A plea to the management - Get rid of political posts.

There's no doubt about it, this election cycle has drawn out so much antagonistic and hateful behaviour, to the point that it's practically unbearable at times.

The problem is that any really good threads (you know, those ones that have some actual substance to them ?) get shoved down to the bottom of the "recent posts" page within minutes thereby having most people completely miss them altogether because of the nonstop inundation of 6000 repeat threads like:

- Trump vs Hillary threads
- Trump vs Bernie threads
- Trump vs the world threads
- Hillary vs Trump threads
- Bernie vs Trump threads
- Hillary and Bernie vs Trump threads
- Trump vs muslims threads
- Trump wall threads
- Trump is god threads
- Trump is satan threads
- Trump will save the world threads
- Trump will destroy the world threads
- Trump is a racist threads
- Trump is Hitler threads
- Trump said something stupid threads
- Trump said something smart threads
- Trump hates women threads
- Trump loves women threads
- Trump tells the truth threads
- Trump tells lies threads
- Trump thinks everyone can choose their own bathrooms threads
- Trump used a bathroom today threads




And then of course there's all the:

- Right vs left threads
- Left vs right threads
- Right vs the world threads
- Left vs the world threads
- Rights are never wrong threads
- Lefts are never wrong threads
- A righty said something stupid today threads
- A lefty said something stupid today threads
- Libtards are ruining the world threads
- Republikans are ruining the world threads







... and that's just in the last 18 hours

a reply to: CranialSponge

Well I'd say ignore it and go to the posts you like..but what do I know.

Hey!!...I did laugh at some on the list, cheers.

Yea, 15 different political forums kinda smears the site in politics.

I really don't see a reason for so many.

I wish you guys would knock it off.
THESE people offer us a brilliant form of entertainment value.

a reply to: Speedtek

"We don't need your censorship,
We don't need your thought control..

HEY!! SPEEDTEK!!
LEAVE OUR BOARDS ALONE!!!!"

I mean really, you been here a decade at least. You know the drill during election time. We can even go into the waybackmachine and see threads with a similar sentiment to your own during the leap year of politics, when all the crazies come out. Its like Halloween, for the year. It did start much sooner this year, kind of like when we used to see Christmas merchandise show up in September at national retailers. Like ... really?

Simply ignore the political ones, like you probably did during the Bush Obama transition period.
At least we can all still count on additional restrictions on privacy regardless of the rep. AI already has control ...

^^^^ -AWESOME.-

a reply to: AmericanRealist

66 posts since 2006! That's straight up impressive! How you can keep yourself from posting & participating is unfathomable to me!

Don't worry Speedy, election season will be over one day & then it will be a whole new nightmare of political dogma, but probably less. Dear god hopefully probably...

originally posted by: Speedtek
a reply to: tigertatzen

Indeed, just like jadedANDcynical posted above

Um, maybe make a thread you think is worthy of attention and if other people agree, they will bestow stars/flags indicating such? Or you could made a thread griping about political themed threads during an election season. I'm sure that would work...

I LOVE proof

Ah well well...that didn't take long did it?

a reply to: breakingbs

The problem like Cranial mentioned is finding the other threads at this point!
It's like a scavenger hunt!!

Thanks CS for the breakdown which in it's entirety is more awesome than just the grousing about it. Numbers talk!!

I'm not advocating for censoring anything, but it doesn't have to be listed in 15 places and clogging up the index pages. A quick redirect would take the political wonks to their first love and leave the rest of us out of it.

Neither Hillary or Trump candidacies, or their latest speech or gaffe is a conspiracy. Not in the true sense of the word.
While these posters are probably raising ATS up in the google rankings and raising ad revenue this isn't bottom line a strictly political website. It's surely turning into one tho and dismissing it as "hey it's just election year" doesn't wash.

The Mods are busy as it is but it wouldn't hurt to slap ALL political topics into the political forum and get them out of breaking news etc....It's nice ATS offered this political section at all and now the rest of the site is being taken advantage of. Not cool.

