ATS On Autopilot?

Should be a question mark in the title but ATS doesn't seem to think punctuation matters all that much in titles these days.....

So to get to the point.

Much has been written over the last month or so about the dwindling quality of ATS, its either complaints of too much political based threads or overall problems with the running of the site. I gotta say after having been around these parts in one form or another since 2008, after a decade on ATS I can say unequivocally this is the worst I have seen the site. We have lost too many good members, who just don't post anymore or get lost in the tirade of political bollocks that clogs up the boards.

Yet I think the problem is getting worse not just because of the quality of the threads (be the change you want to be doesn't do it anymore) but actually the overall functionality of the site. Like I said above there should be a question mark in the title but that doesn't seem to work anymore, like a lot of things on ATS its flat out broken. We all know about the loading issues, we know that the PM system isn't working as it should and I have noticed that when using a tablet I lose a lot of functionality like the ability to click to button to view a members profile or report a post. There are probably more issues than this but you get the point.

It must be so off-putting for new members (not folk on their twentieth ban) who show up to ATS for the first time I cannot see it being an attractive prospect. You get nothing but abuse about your political persuasion, the site claims to be about conspiracies but its really just about who can troll whose politics the most then after that just as you start to wade through all of that you find that actually it can take 4 or 5 minutes to load up properly. Makes me think am on old school dial-up at times. It is no wonder then that site traffic is tumbling.

Now with all this going on I think its quite obvious that the owners have other projects on the go, I remember a time where barley a day went by with out one of the "Amigos" posting. I get it, you have other things to do, but ATS is your business at the end of the day and we are your customers and for months now we have been screaming that something isn't quite right and nothing is getting done. This despite what I must say has been some pretty heroic attempts at keep this ship on course by the the moderation staff

This leads me to one conclusion.

ATS is on autopilot.

Sure I guess the powers at be on ATS might pop in now and then just to check things out, but they are not actively trying to improve this place.

I honestly now feel like ATS is nothing more than just another advertisement revenue stream and a feather in the cap for the owners.

I guess as a long time member I just want to know what the hell is going on and I am pretty sure I am not the only one.

So Springer? Bill? Whats up!

And Please don't just shut this thread down because its asking a few difficult questions because that achieves nothing it only adds more fuel to the fire.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

I don't know if you are going to get any answers or if this thread is going to get shut down, but if anything this thread is well written and says a lot.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

As someone who is using ATS only on tablet I strongly support this... But can't give you a flag, because of tablet issues.
#ATSmatters

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

As a business owner myself, I can tell you that there are projects that get more priority than others. Business decisions are based on return of investment.
A cash cow will get more attention than a project barely breaking even or one that is projected to die a slow death.

I believe this website is the latter.

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

As someone who is using ATS only on tablet I strongly support this... But can't give you star and flag, because of tablet issues.
#ATSmatters

also, this forum area, doesn't do stars...

a reply to: Parishna

I edited & hope that it makes you happy.

Thread quality and past debates aside, the bulk of users that have an established history here at ATS lurked with apprehension for even longer times than they have contributed. The lurking was commonly a consequence of one new contributor not disturbing an obvious denial of ignorance. Seriously, 'Deny Ignorance' was quite meaningful 10 years back. In comparison of the past and current times, it is clear that 'denying ignorance' is nothing more than a catchy slogan that resonates with curiosity... causing wonder as to who these debating greats that spewed thought around these parts currently hide and or share ideas.

It's simply mathematics at play for past greats to learn, adapt, and grow on from where they were 10 years ago. Hell, all of our cells are replaced every 7 years or so, which equates to being that ALL of us will be different people in 10 years.

