I noticed that several posts on this forum have been deleted over the course of several weeks/months. While a good deal of the whining that goes on this forum is annoying (and some of it is damn hilarious), some contributions are legititmate and, even if inflamatory, have merit. I also noticed that the forum moderators pick and choose which posts to censor. There's still a few replies attached to the "freakish-talented" thread that are vulgar and offensive, but have eluded the radar screens of said moderators. On what grounds is a post defined as unfit to stand? Is based on the personal opinions of the moderators? When I hear libel, how do you judge this? Are you lawyers? Do you have legal training? In any event, in choosing to sanitize this forum, the moderators are lumping the scum and trolls of the world with people who have legitimate concerns and need an outlet to express their opinions. They are stripping away a valuable tool to express paddler/customer anger, disgust and frustration and outrage at a given situation (unhappy with coaches, DBC organizers, TCBA events, teams, festival committees, flagrant rule violations, etc.). If the tone becomes passionate it is because people feel strongly about it and need to sound off.

Though I have never seen anything issued on the forum, are there any ground rules or established code we can read to know what is and isn't crossing the line? Most decent forums offer a guide to posting. Otherwise, relying on the whim or fickle nature of a biased moderator to dictate what can be written or guarantee this forum's integrity is tantamount to letting Evangelical establishment (or any biased estbalishment for that matter) in the States set the moral and religious tone for the country. Not everything you are going to read on this forum is going to pleasant or edifying, but for Christ's sake, people should have a right to express themselves freely without fear that they'll be censured. Don't like what you see? Skip it and move on. If it's hateful and inciting others to commit extreme acts, contact the authorities. You have their IP addresses from when they post anyway.

Free speech isn't just two pretty-sounding words strung together. It's a real concept in constant jeopardy. Even for soemthing as insignificant and inane as this forum.

I give this post a half-life of five minutes before it is removed by the powers that be.

Later, dudes.

my opinion is that this forum smells like poo

I don't think that the Dragonboat Rankings people really care. Multiple offers were extended to them years ago to move this into a more maintainable forum (ie with vbulletin, phpbb, invision, etc...), but no interest was had by the DBR team.


At best, this forum should not be taken seriously by anyone. Some information on here is excellent, however, allowing anonymous posters is basically saying, "flame all you want."

It's sad that this is really the 'best' online forum that dragonboat has to offer.

Sorry Dude but its up to the moderators what they deem offensive and I find they rarely delete anything. When they do, they must have a good reason.

Sorry Dude but its not all about you and how you see it.

I wonder if the original poster read the posts before they were deleted.

The line was drawn when someone starts:
a) being racist
b) being sexist
c) bashing another team without any provocation
d) bashing said team by slandering women

and the posts were all of the above.

Censorship? Shouldn't you be more concerned about the bad sportsmanship of those anonymous posters, and how it reflects on dragon boat as a whole?

Anon 2:03 hit it right on the head. I was (un)lucky enough to read the post before it was deleted and I thought the forum had sunk to a new low. I'm glad the moderators deleted it.

I didn't read it but if the Mods pulled it then it must have been nasty.

the medium is the message

I also read it before it was pulled, and it was vile. Why someone would actually try to make a free speech argument over it is bizarre.

"I may not agree with you calling other people fat sluts, but I will defend to the death your right to do so!"

No, I don't think so.

Funny how it's always the people who post a personal attack, or something profane and nasty who complain when their message gets removed.

People care about dragonboat?

RE:
I wonder if the original poster read the posts before they were deleted.

The line was drawn when someone starts:
a) being racist
b) being sexist
c) bashing another team without any provocation
d) bashing said team by slandering women

and the posts were all of the above.

Censorship? Shouldn't you be more concerned about the bad sportsmanship of those anonymous posters, and how it reflects on dragon boat as a whole?





You must be part of the Dragonboat Ranking Team. I read the earlier post, and tell me those four things aren't let go by the team all the time. BS.

The only part that wasn't covered was sleeping with their cox, drummer and coaches.

This is getting a bit odd now that I think about it.

Damn looks like I missed something!

Remember the moderators here are people, and as such the editing/deleting of posts are going to be subjective, thats just the nature of the beast.
While I have my own conspiracy theory as to why the posts were deleted, while others remain, the only thing I'm upset about is that I didn't get a chance to read the deleted posts!!!

What I find interesting is how certain threads have made there way down the page, but as soon as the Florida camps are done, and certain people return, they will once again be brought to the forefront.

Talk about obvious.

ahhhh, Florida!

Man I wish I was there.

Or maybe I am?

Quit whining. If it's really a prevailant problem then where's the proof that they have gotten rid of specific posts? You've pointed out on the "freakish talented" post still being here, but you haven't said which post specifically was removed. Sure you listed a bunch, but nothing specific. Are you sure you simply can't find it?

And if site was moderating all the posts, then why don't you create a forum for the rest of us & spam the crap out of this site. I'm pretty sure people will be willing to move to a different forum if it was that much of an ongoing problem.

-Penisboy

Back 15 days later to whine

How was FLA?