Why was this thread closed?

[El Orans]

does that mean El lied when he said next February i must address him as "hail El, God of the Keyboard and my master of threads"

You must have misread the protocol instructions, I'm just a stroke with cool gear...

 

[H2Andy]

I'm just a stroke with cool gear...

so sorry.... that niche has already been filled by yours truly

:14:

 

[mania]

BTW
The thread in question was opened. Can we then close this one?

Mania

 

[H2Andy]

they shoot horses, don't they?

 

[mania]

Dead horses don't talk

 

[H2Andy]

Dead horses don't talk

nor do they hang out with you and drink beer!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So, when you see someone assigning negative motives to my mods, my advisors or even me, step back and take a look. Does what they say really match how we act on this forum? Probably not. Do they make some good points? Quite often, but usually the ones making the best points aren't the ones trying to portray us as Simon leGreed. I saw one person mention that she has not been moderated as much recently. Some suggested that this was due to a change in her behavior. Me? I think it's a result of a recent shake up in our team. I had to make some HARD decisions and I unfortunately hurt some feelings. I didn't want to, but YOU the community had to come first. That's the commitment that I have made as the steward of ScubaBoard. The community comes first! The dog wags the tail and NOT the other way around.

Good post, Pete ... and generally consistent with what I experienced during my time as a staff member.

However, I think sometimes you take people's comments to be more negative than they're meant to be.

Criticism generally is a result of inconsistent enforcement of policies ... not the policies themselves. When threads are closed or posts are removed without adequate explanation, or when they don't seem to violate any ToS, it sends a message that staff sees no value (or negative value) in our participation. That tends to cause hard feelings, because people think they're being treated unfairly and they react accordingly.

It's difficult to get consistent enforcement when you have a few dozen people enforcing the rules, and each is encouraged to use their own judgment ... because judgment is very subjective.

I believe that when a moderator has to close a thread, or remove posts from a thread, it should either be due to a clear ToS violation or the moderator should be prepared to explain logically and dispassionately why the action was taken. If the thread's being closed, this explanation should be the final post in the thread prior to closing.

The amount of moderation isn't the issue at all ... I think most people are comfortable with the fact that it's a tough job and people are making an honest effort to do it well. But when a moderator closes a thread or removes posts, it should never leave the reader wondering why ... that just leads to threads like this one.

If a post merits moderator action, it should be worth the effort to explain why the action is necessary. I think doing so would avoid a lot of the complaints you've been seeing ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Walter]

Pete, excellent post. Thank you. BTW, I've seen you without a SB shirt. Although recently, it's only been while actually diving.

El Orans, once again, thank you for being willing to take another look.

I was saddened to read only recently that Jack Chalker passed away in 2005. I enjoyed many of his works.

I wasn't aware, that is sad news. I have been enjoying them for a long time.

 

[The Chairman]

The amount of moderation isn't the issue at all ... I think most people are comfortable with the fact that it's a tough job and people are making an honest effort to do it well. But when a moderator closes a thread or removes posts, it should never leave the reader wondering why ... that just leads to threads like this one.

An excellent suggestion, and one we are working hard to implement. Sometimes we make mistakes and quite ofter when we see how something comes across we change it.

If a post merits moderator action, it should be worth the effort to explain why the action is necessary. I think doing so would avoid a lot of the complaints you've been seeing ...

This is not merely a suggestion, but our actual method. Sometimes we will privately send a message and sometimes we will publicly send a message if that seems more efficient.

 

[The Chairman]

BTW, I've seen you without a SB shirt.

You do realize that we have a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on this issue!