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Wayfinder............

Many of you may have noticed the absence of Wayfinder in recent weeks. It appears that he has deleted all of his many postings and has withdrawn from CBN participation.

I recently hooked up with Wayfinder over at Handmade Music Clubhouse. He is still very much into building and testing cigar box designs, but for reasons of his own, decided to leave CBN.

He did ask that I pass along his apology for omitting many of his interesting test findings. Unfortunately, he did not retain personal copies of these postings, so is unable to pass them along for those that found them interesting and useful.

It is unfortunate that Wayfinder found it necessary to leave the site as he was (for me at least) one of the most interesting posters on the building forum. I understand that on an unmonitored board, there is always the chance that conflicts, disagreements and misunderstandings can arise between posters of radically diverse backgrounds and cultures. As a result, good people, from time to time, take their experience and wisdom and leave. When they do, we all lose.

So, for me the lesson is simple-->As Ellen says "Be kind to one another."

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on June 1, 2015 at 4:09am

Yep. I have been a mod on a number of forums, and you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

If you leave things to run their natural course, then people get upset that you did not intervene. If you DO intervene, then you get accused of censorship.

Ya just can't win.

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 1, 2015 at 7:32am

Censorship (n): a vessel designed to hold one's unmentionables

Permalink Reply by turtlehead on May 30, 2015 at 3:57pm

Good post Cause. I made a smart ass comment on a tuning thread last week or so and for that I apologize. Sorry Wayfinder.

Come on back. You have 800+ views or so in these two threads. You're the straw that stirs the drink these days.

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on May 31, 2015 at 8:57am

He'll come back iffen he wants to. Or he won't.

It's a big world out there, and this is just one little nook. But I second Tom's ( and Ellen Degeneres') comment. And if you can't be kind, at least be funny.

As far as defending other people goes, well, we're all big boys and girls. This place works on both substantiated and uninformed opinion. I can only attempt to defend my own opinions, and presume others can do likewise. I never sensed Way couldn't hold his own. And just like in the big bad world, some people simply ain't gonna like you no matter how kind or funny-looking you are, or how much your mother or dog loves you.

Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 1, 2015 at 6:59pm

He held his own until he decided it wasn't worth it, it seems... Had a brief exchange with him elsewhere... He's good, just didn't want to deal with what he had here...

I normally swing around the Build forum and ignore everything else here... maybe that's why I missed it...

Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 4, 2015 at 5:35pm

Done. He appreciated it.

Permalink Reply by RTZGUITARS on June 5, 2015 at 12:03pm

You have to be careful not to get into debates about thing that are subjective like if a piezo sounds better then a mag. It just doesn't have a true answer so people shouldn't get bent but we do.

You can tell WF. has a lot of passion about these guitar and how they are built, like many of us . I would rather build then talk about it but that's just me. We do learn from others

Hopefully your come back dude. seems to me you have a lot of support here.

Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 8, 2015 at 5:50am

I disagree. I all discussions here should be open and honest with everybody free to express their opinions. No topic under the CBG umbrella can be out of bounds.

I did not see the exchange in question, but the key here is that we cannot allow these discussions devolve to name calling or other such problems. We are are adults here and it is up to the community to police itself... That said, there is no sherif, and that doesn't mean that any one of us can choose that role... It is up to all of us to call each other out when we cross the line of civility. We must do so in a positive way. We cannot publicly flame somebody for their posts, as that does nothing to resolve the situation.

Sorry for the rant... I am off my soapbox.

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 8, 2015 at 6:13am

I disagree, respectfully, with your disagreement. In my personal opinion only, not that of others, I think we need some sort of moderator who, over time, can slowly squeeze the life out of these free-range discussions, and serve us only CBN-approved content. That way, our fragile egos can all be protected from one another, with no effort on our part.

All we gotta do, see, is get Ben and Dan to pass some sort of CBN Patriot Act...

Doesn't that sound like a lovely, controlled, commitment-free world in which to live?

Yah. I didn't think so. Me neither.

There. That's how you do it.

Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on June 8, 2015 at 1:18pm

I belong to forums with an army of mods. Both stateside and global. I belong to forums with only one mod. All these mods have ever done is step in when necessary. Try to stop the "Well my &^%$ smells better than your ^%$@." from getting out of hand. Usually everything is handled behind the scenes. PMs and Emails are sent before any action is taken. All of them have a LONG set of rules. Some extremely broad so they can cover a wide range of the same problem. And all have the same 'If we see fit' type of clause. Just to cover themselves. Well governed forums have strict rules for being a mod. Mods that run around hunting with a heavy stick are escorted out of modship.

Mods also get plenty of help from members. Some defending one side or the other. Some warning of threads going sour. People really do care about their environment.

Good mods with a strict set of rules to follow will never stop creativity. Or the occasional disagreement. In truth, disagreements can go on longer as a real discussion. All posters knowing they have to abide by the rules AND knowing everyone is being modded equally.

Self modded forums tend to have a pack mentality. If the person offended is popular then that person will have backers. If the offending person is popular than the offense has backers. That's just the way it goes. People standing up for the unpopular can put themselves at risk. They are just as likely to get as blasted as the person they're trying to defend. Un modded forums never grow. That IS a fact. Everything that is typed into a forum can be read by anyone visiting. Everything. What may or may not be evident to members can be very evident to outsiders.

Most people are uncomfortable in a self governed environment. Long winded, legally written rules and regs. The kind that everyone agrees to but never actually read. Along with a promise of fair moderation makes a forum feel safe. And helps it to grow. Because a safe environment is welcoming to disagreements. Equally inviting to unpopular creativity and opinions.

All the golden rules and good mods wont stop people from getting hurt. Or stop them from leaving. All they can do is hold on to a promise of equal neutrality. Knowing you or someone else did wrong and where treated equally. Knowing you or someone else were wronged and defended equally. Either way it's easier to let go of hard feeling when you know your not on your own.

Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on June 9, 2015 at 1:26am

I have this unproven idea that if everyone used an avatar that was a picture of themselves then things would be a lot more personable. Using our subject as an example, I wasn't quite sure how to take in Wayfinder's postings. However, when I saw a picture of him posted from the KC CBG Fest, I saw a truly happy guy with his instrument. Maybe a bit eccentric. Definitely in tune with what he wanted to be doing.

Everyone should be a little bit more analog, less digital.

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 9, 2015 at 5:57am

That's why I put my hairy mug up. And mostly go by my own name.

I don' need no steenkeen avatar. What you see is what you hear. Bushwa on anything else. Be brave. Be yourself.

Do be do be do.