To what extent should you support your friends on ATS?

reply to post by ian990003100


I have spent my life raising 4 beautiful children. Obviously my first desire. I have seen in my life people abuse welfare systems, from things like WIC to Medicaide and Welfare.

I have never partaken of the system, though I know how well it works.

So, what is your point, and how does it apply to the OP post?

reply to post by ian990003100


Wow, that certainly brings an entire new perspective to this, for sure. To what extent, heh, well you went to the far deep end of the spectrum there. There are some here I might even do the same for, but I don't know about everyone. Is that bad? You're making me feel guilty.

I really doubt that it matters.

I can't believe that ATS took down my discussion on god's message for humans. Pretty much the thing that humans have wondered about the most throughout history.

But the fact that they deleted it ticks me off, you're taking down a discussion about the most sought knowledge by men, to put up a post on how much us(members of ATS) should talk to other members of ATS.

(NO OFFENSE TO THE MEMBER WHO STARTED THIS POST BUT I SENT ATS AN EMAIL AND THIS IS THE ONLY OTHER WAY I CAN THINK OF TO GET THAT INFORMATION BACK)

Is ATS being run by religious leaders that don't want different beliefs about their gods coming to light? The chance of that is 1/2 because there are only 2 possible outcomes. 50% chance? What.
Wow, the numbers don't lie.
I knew they'd find me.

To whichever moderators read this...(please understand that I'm only posting this because I'm frustrated.

Actually I'm just plain mad that I can't even read the responses to my question.

If anybody has answers to this problem, I'm all ears.

What has God have to do with life, I mean really, people working the system? Is it evil?

How many peope work the system, should be the questiion.WHY DO PEOPLE FEEL A NEED TO WORK THE SYSTEM?

There are members here that make very eloquent and interesting threads, the only people I have on my friends list are people that have impressed me with their coherent knowledge on certain topics, be they a skeptic or not. Therefore, I don't really give out many stars or flag many posts or put many people in my friends list. I don't play favorites or support anyone. That's not what I'm here for.

reply to post by Question


First I would like to say that I do not know Question, but I've often felt recently that I was pouring all my energy into a thoght , and just because I didn't have an amazing source or some scandelous information lots of people treated me like I was mentally dissabled or something.

There are members here that make very eloquent and interesting threads, the only people I have on my friends list are people that have impressed me with their coherent knowledge on certain topics, be they a skeptic or not. Therefore, I don't really give out many stars or flag many posts or put many people in my friends list. I don't play favorites or support anyone. That's not what I'm here for.

Good, you shouldn't play favorites, I'm not here to make friends either. Like most of you, I visit ATS to read, comment, and discuss topics that CNN is designed to avoid.
Answer me this mr. question, if that is your real name. If I asked such a unheard of and far out question (it doesnt matter what about) and by asking that question, I convinced you to change your outlook on life....would you give me a star?
(Yeah I know it isn't likely)

Or would you just think of me as some kid who didn't know what he was saying?
(You can talk to whoever you want on ATS)

I would hope you would spare me a star.
It's my belief that we were all put on this planet together for something. Even if you're not too knowledgable on a subject doesn't mean something a proffessor says is worth more.

I guess I'm asking you to consider giving people stars who open up new ideas to you along with giving them to the member with the

I'm not telling you that you need to change. This isn't my place to boss anyone around. I just ask that you consider that just because a person posts something that shows how little they know about the subject, they obviously are interested so instead of saying something like, "dude, I have no clue where you got this awful information!" just imagine if you were the person who's cluless. It would be helpful if more people helped out those who aren't fully endowed with this knowledge.

I don't come to ATS to make friends -- I come here to learn about truths and the discussions therein. If I wanted to participate in a topic made by a moderator that has 70 stars and 95 flags (nobody in particular at the present), I'd go elsewhere. This silly system of building a friend list and having one's ego boosted by receiving stars should be on Myspace, not ATS.

When I'm on this site, sometimes I feel that, to quote George Orwell, "All [users] are equal, but some [users] are more equal than others."

reply to post by SonicInfinity

I don't come to ATS to make friends -- I come here to learn about truths and the discussions therein. If I wanted to participate in a topic made by a moderator that has 70 stars and 95 flags (nobody in particular at the present), I'd go elsewhere. This silly system of building a friend list and having one's ego boosted by receiving stars should be on Myspace, not ATS.

