I guess I'm old school and think forums should be FUN. When I began kiting, it was a great source of info, and a place to bust your buddies balls after a good session.
In fact, FKSA used to be so much fun that people would race home from the beach to see what someone posted- it was really THAT good! Quite a few of us had 'characters' or roles that we played to keep it fun (moderators included).
Then came the gear pimps, and with that came political correctness. People trying to make a quick buck in the biz no longer wanted to joke around, they wanted to sue you for slander if you called them out on something.There were also moderators who looked out for their friends and would edit or delete your post. :nono
These days, forums are all but dead. The gear pimps and irresponsible industry folks simply quit posting- that only caused more problems.
With regard to this forum, I have done plenty of ball busting- some deserving, and some not. I also have come to respect quite a few people on here ( including nearly everyone posting in this thread) simply because they call it like they see it, and aren't afraid to tell you about it. Fo is pretty much the master of pissing people off, has a twisted writing style, and often has a good message buried in there somewhere- providing you can look past the insults and decipher WTF he is talking about.
My advice for forums has always been to read it like a newspaper, you just have to figure out which section the post belongs in. Sometimes it's the business section, sometimes the news, and sometimes the comics. If you read people's post's in a certain 'voice' it can also add a lot to the entertainment value.
Either way, we are all here for the same thing- because we love, live, and breathe kiteboarding!
-Your friendly neighborhood ball buster
www.kiteboardingtampabay.com