Vote subz (previous ATSNN staff) For ATSNN Councilor!, page 1

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer
How do you feel ATSNN has progressed since it's start?

I have only witnessed a few changes to ATSNN during my time there. The voting system has had most of the changes in that time. I would class the extended voting palette as a great improvement but I do lament the absence of knowing how many votes your submission currently has. I would like to see that come back.

Also the system of fix U2U's moving from just coming from "a member with 25 ore more submissions..." to the entire community seems nice in theory but can be abused. ATSNN's heart is its member driven ethos but like all things, sadly, you cannot have the general public in control of everything. The balance ATSNN has though is practically perfect but it does need tweaking.

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer
Do you like it?

Even with the minor faults, I love ATSNN. I find great satisfaction in knowing people are reading my submissions. If I change someone's outlook for the better on a certain topic I would be ecstatic. If I cause some one to challenge their own preconceptions I would be over the moon. These are the strengths of ATSNN: you can deny ignorance of great importance because these issues are current.

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer
What needs to be done to get it back on track or to keep it on it's current track?

The basic formula of ATSNN should be held sacred, it just works. In that respect the only things that need changing are cosmetic and minor. That's not to say that things cannot be done better but my purview is only to relay what the members want or don't like to the staff. I can advocate these ideas but I am not the sole engineer by any means.

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer
Where are the holes in ATSNN and where are the major strengths?

Well considering ATSNN had me hooked from the word go I can honestly say any holes it might have are extremely minor. Its major strengths are that a vast range of people can submit their own take on a news item. We, in the West, suffer badly from a narrow field of view on any given topic. In ATSNN we can read the opinions of literally thousands of different people from many different countries, this is priceless to me. Also being able to participate in intelligent discourse with these same people is precious to me, it is very rare to find a forum where this is possible. This comes about due to the outstanding job the moderators and staff do, that is another major strength of ATSNN (and ATS in general). When you spend time in other forums it becomes glaringly obvious just how well managed ATSNN truly is.

I would say the holes are some aspects of the voting system as well as ATSNN not having a clearly defined scope of interest. What I mean by "scope of interest" is that members can vote no on a submission as "not right for ATSNN", but what is "right" for ATSNN? No one has clearly defined it.

In the past I've defined "what's NOT right for ATSNN" as being the likes of "NEWS: Today My Cat "Fluffy" Died". Any thing else that you might view in mainstream media, sans the feel good stories, are probably going to be "right" for ATSNN. But there needs to be a clearly written, and widely understood document, which relates to this topic because currently there are many, MANY people who have differing ideas relating to it and the contributor suffers because of it.

Things like removing "no:bias" votes from the Op/Ed voting palette are high on my list of priorities as well, even though I am exempt from the voting process now. I still remember how disheartening it is to get erroneous U2U's about your submission and how you feel your hard work is being unfairly treated.

But this isn't really about what I think needs changing about ATSNN, yes I have my own ideas, but I am here to find out what you want to see changed. I am more than willing to dedicate my time doing this and I could think of no higher purpose I could serve for ATSNN. It is a member driven forum and I want to help the members drive ATSNN forward.

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer
If I may be colloquial, what is your "game plan" for ATSNN should you be elected this time around?

One of my first duties if elected ATSNN Councillor would be to create a stickied thread in ATSNN asking for member's ideas on what they would change about ATSNN. This is long overdue in my opinion. I would then collate that thread into a series of points and post it in the Council Forum for Springer and SO to see. I would then discuss it with them and report back anything I could to the members.

There was a feeling in the previous council that members were being asked to give all these suggestions but they were getting no closure with them. Hence we were seeing the same suggestions repeated over and over again. What I would propose is creating an "ATSNN Council Summary" thread in BQ&B that outlines whether a specific idea has primarily been given the thumbs down or, if I am permitted, let the members know whether an idea is being considered by staff.

There is another goal of mine which is to increase the amount of contributors to ATSNN. Currently the amount of contributors is waning and that needs to be corrected. That doesn't mean a lowering of the bar or standards by any means. But there are things that can be done to encourage more people to submit news articles to ATSNN.

My position as councillor is all about the members. I want transparency with my councilorship so that the members can see what I am doing. I want the members to see that their ideas are being seen, and considered by staff. I want them to know the status of these ideas. And I want the members to become involved in ATSNN's future.