On digressions, jokes, and beer ...

[spatman]

I don't post much anymore, no pics, no questions, no dive reports or vis reports, no help to newbies on gear or dive sites or what ever cuz what ever some one has to say gets lost in all the rubbish that comes from the banter, stupid jokes and c#@p!
I only read a couple of forums. Sorry, but that is my opinion.
I think this board could be a very good, informative board. I am not asking for more moderation, just a bit of personal mature restraint. It's just that the class clowns are taking over and the ones that want to learn/ need to learn...well, they cannot because of the background noise.
Just my opinion...

here's my opinion.

it is possible to both learn and have a good time on this forum. i have done both successfully for over a year now, and i am sure i am not alone. if it wasn't for some of these "class clowns", i wouldn't have some of the greatest dive buddies i could have hoped for. ones that i find both informative and easy to laugh with, both in person and online.

in and around this digital "noise" i have researched and learned successfully, and try to pay as much forward as i can to other newbies who are hoping to learn as well. there is a large number of experienced divers here who often come forward to answer anything from the most basic to very technical questions, and all done amidst the beer and tacos hijacks.

so i happen to like this forum the way it is, and i hope it doesn't change too much. i will be respectful of anyone who asks me to stay on topic in a particular thread, but i will still enjoy the good-natured humor that permeates this forum and helps keep if from being another cold, anonymous place like many other sites on the internet.

but that's just my opinion.

[Pez7378]

I feel guilty. I'm taking my ball and I'm going home.......Uh, who's ball is this?


Sorry if I hijacked any threads, joked too much or annoyed anyone.


The reality is, I've been on the fence with this whole DIR DIW DWW bit for the last two years. It kinda turned me off from a couple of the "other" forums and I decided some time ago not to take this stuff too seriously. I know where to go if I really want to learn something. I have not met anyone on SB or any other Scuba related forum that I consider to be my friends, yet I've met many many folks here on NWDC and there are a large number of them that I consider to be family. I guess it's understandable, sometimes our friends are more tolerant of our wacky hijinks than our family is.

We all know who we are and I'm sure we will tone it down. (Peace)

GET WELL BOB!

[Grateful Diver]

I'm pretty discouraged to hear all the negative stuff about this board, here. I feel, at least a little bit, personally responible for that. I dislike the boards that are full of know-it-alls, where every new topic is met by a "use the search button, you idiot" response. And I dislike the dry-as-toast attitude I find on some sites. But, it's eye-opening to see the number of people who are turned off by the banter around here. But I can see how it would be irritating, I suppose. I try to catch all the sincere posts by newer divers, and make sure they're getting the best advice we can provide, as a community.

I don't know what the answer is, but I'm kind of depressed that there are a significant number of people that want to get rid of the off-topic posts. Is it possible for us, as a community, to self-regulate? Is there any way to keep everyone happy with this site? Sadly, I fear there may not be. Nuking every off-topic post, splitting every thread that contains multiple concepts into two, three, or twenty five, different threads- is beyond anything I will be a part of.

Any ideas out there? Should I start some kind of poll, asking "the community" how to deal with this? What do we do if nobody agrees with the poll?

Josh, I don't think people are turned off by banter so much as the sheer amount of it. As with all things, moderation becomes the issue, in both senses of the term.

I was really torn about whether to bring this up or not (and probably wouldn't have if I wasn't sitting there all grumpy and miserably sick) because, honestly, I enjoy it sometimes as much as the next guy. But it's like hearing a joke over and over again ... the first few times it's funny ... after that, it gets irritating.

This is a special community ... everybody knows everybody ... pretty much dives with everybody ... and genuinely enjoys each other's company. No way I want to mess with that.

But folks ... y'all are also smart and mature (well, mostly) enough to recognize when someone's trying to have a serious discussion. Just keep those off-limits ... or self-moderate the digressions. What gets me at times is when I, or someone else, makes a comment in the thread that the digression is inappropriate and that comment then becomes the source of yet another digression.

