Where did all the members go?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
Lol
Kind of a crybaby post.
It’s ok. We all have our days.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

In the past I have had some amazing discussion with you, in fact you are one of the few active members that I can recall dealing with when I was super active here. You had earned my respect regardless of political leanings up until now.

I'm not a "radical left winger" not even close but its post like some you have made on this thread thwt drove me away and left me as a lurker more than an active member.

I often avoided political threads on here to avoid the hostility and gang culture that seemed to follow it, unfortunately it spilled out from the political forums into other areas it started well before Trump was elected and has progressively gotten worse. I was reading a paranormal thread a couple months back that had zero to do with the political sphere of influence and yet I saw no less that 3 post out of maybe 15 at the time where people were calling people libtards and other political insults. It quickly devolved into a political debate and was soon trashed.


To say that ATS isnt facing a down turn is being oblivious I remember a time when the new thread page would be so active you would have to update it constantly in fear of missing out on new theories, doom porn, discoveries and the like. Now days I can update it every three or four hours and maybe 3 or 4 threads are posted.

You can chalk that up to no new conspiracy theories of you want or people not having insightful thoughts on various topics regardless it has taken a down turn and is slowing down and that is not good for the longevity of ATS.

It can and possibly will recover from this slow down and I hope it does that being said until some common decency and civility return on both sides of the spectrum ATS will most likely continue to stagnate.

Imho the mudpit was the turning point for ATS before its introduction there were still political debates and some even got heated but fear of banishment kept people from crossing the line. Enter the slippery slope that was the mudpit and people soon started ignoring civility on all the boards.

Like I said I respect you and the knowledge you bring to the table but I do believe you are mistaken here.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
Bottom line...who, exactly, wants the "Old ATS" back????

Is there such a thing?

Me says...it seems like it's mostly the liberals !!

The old ATS, politics was merely a backdrop.

You’re on one tonight, FCD.

I don’t agree with your labeling of everyone leaving here because they are ‘liberals’.

I’m not a liberal. So I have no Stake in this game.

Life is not all about political affiliation. Ronald Reagan said it best.



This comes from someone that usually appreciates your posts.

It's no coincidence that most of the replies going along the lines of ''suck it up and create your own content'' or brushing the topic off in denial, are very active in most of the threads and topics that ruined this place, high-fiving each other, and that most people who left and those who don't post much, are sick to death of.

The same people who deny this place is an echo chamber, also gloat about how most of the ''other side'' has left and gone. 🤔

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
If they want the old ATS I'm sure they can still find it. It may be archived somewhere but it's probably still around somewhere.

Where did all the members go you ask?
Into politics...

a reply to: crimsongod21

Okay, I will admit, not every-one who is complaining about this 'old ATS' theme is a radical liberal, that may have been an over-characterization. So I will stand corrected on this front. My apologies for generalizing. I do think there is some merit in the demographics of the trend, but that isn't really the point here (so I won't belabor it further). However, there is another issue which I think those lamenting the days of old are missing.

The days of old are just that...days of old. The Internet has changed. And, so too have people changed their on-line habits over the years. I want to address a key point you made because I think it gets to the heart of what many here are saying without them actually saying it...

...I remember a time when the new thread page would be so active you would have to update it constantly in fear of missing out on new theories,...

Your statement is true, but ATS is not alone in this phenomenon. I am not a member of many forums. In fact, since the Internet became a thing I have been involved in exactly three (3) forums, all consecutively (in other words, never really more than one at a time). The first one of those was arguably where discussion boards all began, Compuserve, and that was way back in the early 90's. Yes there were many others, BBS type services before that, but Compuserve was the first major one. And just to give you an idea, I had a 5 digit registration number on Compuserve, that's how long ago! Many people have never even seen a 5 digit member ID. Anyway, I can remember exactly the trend you speak of; there was so much activity that if you walked away even for a moment you would miss something. New posts would roll off the front page in just a couple minutes unless they were earth shattering. Heck, I can remember having to bump posts just to get a reply at all, just due to the traffic.

Since those years we've seen creations like Failbook, Twatter, Insta-fail, Snap-crap and so many other social media platforms. We've seen the smartphone explode into the stratosphere. All of these things take users away from traditional forums. We've seen a complete paradigm shift in on-line behavior, some might even say a complete generation change. Participation has dropped on virtually ALL traditional discussion boards, so ATS isn't unique in this regard; they've all suffered from this phenomenon.

