Thread 'Downgrading' to BTS?

I had a moderator bristle when I suggested that moving threads to BTS is a 'downgrade' of the thread, but in this case, I had to comment:

I've been here for a few months and I am wondering why some posts get moved to BTS. Recently, user GL2 posted a very interesting personal story in which he describes his personal observances in connection to the assasination attempt on President Reagan's life by John Hinkley, known associate of the Bush family. This thread was moved to Below Top Secret: Short Stories.

Bush Sr. in on Reagan assass attempt?

...If you read his message, you'll see it's not a short story. His post is very topical and detailed. I suggest it be moved back to ATS. Exactly what is ATS here for if not to discuss important threads like this?

BTW, thanks to all the mods for the great work.




EDIT: Nevermind, I guess it got moved to Politics at ATS. Ignore this thread if nobody thinks this is a problem.

[edit on 2-5-2005 by smallpeeps]

its not downgraded...

ATS is where great debates are fought...

BTS is where we hang out...

(as a member once stated)...

that thread in question is now in it's appropriate home

Political Figures on PTS, it's perfect there, since it is discussing certain Bush family members who happen to be political figures.

why is it so hard for members to click on the tabs, New ATS Posts, BTS and PTS, etc? All three boards work hand in hand and provide the full spectrum of topics for discussion to members.

Originally posted by they see ALL
its not downgraded...

ATS is where great debates are fought...

BTS is where we hang out...

(as a member once stated)...

Whoever said that was a great man...

Originally posted by Simulacra
Whoever said that was a great man...

you said this right???

i have no idea who said it

If that was you Simulacra, you rock. A lot.

If you think BTS is a downgrade, you're mistaken, and haven't experienced BTS. It's a fantastic resource and is quite fun when you get into it.

How does that relate to the thread in question though? Threads are moved to BTS because they are BTS threads, and not ATS threads, simple as that. Sometimes a member just *happens* to click on the wrong forum..

BTS and ATS chat are my happy place... BTs is laid back and crazy....

When a thread is moved from ATS to BTS do they keep the points earned while it was still in ATS? Like before it gets moved that is... lol sorry just curious!
-Dani

Didn't we just get cancelled on one of your threads here? Not trying to single anyone out but seems to me what your indicating above is a little more upbeat or positive? perhaps' I have it wrong - again..don't know but ask for reply just the same..
Thanks,

Dallas

Originally posted by Vesuvius 13
When a thread is moved from ATS to BTS do they keep the points earned while it was still in ATS? Like before it gets moved that is... lol sorry just curious!
-Dani

Whatever points are earned while the post is on ATS remain. There is no subtraction of points when a topic is moved.
The points are reduced.

Points are earned as replies are posted. The value of points varies from forum to forum.

Originally posted by Dallas

Didn't we just get cancelled on one of your threads here? Not trying to single anyone out but seems to me what your indicating above is a little more upbeat or positive? perhaps' I have it wrong - again..don't know but ask for reply just the same..
Thanks,

Dallas

who got cancelled???

what are you talking about???

i would like to know the whole bts ats thing?...sorry im a newbie to this kinda forum stuff..

Originally posted by weevolvedfrommonkies
i would like to know the whole bts ats thing?...sorry im a newbie to this kinda forum stuff..

ATS stands for Abovetopsecret.com. ATS is for conpiracy related topics, to be posted in the appropriate forum.

BTS stands fro Belowtopsecret.com. BTS for other topics, general chit-hat, talk, musings, etc. Stuff that isn't "Above" or Conspiracy, just interesting. Again, in the appropriate forum

PTS stands for [email protected] (politics.abovetopsecret.com) PTS is for, as you guessed, politics. Post in the appropriate forum

ATSNN is the news network for conspiracy-related news topics. ATSNN is all member driven, and is held to higher standards than the rest of the board.


If you any more questions, about this or anything else, don't hesitate to u2u me at any time.

ok thanks alot.. help shed light on this place considering most of you prolly r in ur basements with all the lights turnd off cept for a black light over top a pic of e.t.

Board questions is not for specific "why did my thread ...." topics.

For that please use the complaints/ suggestion tool, or utu a mod.
Otherwise we get long rambling threads like this that only serve to obfuscate the issues.