My thoughts exactly SonicInfinity, I would like to let you know I'm a newish member to ATS and I don't really belong in a University teaching either. I also can see why you are encouraged to build a friends list and give stars to good stories. I also wondered why you would have this stuff on a site based around conspiracy theories and I found myself wondering..... this isn't myspace. I'm guessing that when they created the sight, they figured people could actually get something out of the friends list, almost like a list of contacts that a journalist would go to for good info. So yeah, it gets some use.

The way I think of it is ATS is kind of like a newspaper that journalists are hired and paid to go out and find good stories, except it's a website, and we're not getting paid. (Can we?) (If not, we should)

I would have thought that you could more easily gauge how peolpe appreciated your comments by how they responded to them. Wouldn't you rather recieve an informed and well thought out answer than a flag, star, balloon or whatever?

I give stars to friends, foes and people who are on neither list if what they said in a comment inspired me to either think or or we share similar philosophies. I do not flag or star just because the person is a friend. Several foes have said some pretty cool things. I have collected friends on here to keep tabs on their posts because I generally want hear what they have to say.

Strange topic!

reply to post by TrueAmerican


Don't ever fight a battle you don't agree with. Even if it is your friend. That's all I got.

in my full capablities possible

I love to look at other member's profiles, whether I agree or disagree, it helps gain more perspective on where they are coming from. The profiles weave a tapestry of thought and connectivity between members. I'm always surprised by members with whom I agree with on one hand being friends with those that I disagree with vehemently on the other.

I tend to "friend" people with whom I have a philosophical connection or a similar interest, not because they support me or agree with me but because we are intellectually like-minded. I will also "friend" someone whom I feel adds overall quaility and content to ATS and is earnestly working hard to Deny Ignorance, even if I don't tend to agree with them.

I add and delete "foe" members as the spirit moves me based on philosophical perspective, overall maturity and whether they are working to deny ignorance. When I do it I let them know why via u2u. I have been "foe'd", but I'm not sure why. I guess it makes me proud in some respect, just as much as being a "friend".

I star posts that make salient and sharp points. whether I agree or not. I also star well-thought out, well-written and well-researched posts as they are so often hard to find. I will not star just because someone is my "friend" and I have starred "foes" in the past, particularly MadnessInMySoul as he often makes good points. So much so that I had to un-foe him long ago.

I never star or flag my own content as that should be left to the judgement of my fellow members.

And, if course, there's my running list of worst thread titles ever. Just for entertainment pruposes.

[edit on 6/3/08 by kosmicjack]

BTW, will someone u2u me if Yahn Goodey checks into this thread and informs us all, finally, as to the method of his madness? Last count I saw, 194 foes. Maybe he's just smarter than the rest of us.

Originally posted by kosmicjack
I never star or flag my own content as that should be left to the judgement of my fellow members.

Agreed with the stars. I'd never or ever have starred my own post. In fact, I don't even know if that's possible? But flags are different. I will sometimes flag my own thread if I feel it's important enough right from the get go, no matter what other members think. And if I don't flag it, someone else may flag it. In that case I figure if it's important enough for another member to flag it, then I should probably flag it too. But I am slowly coming off of that. It might be better to wait on a such a thread, and see if more members flag it, before I flag it.

On that note, it is very important for newer ATS members to understand that flags and reply counts are what get threads moved into more visible sections of the site, thereby creating even more views, flags and replies. At one point SO removed the view column, causing many members to question that. I didn't even bother responding, knowing that sheer member demand would bring that back, and I was right. After being around here for a while, a look at views vs. responses and flags will get you a better sense of what members respond to. If you are paying attention, then you can start picking topics based upon what you learn from your own analysis. I know this has helped me to bring more topics that members want to talk about to ATS. Even so, I am often wrong. No telling what this diverse crowd will respond to at any given moment.

Sorry to bring this back from page one, but i missed it the first time.

Originally posted by TrueAmerican

Whoa. I want to make very clear, and very right up front, this is no way some kind of appeal for friends. I already have plenty.

Never ment to imply that it was, i was after all, just trying to lighten the mood of this thread. Cut threw the confusion/tension/seriousness and all that.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


Sorry, I misinterpreted your post. I give stars to people that deserve them. On the internet there is no such thing as friends.

[edit on 10-3-2008 by EarthCitizen07]