All that's required is to take a hint once in a while, and use a little judgment ... and the problem will take care of itself.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Norris]

So if I heard right after reading all of these,
When people are creating a thread that they would really like to keep on the serious side maybe something in the Subject Line
- No Hijack Zone - (NHZ)
When moderators see this, then its perfectly acceptable to trim any banter or posts that are not related to the subject at hand without asking. Setting this guideline will keep anyone from getting hurt should their post be stripped from a thread due to straying from the original subject.
Just an idea, but it works on a couple tech forums that I use.
I would really miss some of the funny things said on this site if it got too strict, I really like it here.

[coachrenz]

Thanks Bob for bringing this up.

No opinions here, just some data/facts. I am a bit bored.

811 total users of this board. Of those there are 265 members who haven't ever posted anything. There are a total of 600 with less than 10 posts. 94 members have posted more than 100 times. 41 with greater than 500 posts and 18 people with more than 1000 posts.

The 18 top posters have contributed 36,267 total posts out of a total of 71,242 posts, that is a little more than 50% of all posts have been contributed by 2% of the membership.

Again, no opinions, just some data for you. You can draw your own conclusions.

[Nwbrewer]

So if I heard right after reading all of these,
When people are creating a thread that they would really like to keep on the serious side maybe something in the Subject Line
- No Hijack Zone - (NHZ)
When moderators see this, then its perfectly acceptable to trim any banter or posts that are not related to the subject at hand without asking. Setting this guideline will keep anyone from getting hurt should their post be stripped from a thread due to straying from the original subject.
Just an idea, but it works on a couple tech forums that I use.
I would really miss some of the funny things said on this site if it got too strict, I really like it here.

I like it. It provides the self moderation that has been propesed, with at least some mechanism for those posting something more on the serious side to get what they are after. I'll respect the NHZ tag if it is used.

[spatman]

Thanks Bob for bringing this up.

No opinions here, just some data/facts. I am a bit bored.

811 total users of this board. Of those there are 265 members who haven't ever posted anything. There are a total of 600 with less than 10 posts. 94 members have posted more than 100 times. 41 with greater than 500 posts and 18 people with more than 1000 posts.

The 18 top posters have contributed 36,267 total posts out of a total of 71,242 posts, that is a little more than 50% of all posts have been contributed by 2% of the membership.

Again, no opinions, just some data for you. You can draw your own conclusions.

too bad there's no metric for determining quality vs BS posts.

bob happens to be one of that 2%, btw. just thought i'd point that out.

[dwashbur]

Thanks Bob for bringing this up.

No opinions here, just some data/facts. I am a bit bored.

811 total users of this board. Of those there are 265 members who haven't ever posted anything. There are a total of 600 with less than 10 posts. 94 members have posted more than 100 times. 41 with greater than 500 posts and 18 people with more than 1000 posts.

The 18 top posters have contributed 36,267 total posts out of a total of 71,242 posts, that is a little more than 50% of all posts have been contributed by 2% of the membership.

Again, no opinions, just some data for you. You can draw your own conclusions.

too bad there's no metric for determining quality vs BS posts.

bob happens to be one of that 2%, btw. just thought i'd point that out.

One man's quality is another man's BS. Whose criteria would we use???????

[spatman]

One man's quality is another man's BS. Whose criteria would we use???????

exactly, dave.

[Grateful Diver]

One man's quality is another man's BS. Whose criteria would we use???????

That's easy ... we let the women decide ...

I like the NHZ suggestion ... simple to implement, and I think we all know each other well enough to respect it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Joshua Smith]

Me, too. Let's encourage people to post a simple "Please don't hijack" on threads they consider important. Any hijinks in such a thread will be dealt with harshly.

[Sounder]

One man's quality is another man's BS. Whose criteria would we use???????

That's easy ... we let the women decide ...

That means ALL the men's posts will be deemed "BS."

I think the NHZ designation is great. It may not need to be posted at the top of every thread either - if a thread goes sideways, perhaps the originator of that thread can call "NHZ" in a post which will signal all pirates to cease the hijacking action.

It's NWDC counter-terrorism and anti-piracy. :naka:

[defied]

As a moderator in the past. I've always liked the NHZ title philosophy. I've also been known to kill any trolling that occurs. When someone decides they want to start something with the poster, or a person inside of that post, putting an end to that cuts down on the following OT (Off Topic) Discussions.

I have noticed there is not a lot of trolling here, but a ton of segues (Let's go ahead and spell that right 0]), so maybe posting NHZ in a rules sticky would be sublime for now.

