. I am not against discussing the “No” –option. I am just against dragging the exact same discussion to this thread. It already exists.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The "Rule of NOK" is abhorred here on ScubaBoard. NOK=Not Our Kind and is indicative of INTOLERANCE. Quite the contrary, we are more inclusive than any other forum I know, diving or otherwise. That is by design.

Is it, Pete? So telling people who express a dissenting opinion that they should leave the board isn't an indication of INTOLERANCE? It's been said several times in this and the other thread on the subject.

It's a shame that those who suggest that others should "lighten up" are accused of using the rule of NOK, while those who suggest that we are being childish, infantile, (insert your own denigrating word here) somehow feel they are being victimized. Apparently, an opinion about an opinion is not acceptable! To them, strong vitriol is OK ONLY if they are the ones using it!

Hmmm ... here's what I posted ... for which I was labelled, by one of your staff members, a "whiner" ... please point out this "stong vitriol" you're referring to. Also please explain to me when it became acceptable to for staff members to attach such labels to people who are doing nothing more than answering the topic of the thread.

"Funny" is like "beauty" ... an "eye of the beholder" kind of thing. Glad so many had fun with it, but I didn't see the humor. Seems like just another part of the transition from ScubaBoard to ScubaBoring ...

Also, please show me one single, dissenting opinion about yesterday's events that wasn't attacked for expressing their opinion. When did it become acceptable on ScubaBoard to tell people that they should leave the board simply because they said they didn't like something ... especially in the context of a thread whose only purpose for being here was to ask whether or not they liked it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[mania]

And so the point is that if someone posts a poll, and you're not in agreement with the majority, you should not have the right to state your opinion ... or you should expect the majority to feel free to jump on you, call you names, and tell you to leave?

No, it's not. Just to remind you - you wrote:

Given the responses to those who dared to say they didn't find it funny, why would it surprise you that so few would say otherwise.

So I simply showed you that people have the way to voice their opinion by voting, not necesarily by saying or posting. And this was the major thought of my answer.
And I never said you have no right to voice your opinion. Please show my where I said so or told anybody with different opinion to leave. I only said that majority liked April Fool's Day. I didn't draw any conclusions you are drawing.

You also labeled those of us who disagreed as "whiners". Isn't name-calling against the ToS? So why is a member of the staff doing it? Doesn't that just encourage others to emulate the behavior?

Please show where I called anybody any names. Please show me where did I call you whiner? I reread my post I couldn't find it.

Bottom line, to my concern, is if you're going to ask a question then you should be open to reasonable responses that don't agree with your own. Calling those who disagree with you names doesn't encourage honest discourse ... especially when it's coming from a staff member. You should know better.

Once more please show me any "name calling" by me. All I remember was writing that those who didn't have fun

have the right to say so.

Mania

 

[OHGoDive]

The fact that someone claims they were hurt does not automatically mean that they actually were hurt.

I think that is the elegance of this particular episode. People were hurt only by the assumptions that they themselves made. The vast majority of those who reacted this way, when told of the circumstances, realized the intent and laughed at their own gullibility. Some even went on to pull the gag on others.

I can't really see how anyone actually could have been harmed by this. No one saw any message containing someone elses name. Any hurt would have to have come from the fact that they were embarassed by publicly or privately expressing their gulibility. That is merely hurt in their own mind. That is entirely ones own doing.

You could have been completely duped, hook, line and sinker, and (this is important) no one would have ever known except yourself. Ever. No one. Unless and until you decided to take some action (which, of course, is the elegant part).

I saw one person claiming libel, and threatening litigation. You were the only one who ever saw your own name. Who would you sue? Yourself? It would be like suing a funhouse mirror for making you look fat.

Creating the circumstances for someone to make a fool of themselves, by their own action, should probably never be restricted.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Others have expressed that they disgree with you and have no more said YOU are wrong than you have said THEY are wrong.

I don't recall "you should leave" in that statement. He pointed out that you might want to have a forum where there are no shenanigans, not that you should leave this one.

ahem ... http://scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2809866&postcount=79

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[The Chairman]

Again,

if you feel that ANY post went over the top, please use the "Report" feature in the bottom left of every post. That particular one has been deleted and thanks for pointing it out. I wish you had done so EARLIER and used the proper channels. Or is it easier to point at ONE person and make character statements about us all?

 

[piikki]

ahem ... http://scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2809866&postcount=79

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

...see what I mean, there are not even 79 posts in THIS thread, HA.

 

[fairybasslet]

Also, please show me one single, dissenting opinion about yesterday's events that wasn't attacked for expressing their opinion.

Bob, people who thought it was funny were called infantile, childish... the concept was called "boring." In fact, one thread declared that "It went too far." So if you enjoyed the tomfoolery, you were one of the ones who "went too far" you were childish and infantile, and if you enjoyed it, well, you are just stupid enough to like boring things.

When did it become acceptable on ScubaBoard to tell people that they should leave the board simply because they said they didn't like something ... especially in the context of a thread whose only purpose for being here was to ask whether or not they liked it.

I don't think it has become acceptable, but as you know, it happens all the time on message boards. Especially ones wondering "Where have all the good people gone?"

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Please show where I called anybody any names. Please show me where did I call you whiner? I reread my post I couldn't find it.

Once more please show me any "name calling" by me. All I remember was writing that those who didn't have fun

Mania

http://scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2811117&postcount=34

I submit there's a difference between "whining" and responding to a question ... the purpose of this thread was the latter ... otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered discussing this topic at all ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)