Modding is a complex task with many people trying to care for many forums. Decisons are often qualitative and many calls are judgement calls.

We are going to get decisions that will upset members sometimes, people just have to get used to it, and take the issue to utu's rather than here.

Maybe ATS is just more interesting than BTS. For me once a thread gets moved to BTS I pretty much write it off. I rarely mess with BTS and I NEVER go to Politics. To mean there is no point to spreading the content out over 3 forums. If you spread it too thin people start to lose focus and interest.

Originally posted by smallpeeps
I had a moderator bristle when I suggested that moving threads to BTS is a 'downgrade' of the thread, but in this case, I had to comment:

I've been here for a few months and I am wondering why some posts get moved to BTS.

The "it is subjective" line is acceptable in this environment, where I presume many websites do not consider themselves to be a true going concern especially in the sense that corporate philosophy and signature in regard the latter, is tightly governed.

Is it a conspiracy site? The below are the forums excluding those relative to membership. The first 16 mention nothing about conspiracies in their description, where the next 10 do.

Non-conspiracy defined:
Collaborative Fiction
Collaborative Works Of Fiction By The Members Of Above Top Secret

Debate Forum
This Is No "Project Mayhem". This Forum Is For Structured, Interactive Debate Between Two Or More Parties

Guest Speaker Events
Special event community interviews with guest speakers.

ATS Sponsored Games & Events
Speculation and discussion of official games and events.

War On Terrorism
Discuss The War On Terror, The War With Iraq & The Situation With N. Korea

Other Current Events
Other World Events Of Major Importance

Peak Oil
Discussion of the issues related to oil supply shortages

Research Forum
Serious, Organized Research Projects by ATS-Scholars And Staff.

Weaponry
Military weapons technology past, present, and future.

Science & Technology
Cutting edge science and technology discussion.

Aircraft Projects
Anything From UAVs To Secret Spaceplanes. FSME: intelgurl

Space Exploration
Space-Based Science and Discussion. Exploring the Universe.

Fragile Earth
Discussion of climate change, pollution, and environment issues

Ancient & Lost Civilizations
The Mayans, Atlantis, Pyramids... Discussion Including Myths & Legends

Cryptozoology and Mythical Beasts
Mysterious And Mythic Beasts That Defy Explanation

Predictions & Prophecies
Discussion of modern clairvoyant predictions and ancient prohecies.


Conspiracy defined:
Political Conspiracies

Really Above Top Secret

Website-Related Discussion

Secret Societies

New World Order

Military & Government Facilities

Military & Government Projects

Education & Media

Conspiracies in Religions

Paranormal Studies

Only 38.46% of those topics require a conspiracy correlation, where I am sure if the threads were to be delineated by movement to BTS, it would certainly show a bias toward subjective interpretation rather than tight definition. As an example I cite the Peak Oil forum, where the first page shows the following topic captions out of 50, which do not suggest a conspiracy.

Why people drive large vehicles; Compare- EU/US fuel efficiency; Will peak oil spark the third world war?; gasoline sticker shock…; Not just supply/demand…; Smart versus dumb; A possible solution; Endless oil supply?; Production in the world’s two largest oil fields…; Oil: Conditions are ripe for another Great Depression; A painful transition; Will oil strike #380 a barrel..?; Thermal Depolymerization…; The absolute answer to peak oil; Upcoming US geostratic reorganization…; Societal effects of vast rises…; Alernative energy sources which are best…?; We have our own oil…; US a gas heaven?; Antactic Oil; Re-processing of nuke waste..; Use of undersea currents…; Where are the priorites of Americans?;

The above total of 21 or 42%, relates to non-conspiracy just by the thread title, since I have not read them, I could be wrong. The analogies go only to show that in fact your question is well warranted.


[edit on 5/8/05 by SomewhereinBetween]

ATS is more than just conspiracy material. Maybe that was the original intent but it seems to be more about things that the mainstream press doesn't cover. Conspiracy posts are a plus but it seems any big current topic fits well. I have this measuring stick I use when posting here. If 90% of my family would roll their eyes at it then it goes in ATS. If it is something they widely accept then its probably too boring to be here.