I’ve noticed lately there are a lot of heated discussions in the forums, which is both good and bad. Good that we have the participation of the users willing to share their feelings and opinions on the topics. But I’ve also noticed some personal attacks towards certain individuals in the forums that I thought wasn’t really necessary. But that’s just my opinion and I’m sure others will chime in with their own thoughts. As long as there will be democratic forums around the internet, we will continue to have these same misunderstandings. The part I want to address is when the attacks start to get personal and mean. I’m not sure if there are any ground rules for posting threads on here, and if there aren’t any set yet, maybe some should be set. Kind of a code of conduct rules, you know like no slander, no name calling, no unverifiable accusations and stuff like that. I’m sure others will come up with more “rules†that could be added. Basically it’s to keep the forums in a civil and orderly manner. Paddling is supposed to have so much aloha taught to us but we don’t always see it practiced here.
I think one of the problems were that people were jumping to conclusions about a certain topic without knowing all the facts and sometimes that creates an avalanche effect where it’ll start picking up comments and accusations from others along the way. Kind of a mob mentality so to speak. It’s not necessarily anybodies fault for that because when emotions get involved, it can be a very touchy situation, as in the case of Keanu and Ian with the canoes. By the way, I’m glad that situation has been cleared up thanks to both Keanu and Ian. Good job guys.
There was also the thread where Rick Leton was being accused of favoritism on his site which I personally didn’t see, and people were really upset about that situation. But I think in both these cases, if the people who had the problems had originally gone to and discussed their problems in private first, a lot of the online postings wouldn’t have ended up as negative as they did. I think for the most part, we’re all here to help and learn as much as we can about our great sport and culture of hoe wa’a. I mentioned before that the paddling fraternity is a tight knit one where we all help each other. In the spirit of competition that can be over looked sometimes but for the most part I think it still permeates through most all the clubs and paddlers. Here are a couple words that we should keep in mind.
Ha’a ha’a (humbleness, modest, unpretentious), Lokahi (Unity).
Train hard, Paddle hard and Live Aloha
Submitted by hawaiian_paddler on Wed, 02/08/2006 - 2:17am
Although I'm not a big fan of rules I think a general rule about civility and name calling wouldn't be a bad idea. Or maybe Keizo would like to 'employ' (a volunteer) moderator.
#1 Wed, 02/08/2006 - 4:12am
Perhaps taking a page from the "other outrigger forum" would be a good idea.. with thousands of members, the outrigger Yahoo! group uses the following guide:
2449 Members, Archives: Membership required
The outrigger list is an online discussion group for canoe and kayak paddlers. The outrigger list has been in operation for over five years and has members all across the world. The golden rule on the outrigger list is that postings need to be relevent to the sport and culture of outrigger canoe paddling. This truly is an online community so please treat your fellow paddlers with respect and kindness. Aloha, Brian Mulvaney Outrigger List Maintainer
#2 Wed, 02/08/2006 - 5:33am
I could not agree more. Our sport and way of life is a small culture, carried forward by the love and hard work of many people. There always be will be issues as the paddling community grows, but we must be an example of the aloha we claim to perpetuate, both on and off the water.
Perhaps there should be a check box to select when registering as a member that is a pledge to conduct one's self in such a way as to perpetuate the spirit of aloha on ocpaddler.com. (Only half joking)
Aloha Pau'ole
#3 Wed, 02/08/2006 - 7:02pm
Aloha guys,
Couldn't agree more with Hawaiian Paddler. I have NEVER posted until the recent "fracas". Relevant forums do bring additional participants in the conversation and that's good but there is a lot of gossip and disinformation out there as well. Much of it nothing to do with paddling.
I'm guilty of getting upset and responding in kind when it gets personal. I love to see more forums on Surfing TECHNIQUE or training because such issues affect and are beneficial to everyone.
Also I love the videos that Keizo did ( for eg "SUNSHINE" in the video clip section ). If each of us would just email our friends OUTSIDE of paddling and let them SEE how much FUN an accomplished paddler like Luke or Kelly can have on a canoe, the paddling community will gain lots of Aloha from the mainstream. GOOD, CLEAN FUN.
Every one of my friends around the world that I emailed the web link to on the different video clips came back with "WOW" I'd love to do that !!
That is exciting to hear your friends find a reason to come visit you in hawaii. Let's do stuff like that. ALoha
#4 Thu, 02/09/2006 - 10:59am