Ok, this Anon character makes ATS less of what it was.

Now there was a perfect example.. This thread went to the top of 'recent posts' with 'ANONYMOUS' at the top of the list.. There was a delay with no reply.. Then MAINER's post turns up.. No Anonymous post.

It seems that The Mods deemed that particular contribution off topic, unsuitable or against the T&C and deleted it..

I also wonder if this whole Anon business started initially to make a certain celebrity feel comfortable posting here (not that I had a clue who the celebrity was until his name kept being mentioned in that context). The individual has since started posting under a nick anyway.

Hiyah Santa, hi all

Actually, I don't really feel one way or the other about the new Anonymous ATS Posting feature.

But I can understand why you feel the way you do Santa, and I could see why people wouldn't like it.

Someone used it on one of my threads the other day and gave me some information that enhanced the article I am writing, some "evidence" if you will.

I felt like Mulder getting a visit from the "Smoking Man" I guess just because the avatar of the Anonymous ATS Poster is pretty funny I think.

I actually used it myself...I was at work, and I guess due to the firewall at work I couldn't log into my ATS account, so I decided to try it, but I identified myself to the thread I wanted to post in, just because I wasn't trying to hide, I was just on my lunch hour and was dying to post

I hope it brings in some good members...I think it will, since they can only use the Anonymous ATS poster once every 12 hours...by that time they will be hooked and wanting to post some more

[edit on 18-5-2008 by LateApexer313]

Hey apexer, where did you get that info. I'm curious. What other restrictions are on the anony account?

I think the anonymous account should have to author an original thread before being able to reply to other threads.

Here is at least one exception to the rule that members will not be allowed to use the anonymous feature.

I wonder if any posts will fail the moderation test because of content not violations.

I hate seeing anonymous ats user posts. I skip by most of them.

I personally believe it to be cowardice. How difficult is it to register? What are the problems with registering? Oh, you have to give your email. Well, create a fake gmail or yahoo account simple.

Oh, your posts are tracked? Well, it turns out your IP is logged either way, and I'm sure there's more repercussions with posting a crappy anonymous post than if you're a registered user.

I call it cowardice. That's it. If they were 'whistleblowers', which they're not, there would be a much better way of releasing the truth than posting anonymously.

I'd like to see this removed.

One more thing: We are already 'anonymous'. Everyone here is hiding behind an avatar. Most of us do not use our real name and picture or ourselves. Therefore, we are anonymous, or are created 'characters.'

There simply is no need for any more anonymity. Its a waste of server space.




[edit on 5/18/2008 by biggie smalls]

I also am annoyed by the anonymous feature. I think our real name and ip addresses should be displayed under the avatars.

reply to post by groingrinder

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I am not going to go that far. I like some level of privacy. However, the anonymous ats posts go too far.

They can say what they like without repercussion. No banning, just a deleted post.

If someone really wanted to figure out my real name, I'm sure they could do that anyway...

I disagree with the whole anon posters as well. I have made it known on another board about the same thing. I just feel like the anons won't be held accountable for what they say, therefore they will use their words recklessly and with no regards to the quality of ATS. Some will, but many won't. Signing up takes about 3 mins. If you have something to say, then sign up like the rest of us. This is a community, and it should stay that way. I see so many useless and offensive anon posts, to where its almost impossible not to ignore them. If I (and alot of other people) ignore them, then they are not even contributing, so why bother? I say disable the feature, but thats just one mans opinion.

He has a pretty cool avatar.

reply to post by thehumbleone

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Haha, yeah actually he does!

The reason I started this thread is a conspiracy against ATS to hijack the anon avatar to use as my own... BWAAAHAHAHA!

Thanks for all the contribution guys, and you're all right in your own way. But the two words that stuck in my head through the debate thus far is ACCOUNTABILITY and INDIVIDUAL. Take pride in your work people. Even if your job isn't to write there is still art there.

After a little thought I realized it's the "anonymous" tag to the user I have a problem with. On most boards it would be called a "guest" account and when the user finally decides to join the board they register and create a profile. It's no different here. I think everyone is getting hung up on the "anonymous" thing. We are all anonymous. It's actually just a guest account. I wonder why the 3 amigos decided to call it anonymous. Maybe they should rethink it.

Embrace change

reply to post by Skyfloating

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I am not afraid of change. There used to be anonymous posters. Obviously that was disabled for good reasons.

reply to post by Tuebor

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Very good point. Perhaps semantics are at fault.

@Skyfloating...
I love good change typically. Quarters, Half Dollars, those sacajeweias are nice too. But I jest..

If something changes and I think it is against the best interest of a forum I am a part of, I should be able to comment, no? Just contributing my 2 pennies. Not great change on my part, but we all do what we can.


ETA: Ahh poop. I just saw this post in the "Open Carry PA" thread... It was a great use of the anonymous post, as maybe that person just found it via google and didn't want to be a member, but contribute once... But then again, he left his name, so he's not very anonymous, he's a real person..





[edit on 5/18/08 by SantaClaus]

I've read a couple anonymous post that were actually quite good and did add too the overall quality of the thread. So, ignoring them all because you don't like the change in format is a bit selfish.

Maybe a compromise to remove some of the confusion by giving the anonymous posters a bit less anonymity by posting a couple octets of their IP address. Such as Anonymous poster 122.67 - it does not compromise who they are but adds some clarity of who we are conversing with when making multiple posts as well as gives them incentive to join and remove those octets.

anonymous posting

It's definitely still in "tweak mode". I've seen some pretty interesting stuff come through. And some non-contributory one liners. Even NO-liners..if the Anon poster was replying to someone else.
I know that I didn't expect the sheer volume of Anon Posts. I was amazed at how quickly it was adopted by non-members.

It could be quite the valuable tool, once dialed-in.

What kind of things would make it more palatable?

I agree. There are those who use it for their own purposes, aside from contributing well to ATS. A few bad apples spoil the barrel.
Don't get me wrong..
Bill, I think in theory it's a great idea.
As long as it is DEFINITELY monitored.
AD

It is a little confusing, having more that one AP posting is one thread. I tend to look over their post.

BUT as you all can see jedimiller has his photo up so now we can hunt him down! RELEASE THE HOUNDS!!!

Roper

[edit on 18-5-2008 by Roper]

Well SkepticOverlord said the other day that there were restrictions placed on its used (i.e. only 1 post ever 12 hours, and if the user has an ip that matches a member then they cannot use the feature).

Since those restrictions were put in place have the number of posts gone down? I would suspect that many of the posts were from members to begin with.