This isn't the largest board out there, so it still has the "community" feeling (Which I love), and because of that, asking people to obey the NHZ here should be a non issue.

D(B)

[Nwbrewer]

As a moderator in the past. I've always liked the NHZ title philosophy. I've also been known to kill any trolling that occurs. When someone decides they want to start something with the poster, or a person inside of that post, putting an end to that cuts down on the following OT (Off Topic) Discussions.

I have noticed there is not a lot of trolling here, but a ton of segways, so maybe posting NHZ in a rules sticky would be sublime for now.

This isn't the largest board out there, so it still has the "community" feeling (Which I love), and because of that, asking people to obey the NHZ here should be a non issue.

D(B)

I think in general the fact that most people kind of know each other, either personally, or through buddies helps keep this place friendly. The trolling and generally buggery that occurs on other boards I think occurs in large part because of the anonymity provided by cyberspace. Knowing that you may have to talk with someone in person at a divesite eliminates some of the internet brevado.

[defied]

I think in general the fact that most people kind of know each other, either personally, or through buddies helps keep this place friendly. The trolling and generally buggery that occurs on other boards I think occurs in large part because of the anonymity provided by cyberspace. Knowing that you may have to talk with someone in person at a divesite eliminates some of the internet brevado.

I agree. That's why I hang out here more than my old haunts. And I've only briefly met two of you guys face to face! 0]
That of course will change when I have the proper gear to get my hiney back in the agua.

D(B)

[Pez7378]

The trolling and generally buggery that occurs on other boards I think occurs in large part because of the anonymity provided by cyberspace. Knowing that you may have to talk with someone in person at a divesite eliminates some of the internet brevado.

And that's exactly why I'm so respectful whenever I talk to Mr. Stiq on the internet . I'd hate to answer for my "Bravado" at the dive site.

[Nwbrewer]

The trolling and generally buggery that occurs on other boards I think occurs in large part because of the anonymity provided by cyberspace. Knowing that you may have to talk with someone in person at a divesite eliminates some of the internet brevado.

And that's exactly why I'm so respectful whenever I talk to Mr. Stiq on the internet . I'd hate to answer for my "Bravado" at the dive site.

He'd have to actually go diving for that to be a problem.

And here it goes, see how easily it happens..... Somebody declare NHZ quick!

[Sounder]

NHZ!! :naka:

[defied]

Now if we could just get more men to think like that..................

Does that require getting us to learn how to "think" first? This word is new to me.

[Nwbrewer]

I think you guys missed the point of the NHZ being declared.

[Sounder]

:naka: NHZ!! :naka:

[Norris]

So I think its settled that this should maybe be added to the guidelines sticky so that new peeps will know. I think that everyone on this site is respectful enough to follow a simple posters request that "their" topic stay on track. Perhaps if someone ads a NHZ to their post and someone doesn't respect that, the poster can just contact a moderator and have the off topic posts deleted? Considering it is in the guidelines, that should keep people from getting hurt should their off topic post be deleted. This way habitual pirates will certainly expose themselves....

(rick understands the last sentence in his post just SCREAMS for jokes...)

[Tom Nic]

Again, no opinions, just some data for you. You can draw your own conclusions.

Conclusion #1: Tim should post more.

Conclusion #2: Kirsten should post more.

Conclusion #3: You can draw your own conclusions.

[Grateful Diver]

I think you guys missed the point of the NHZ being declared.

Sorry........I posted before I saw that. But in my defense, I was posting in response to GD's post (and I'm serious!).

... and in this case, GD doesn't mind ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Dusty2]

After reading through all this it would seem we have two camps being represented.

The people objecting most loudly to the requests for moderation represent those who most often are responsible for the hijacks.
and
Those who have been trampled on many times and just want a little peace.

Maybe you have heard the same question many times but the one asking it hasn't. Maybe you aren't interested in an item of discussion or one for sale but those in the discussion are and should be respected.

Yes this is a social community and a great one, and yes there have been tons of friendships formed and good dive buddies found and there will continue to be because we have a great group of people here. From what I see we are not in need of censorship simply a need of self control and most of all respect for others.

Funny thing this is the only post I cn remember that has gone 2 pages without a hijack