It shows a huge lack of respect for the membership and the site owners.
Currently it's allowed by the T&C's but that doesn't make it morally or ethically ok since this is also being discussed AGAIN and it's clear the membership is unhappy about it.

Used to be the membership was PO'd at the Alien section but we seem to have accepted that. It however doesn't mean we will accept all the political nonsense. THAT is a big misconception that it'll pass and settle down. Once a site goes all MSM it seldom reverts.

Leel/

I agree OP and feel that ATS had been poisoned too - but I'd imagine that a lot of people come for those threads and that means lots of $$$$$ so don't hold your breath.

M

a reply to: Speedtek

I have been under the impression for some years now

that most computer keyboards came equipped with

"page down"

and

"scroll down" keys.

Or is my keyboard "special?"

Or is there some epidemic sort of malady that compels folks to poke a stick at sleeping dogs . . . and then blame the dog when the dog growls or snaps at them?

I'm compelled to wonder about the psychology of folks--what is their underlying dynamic that seems to force them to be

!!!UPSET!!!

about threads that they seem to go to great lengths pontificating about how worthless the threads are to notice or bother with--except, of course for them to find them worthy to whine about. And no one seems to notice the gross cognitive dissonance involved in that bit of mental gymnastics.

And the whining usually sounds like ATS has one or two forums that all are !!!FORCED!!! to crowd into--much against their will???? Maybe they are talking about an ATS in a parallel universe?

Sigh.

While i COMPLETELY get what you're saying, OP. This is how its been every election cycle. Each one being a bit more vitriolic than the previous cycle. IMO reading posts on ATS when comparing it to 2012 or even 2008 on here, makes for an interesting task. I have a belief that 2016 seems to be the most divisive election yet, and it carries into the forums. People are at odds more than ever before.. With common ground becoming a thing of the past.

It seems as the politicians go, so do we. If we cannot get along on a silly internet message board, what do you expect the actual monkeys in charge to do? To which I say... do what most have said here..

Sit back..
Relax..
And enjoy the show

When I first joined, it was because of an interest in Aliens & UFO's.

That function of ATS, while still active, is swamped by the rise of political infighting that I have seen going on lately.

The good news is: American politics is important on a global scale. It impacts every nation to a degree and nowhere is safe from the economic impact it can have.

As a Canadian, I watch with interest what is discussed here and abroad. Whether it is CBC, BBC, CNN, MSNBC or the NY Times... I want to know what intelligent people think.

Personally speaking, I do believe all the political forums here are overkill, but there is also the fact that this website lives because of member input. To silence or remove ANY civil voices here would be detrimental, regardless of how biased they are.

a reply to: Speedtek

This may be the most pathetic rant I've ever read on ATS. Congrats!

If you had simply complained about the quality of posts... the lack of research beyond one article... or the lack of personal opinion and commentary in the OP... or the echo chamber of comments... or the mean and nasty nature of comments... I would have been right there with you. Or if you had in any other way addressed improving the quality of posts/comments, I would have been right there with you. But instead you complain that there are any political posts at all -- gasp! oh the horror of it!!! -- and just want to completely and totally shut down any political dialogue whatsoever. Because YOU don't like it.... or, more specifically, you don't like the --

..."woe is me" right wing echo chamber nonsense...

.

Perhaps you should have just asked the Mods for a "Safe Space" forum where you could go and hide and lick your wounded woe-is-me-left-wing sensibilities.

There used to be a nifty little mechanism for us to be able to block a forum, like an "ignore" feature but sadly this has gone away. I wish they'd bring it back as I'd certainly consider donating to the site or enabling Ads to show.

a reply to: TXRabbit

i would happily donate if i could discuss all the topics i wanted too without getting banned.

however ATS does not like the value for value business model.

a reply to: TXRabbit

I really want this back, I can't stand seeing the same members making the same political flag seeking threads.
It's always the same people, the same nonsense.
I use to block the mudpit etc. The ignoramus thread titles alone make me sick.