It would be interesting to do a demographic cross-section of ATS membership. I'd bet the median age here on ATS is probably above 35, and possibly as high as 45 or even higher. Ever since I've been here (since 2013), ATS has always been an adult oriented forum (and I don't mean this in the X-rated sense). It's one of the fundamental reasons I even joined ATS, because there were well thought out posts written by people who, for the most part, weren't kids playing on Mom's computer. The point here is, times change, and the Internet changes along with them. Additionally, the median age on ATS has always been higher than other platforms, so some of the members who have left may have done so simply due to age.

The bottom line is, at least to me, when I see folks lamenting the 'old days of ATS' I wonder if they aren't really just lamenting the 'old days' in general. You know..."when I was a kid, we had to..." For my part, I wish Failbook didn't exist, and I wish smartphones had never been invented, and you know what...I miss the days of 'old ATS' too. Then again, I miss the 'old days' of the Internet, but the facts is, I can't change any of those things no matter how much I complain. They are what they are.

Times change.

Best.

originally posted by: spacedoubt
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
Lol
Kind of a crybaby post.
It’s ok. We all have our days.

No, quite the contrary! You'd be more correct saying that about the OP.

See my reply to crimson and tell me where I've gone astray.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Didn’t say you went astray.
You ranted you opinion.
We all have those.
Some are more accurate.
Some are wordy and ignorant.

Besides an increase in politics, i think skepticism got a bit heavier on the fringe posts and possibly some users moved on to websites that had a more open minded approach.

Just a guess..

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I would say another phenomenon happened along with the internet explosion. Trump. Ive seen family members who barely talk politics suddenly start spamming political stuff on Facebook.

The mention of our potus seems to have increased across any social media with a love or hate mentality. Trump inspires a polarizing cult of personality that has affected nearly every media website.

Maybe the country and ATS would be better if the position of POTUS was removed and we just elected an executive council or something. Idk... just an idea

a reply to: MRinder

When I see something worth sharing, I'll contribute or make a thread. I've been fairly consistent (in regularly contributing) since joining.

For me, it's always about 'the conspiracy' and I see a massive conspiracy festering within US politics whose tentacles have spread everywhere and we are being lied to as to who is actually in control - of everything: what we read, see, hear, watch, how we get our food, etc.

What is dictating our means of being able to exist on a planet where you need 'money' to get even the most basic necessities such as food, clean water and shelter and clothing?

As I said in another thread, for me, things started with Bush Snrs speech about the NWO at the UN - a god damn US President, and an ex-CIA freak to boot!!

Anyway, whether its UFO, aliens, the Illuminati, global unwanted war for corporations/oil, pedo rings, G8, Bilderberg blah blah blah - the bloody US government is always there, somewhere.

Then we had Hillary, lets just say she piqued my curiosity with her ability to get away with sh!t - like she was untouchable.

**cue the MUDPIT

Then we had Trump - he appears to be showing us exactly how infested DC is with filth that have absolutely no desire to represent the people or fix any sh!t - literally. They are pandering to a globalist agenda which is why the US constitution, Bill of Rights are under constant attack.

Something, some time ago, penetrated the US government, maybe even before paperclip, certainly we can look back to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 as a point of penetration.

I'll go where the conspiracy takes me.

Here we are.

a reply to: MRinder

Um.. it's completely obvious what happened. Just go to www.abovetopsecret.com. Scroll down. It's all political garbage on a UFO/Conspiracy/Paranormal site. Well, it used to be at least.

Name calling came along with all the political turds that love to attack each other just because one likes donkeys and the other likes elephants.

I used to come here and all I had to do was scroll down the main page and there was enough exotic material to last through a whole day or week of fun reading. Now I really have to dig hard through the political garbage to find anything edible.

a reply to: spacemanjupiter

YAY...another one!

ETA - Just to be clear...never saw YOU before on any of the thousands of other threads which weren't political, AND, judging by your post count, you didn't really have any input anyway!

NEXT!

(getting really tired of this...and grumpy)

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: spacemanjupiter

YAY...another one!

ETA - Just to be clear...never saw YOU before on any of the thousands of other threads which weren't political, AND, judging by your post count, you didn't really have any input anyway!

NEXT!

(getting really tired of this...and grumpy)

I've been coming here for many years. I don't have to post. I'm free to not do that. I don't need nosy people like you digging through my profile and posts looking for dirt so you can harass me. Go back to the political forums for that.

Next?

a reply to: spacemanjupiter

You know what? You're right!

You don't have to post. Despite your paranoia, I didn't dig through your profile (though I could!!!)

Seems like you are the one with nothing to add!

Take care, and have a nice....Internet!

NEXT!!