Can ATS 'chatter' be an indicator of things to come?

All of us have heard of the strategy of analysing 'chatter', or traffic analysis, where even if you can't decode all the information, just seeing an increase in the amount can be an indicator of some thing happening.

So my question is this, can we look at a site like ATS which in many ways is an aggregator of news on certain subjects, with many knowledgeable people, and determine, with analysis, from the rise in popularity of a subject, that an event may be about to occur?

Something that raised my interest in this idea was SkepticOverlords (if i remember correctly) comment that in the months prior to 9/11 there was a lot of noise about a possible false flag attack. Not that I'm saying it was a false flag, but it's an interesting idea.

Another thing that made me interested in this is the Iran topics. It feels to me like there has been a large increase in news related to Iran, or the surrounding area. I see this not just on ATS of course, it seems that way in the media too. Can this be an indicator?

Any opinions?

reply to post by bobafett


Interesting theory there.. but I disagree.....

While I my self authored one of the top threads on ATS right now in regards to a future war.. I don't think it indicates anything.

Here is why.

On ATS we like to completely freak every once in a while. Some times its a little freak, sometimes a complete freak out where people start stocking up on food (yes, its happened more then once) .. Every other month is the month of the next big attack.. from bible codes, to secret messages encoded in our leaders speach (that one was funny for those who remember) .. to our current state of affairs which I think kicked off with the fall out of the economy (which has since repaired its self) .. October will come and we will be alive and no war and no terrorist bombings and by November the world will be on the edge of oblivion once again.

Don't you love ATS? I do!

There's alot of chatter about Iran because that's the main issue at the moment. It does seem like we're on the brink of war, but are we really?

As Rockpuck said, every month there's something new theory on how we're all going to die horribly.

In my time here we've had;

Alien Invasion a few times

Nuclear War more times than I care to remember

Worldwide religious events a few times

A few super bugs/virus's

That's only a few though, there's been tons. More than likely this year will come and go and it'll be something else next year.

Perhaps the ATS 'chatter' being so google searchable has something to to with preventing the events that freak us out.

While I agree that we allow ourselves to be 'scared' and even stock up and the like, I honestly think it is very likely that it is being analyzed. I also think that the connections that are made here often are pie in the sky, but one has to admit that there is a vast amount of strange 'brink of war' events going on, and that it is not just ATS chattering about it.

I personally think that the membership of ATS is doing a lot of work for' journalists' these days, making life easier for them, and the information easier to digest.

DocMoreau

There is a company that actually does something similar to this. They call it web bot technology.

If my understanding is correct they search the web for certain patterns in language and words being used. They claim to have made some predictions in the past and have some going forward.

urbansurvival.com...

If it is true that you can "judge a society by its prisons.. then yes ats is an indicator. of the end though, probably not.

ats is the indicator of what pres. Putin has said repeatedly this year about "cold war 2." everything on here reminds me of cold war 1. and just as with "1" people who are aware will always be worried about it getting less..cold.

never mind the global warming joke there. but i do think peoples environmental fears will slowly escalate "2"

DocMoreau I think you make a very valid point with regard to journalists feeding off these forums.

So I'll throw this one out there!

A few years ago I remember here in England a university announcing a degree course in Madonna (not the biblical chick).
Said some cr*p about her impact on society etc.

So, I was thinking universities here and in America could provide a degree course in ATS 'chatter'.
The youth would expand their minds x fold and all the worries about education standards would begin to be addressed.

Now that would be 'an indicator of things to come'

I do agree with the people talking about doooooooooom theories passing, and then being replaced with another doom theory. It seems like a lot of stuff gets discussed that doesn't ever lead anywhere. I wonder if there are any highly active discussions that members could point to, that did come to pass (obviously doomsday hasn't come yet, but maybe some military actions have been 'foreseen'?)

I'm not convinced on the theory too much myself, but I thought it was an interesting idea, and still wonder if the correct filters were used on the data if any patterns could be found.