Lets take a moment to appreciate ATS

In a time where large tech giants have become the self-appointed arbiters of truth, I understand more and more just how important it is to have places like ATS which allow free speech from all sides. That is especially true of all times now, because it seems multiple new cases of censorship occur every day. I don't even use large social media platforms and I still see it happening on a constant basis. Regardless of political positions, I think most here can agree we all have a right to share our opinion rather than allow highly biased companies decide which voices should be suppressed and what information people should be allowed to see.

We don't play those sorts of games on ATS, as long as you're respectful then ATS allows all sides of an argument. Imagine that for a concept, being allowed to digest any information and making up our own mind rather than allowing corporations to tell us what is fake or real because we're too dumb to decide. Sure I've seen some minor problems with censorship on ATS but no system is perfect and when compared to other social media platforms there is a massive difference. There's no doubt I would have been shadow banned from Facebook and Twitter a long time ago if I had used them, especially now with my opinions on Covid-19.

Some times I wonder how much longer ATS will last in current times, and I'm sure the owners sometimes have that concern because more and more we're seeing conspiracies being compared to extremism. The entire premise is based on this delusional idea that fake news from bots is going to fool us all into doing things like elect Trump, so it's really a political agenda. ATS mods are impartial for the most part, yes there are mods I often disagree with but they don't censor me, and there are also mods which I often agree with. The same applies to the members here, we many have political opinions from all sides.

ATS often gets portrayed as some sort of alt-right haven, and while it does attract a lot of conservatives, there is also a large base of people who are more socialist and support people like Bernie Sanders. I know this because they show up in nearly every political thread I write lol. But if I didn't want my opinions challenged I wouldn't post here, true growth can only come through having your ideas challenged. It's not like we get a massive amount of attention for writing a good thread, even the best thread might get a few hundred flags at most compared to the thousands or millions of likes and shares possible on large social media platforms.

However I still find it rewarding because I know at least my ideas were shared with some people instead of being censored, and it will remain on the internet for anyone to find in the future. It's always nice to be researching a topic and you find an old thread which contains a lot of great information. I know there are a lot of other places around the internet which allow free speech, but ATS has been around almost since the beginning of the internet and it's always been my primary platform for conspiracy topics. ATS has helped me understand the world in a way that most people don't and I will always appreciate that.

I show up here every chance I get. That's how much I appreciate ATS ... and everyone (staff included) who is a member.

a reply to: BiffWellington

Like I said no system is perfect, and I assume they mostly reacted that way due to a personal connection to the event or something along those lines. Plus I get that saying the event was fake and no one died is a bit cold so I never really touched it. Honestly I haven't looked deeply enough into it to have an opinion but I have heard some weird things. I get your point though, there are times when the mods decide something is a hoax and then all discussion on it is halted, and in some rare cases I disagree with the decision they made, but it's their right as a private company to make those decisions. Plus I've noticed they don't really do that anymore, as I said it could be much worse.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Here here, well said..

ATS is the first website i go to every single time i log onto the interwebz. Without fail.

When i see something big happening in the news and im on the internet its "lets see what ATS thinks of this"

Covid 19 for example....straight onto here


The difference of opinions on topics is always welcome here which is the way it should be. As long as posters remember the site's motto |Deny Ignorance| don't post it....

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

You need to wear that mask to the grocery store. And please, have someone record the experience. 🍻

A good chunk of the videos in the threads where I cover MENA conflicts have just disappeared. The analytical group Southfront was outright banned on Facebook on April 30, and followed the next day, May 1st, with the complete deletion of their youtube channel. They are seeking assistance from followers to re-upload their videos which they still have available on their website.

ATS is certainly a welcome beacon of civil discourse... even if it is CIA property

I appreciate ATS! I kind of live here. My second home. Donuts and coffee anyone?

Should I go outside and clap now?

a reply to: ChaoticOrder


Ummm...the only thing that makes ATS suck...

Are it’s user’s...


Think about that for a second...







YouSir

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

ATS used to be fun. Now it's mean spirited and mostly mud pit. There's also a negative side!

But it still remains the primary source for high strange concept miners, writers, media geeks and other bluestocking mooks.

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

Same here.

Its my homepage both laptop and mobile.

Passes the time on the commute, oh , wait a sec ....

One thing I've noticed has become more prevalent since I first joined in 2006 is the short attention span. Almost any post longer than a few lines gets very little attention. People no longer seem to research or even look at sources for the most part and many I've noticed only comment on the damn title!! Strange times. I guess in the age of instant information reading is becoming obsolete

a reply to: PhyllidaDavenport

Huh? What did you just say?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

sorry tl:dr

originally posted by: PhyllidaDavenport
One thing I've noticed has become more prevalent since I first joined in 2006 is the short attention span. Almost any post longer than a few lines gets very little attention. People no longer seem to research or even look at sources for the most part and many I've noticed only comment on the damn title!! Strange times. I guess in the age of instant information reading is becoming obsolete

People definitely have shorter attention spans these days, but I also think a lot of people are still willing to read a long thread if the content is good. Most of my threads are pretty long walls of text, this thread is actually on the shorter side, but a fair amount of my threads still reach the top flagged topics on the live page, but at the same time many threads which I put a lot of effort into get very little attention.

Order of the day at present....

Coffee.
Cat.
Email and News.
ATS.
Coffee kicks in. Toilet.
Gardening.
Tea and ATS.
More Gardening.
Dinner and ATS.
News and ATS.
Cat.
ATS and a movie.
ATS.
Sleep.

Rinse and repeat. I was born for this lockdown and right now enjoy the bliss and peace and quiet of the usually invaded French Countryside by British expats..lol.

I love ATS Christmas, miss ATS chat, keep leaving here in a huff but always return to the fold.

An Analogue life with a hint of digital for connection to the crazy outside world.

Self taught, self surviving, self sufficient(ish).

Love it here and love all of you, even when you flame the pants off me. I live to learn and yearn to live.

My time here has made me a bigger person and sometimes a better one too. Thanks to all friends and foes.

Thanks also to Mark and Bill at the helm and supporting cast members and if you can still hear us, thanks also to Simon who got the whole ball rolling all those years ago.

Cheers.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Aye it is frustrating when you put tons of effort into a thread and it seems to go whoosh and gain little attention but guess that's the nature of the game...can't please all the people all the time

a reply to: BiffWellington

And when the mods sent out hit squads to assassinate people that thought it was okay to say those kids didn’t die because you didn’t see pictures that didn’t even show up on ogrish or other such gore sites...oh wait that site doesn’t exist anymore. Must have been the ATS mods strike team again...

I never saw any live video of the Black Plague on YouTube so that stuff in Europe in the 1340’s must be all made up again. Or are ATS mods time traveling Illuminati killjoys burying evidence again?

I wonder how it will be before people really figure out that Murder Hornets have been here for about a decade and millions have not died...