Browsing through some other forums here on Seabreeze I noticed that the most vitriolic comments are made by kitesurfers about other kitesurfers.
Poleys, SUP dudes, surfers etc seem to be stoked in their sport and pass on the stoke through their comments on the forum. There's no d1ck measuring, judgement of styles, bagging others about choice of equipment or brand choice.
Why has kiting changed? Are we feeling inadequate because kiting has become mainstream and easy? Is it a prerequisite to have a poisonous nature to become a kitesurfer? Who gives a flying **** if you ride a foil, a bow, a twintip, a surfboard, strapped, boots, wakestyle or hooked in? Who cares what brand you ride? Brand doesn't make you a better rider.
I've been avoiding Seabreeze kiting forum for a few months now because of the negativity and sh1t talk. It used to be fun to share the excitement, help newbies and read the sarcastic diatribe from Rowdy and his mates. But now it has become bitchy, cowardly and plain toxic. For ****s sake SMILE people. It's wind, waves and sunshine.
(climbing down from my soapbox and going back to the happy guys at the SUP forum)
I agree Dave 95% of this once humerous, interesting ,informative forum aint so good anymore. Its very toxic.
I'm with Dave,
I don't understand all the BS on this forum. I am a member of several other forums and this is the ONLY forum with negativity and hostility in much of the content.
There are lots of great kites and boards out now and simply getting out on the water and having good fun with your own previous riding being the yardstick of how much you have improved should be how you compare yourself.
I don't try and ride to a prescribed style in either waves or flat water, I just ride to make me happy and couldn't give a stuff who's watching or how they perceive my riding.
Last season I threw down a nice big deadman for old school fun and it was the hit of the beach apparently. Good for laughs and fun which is what it's all about.
Stop taking kiting so seriously, it's just for fun. Learn to laugh at yourself. You'll never get rich doing it, you'll never be world famous to the general population and you'll be unlikely to ever pull miss world because you are a kiter so just ride for your own amusement and have fun with your mates.
Cheers,
KH
Yea cheer up Emos 
kiteboarding/surfing is all about:
making you feel good, have fun on the water/beach with your mates, travel and explore new winds/places and meet new people with the same passion.
its all good
ahhhh.....wind , waves and sunshine..... bring on Summer....
Hell , Just bring on Spring!
I can't wait untill the first Nude run @ Samurai Beach! (white whales beware).
Amen boys - bring back the stoke!
To be fair, though almost everyone here (who hasn't been banned) has contributed something positive at some point to the forums. Yes that even includes Rowdy... 
IMO too many people these days with this approach / attitude:
Why this affliction is overly prevalent for kite surfers frequenting this forum is still a mystery to me though...
There may be a bit of banther here back and forth, but in the end I think we all really love each other
It's winter don't forget. I haven't been for a good kite in months. Everyones feeling a bit down.
Depends how seriously you take it and whether your ego can take it....... i guess.
It is the internet after all, its not real........woah or is it?
maybe its the morning coffee? 
I know I certainly get a bit anxious, rev'd up in the morning. Usually when Im reading this forum...and with a big coffee for company. Coffee definitely gets me going and a little hard nosed.
I agree with kitehard in a way - concentrate on what you are doing, dont worry so much about what everyone else is. In terms of kiting style and what is said on here.
...another coffee? 
Hmmm, having been burnt by inarticulate vitriol a couple of times myself, when all I was attempting was to put forward a coherent and experience-based opinion, I now participate a bit less.
I'm all for rigorous debate, but there are some ground-rules without which it degenerates pretty quickly. These would include:
Presenting a rationale for an opinion, not just an opinion.
Disclosure of personal biases where relevant.
Willingness to consider others' perspectives.
Willingness to abandon or modify one's own perspective if new evidence and understanding render it obsolete or flawed.
Clearly none of these are relevant to humourous posts, and there are some pretty funny folk on seabreeze, even though tastes may vary.
Overall I'm not too fazed by seabreeze and often I enjoy it, either for comic value or informed discussion of things such as local beach issues, equipment and technique and the odd awesome video. I'm getting better at filtering and ignoring the poop and enjoying the rest.
If you want the standard to improve, lead by example.
i agree with relli- take it with a grain of salt. if you take things to heart on a water sports internet forum there is something seriously lacking in your personality and perhaps you need to learn to laugh at yourself.
if your ego needs cushioning or stroking i'm sure there are plenty more relevant places to log on.
Conversely, everybody has a right to live their lives without harrassment, attacks and vilification.
There are some people who relentlessly hassle people on forums in general and seabreeze in particular and justify it with the "We're just taking the piss. Can't you take a joke?"
The reason why people become much more opinionated on the kite surfing forum rather than other sports forums could be the quick transition into the sport,
You can become quite competent within 12 months of starting to kite surf and with it (for some) comes the confidence to start telling other people how to go about things.
They really don’t have the whole history of the sport, or a real understanding of the culture & back ground and this causes them to go out on a limb and make big calls way to early.
You would never see that in surfing. Surfing takes years and new surfers have so much more respect for the guys that are hitting it, and would never attempt to tell them what to do in the water or in a forum.
That could be the difference.
....
Main reasons for the toxic attitudes:
1. No wind = frustration
2. The types of people sometimes attracted to kitesurfing have a similar personality to the average hoon driver (about 10% of kitesurfers). One only needs to go to the beach and see the douche bags jumping 5 meters from land with this "look at me, I'm a hero" mentality to understand that a fair portion of kitesurfing community are not doing this world any favours by being on this planet. Oddly enough I don't see these people attracted to windsurfing, possibly because its harder for people to show off close to shore.
3. Shop owners who bombard the forum with opinions about products. As far as I am concerned shop owners should be banned from commenting on equipment, their own brands or others.
I like Rowdy's comments. We know its tongue in cheek.
Other negative self opinionated d1cks are not.
AAAAHH! Shut the hell up the lot of you!!!
Y'all got to much time to toss the salad!!
Why dont ewe's build a bridge and jump!!!
Hope we get some wind soon!!!Aye??
It's a public forum and people will always talk smack. Take it for what it is.. Sure there are some tosspots, loose cannons and opinionated DB's...
But there is a lot of sound guys also...
I don't care what people ride, where they ride and who the ride. I worry about how I ride and how much enjoyment I get. If I can help someone and teach them in any way in regards to kiting then I have contributed in some small way. I'm looking forward to doing my instructors course soon and hopefully I can give something back to the sport.
My 2 cents worth.
Believe me i've seen far worse than on here. i won't name forums but smack talking and **** stirrin is nothing new
and not just limited to kitesurfing haha... anyone lookin at comments on youtube vids knows what i mean lol
Winter = knobs on the interwebs.
It'll always happen. I like the forum, there are a few over the top opinions around but it's really good and helpful as long as you take it with a grain of salt.
One thing i really don't get is people's attacks on shops/importers/sponsored riders, doing their bit to promoate their gear. A bit of disclosure and transparancy is nice but at the end of the day there are always going to be biased opinions around. Correct me if I'm wrong but a lot of these shops are paying sponsors/advertisers on the board and therefore keep it running and free for us all. Pimp away i say. I like reading reviews, slanted or not. I read them, check out the pics, then make my own decisions like a big girl.
It's official, this forum is now 2 parts hate and one part stoke 
www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=seabreeze+hate&word2=seabreeze+stoke