As far as the current arena of debate here at ATS is concerned, it's easy to notice that the ads have drastically increased. An increase in ads means an influx of capital to build upon the sites great history. ATS has gone backwards as far as function goes, while drastically upping their ad game. So, simple math is at play again, and always will be in play... ads have increased, caused an influx of ad anglers, which caused a complete downward spiral of discussion quality, which essentially leaves us with a twitter jury congregation of which there is no limits to the amount of characters one can spew their votes from.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that ATS keeps a hidden site, operating by invite only, where this shill of a opinion haven is left as ATS' fake facade. It makes more sense than ATS witnessing all of the bickering about the past in relationship to the current times, while having fatter wallets in the meantime, and standing back and watching as their prized possession of free data collection service dwindles into a digital protesting platform worth nothing.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

Punctuation from the thread titles was removed (not broke) a couple of years ago by the site owners, due to someone trying to hack ATS by inserting code into the thread titles. This was explained by them back then. Pay attention.

You get nothing but abuse about your political persuasion, the site claims to be about conspiracies but its really just about who can troll whose politics the most

:ahem: coming from one of the worst instigators of keeping politics alive here on ATS -

i·ro·ny1

a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.

As for this:

I get it, you have other things to do, but ATS is your business at the end of the day and we are your customers and for months now we have been screaming that something isn't quite right and nothing is getting done.

ATS is a FREE web site. You get what you pay for.

omg.your avatar blinks. i didnt know, this is scary man, why do you pick scary things?

a reply to: TerminalVelocity

Punctuation from the thread titles was removed (not broke) a couple of years ago by the site owners, due to someone trying to hack ATS by inserting code into the thread titles. This was explained by them back then. Pay attention.

There are code practices to get around that beside just removing all. They just picked this one.

Welp, it is not like ATS did not try to modernize. They had that news show that everyone just complained about. Then didn't they do something with Disinfo.com. There was a thread welcoming them to the ATS family saying they have entered a partnership. But Disinfo.com went bust in August. That website no longer exists. Then there was the Skinwalker ranch doc that just came out. Springer was involved in that. But I have no Idea if ATS helped fund it. So that might be a Springer appearance thing, and not an ATS thing.

So I mean it is not like ATS has not tried to spend some money to right the ship. But that might be part of the problem. Spending money on other things, not the site. As to the political threads. I personally think they suck but......Those political threads full of childish partisan bickering might be what is keeping the lights on. Can't blame the site for that. The truth is, this is a business for the owners. Leaving the site on autopilot might be the only thing that makes fiscal sense for them.

aaaah



i didnt see this video before.

ahhhhh

I agree wholeheartedly. As a user who has recently come back after a few years hiatus, what I found is in no way the ATS of the past. 'Deny Ignorance' is dead 'Embrace Ignorance' seems to be the new mantra. Most of the people I enjoyed debating with are no longer here and the people who replaced them are not of the same quality.

The site itself is very buggy at times although honestly, I haven't noticed anything major. However, that may be a result of not being around long enough.

I would like to know what the site owners want from this site now. Because honestly, after only two weeks I am thinking of hanging it back up for good.

a reply to: BlackJackal

I would like to know what the site owners want from this site now. Because honestly, after only two weeks I am thinking of hanging it back up for good.

This is kind of what I want to know.

Whats the plan?
Is anything going to be done to address the issues with the site bugs?
Is anything going to be done to reenforce the posting standards set out in the T&C's and the political takeover of the site?

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

I've been thinking on this for a VERY long time. I think the days of conspiracy are pretty much done. If ATS was to survive it had to go the "click" route. Which is political partisan crap.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

Much has been written over the last month or so about [...].

By you!

Sure I guess the powers at be on ATS might pop in now and then just to check things out, but they are not actively trying to improve this place.

Springer's here every day and takes part in staff discussions. He was here every day last year when you posted the same thread. Look at the Skinwalker threads where he was posting every day in the last 2-3 weeks.

And Please don't just shut this thread down because its asking a few difficult questions because that achieves nothing it only adds more fuel to the fire.

Threads like this devolve into site criticisms rather than constructive dialogue. Ultimately it's entirely up to the owners what they do with this site so 'difficult questions' are moot. The rest is up to us individually. If we don't like political threads and posts, stop posting political threads and posts - it's pretty straightforward.

Thread closed.