Anonymous Posting on ATS

Since similar questions by ATS members keep getting raised Im opening this to refer all the question-threads to, so that staff can keep up with the issues.

This is what site admin SkepticOverlord has posted about the Anonymous posting function in other threads so far:

Yes, this is a new twist on an old feature that was discontinued some time back.

Due to our rising popularity, there's an increasing number of visitors who would like to provide some feedback on specific topics... but may not be interested in membership or following other topics on ATS. This feature enables these people to provide their opinion or information in a quick and painless way, then our staff decides if it's appropriate or not (over 90% of the anonymous replies have been approved, only those with T&C violations are not).

Already I've seen several very-good contributions through this method, so the early indications are very good.

We're experimenting with the idea to see how it goes. As we get experience with the kind of material being posted, we might refine the process and/or limit the number of anonymous posts someone can make within a defined period of time. We might also do a cross-reference check against known member IP addresses... good point brought up in this thread.

We've refined the message given to those who use the anonymous rely feature, and have made it clear that we'll only approve replies that provide a substantive contribution to the discussion... as well as very-strict compliance with terms & conditions.

Some updates for this new feature...


Members
If our system detects the IP address of a member, their anonymous post will not be accepted.


Frequency
People making anonymous posts will be limited to one post every twelve hours. They'll be directed to create a member account if they try to post more than that.


Quality
Our staff is only approving posts that provide substantive contributions to the discussion.

These are some of the threads by members raising issues about anonysmous ATS:

Who is this anon poster?


This anon poster makes ATS less of what it is


ATS Anonymous observation


Ghost posting


Please add all anonymous posting issues to this thread.



[edit on 26-5-2008 by Skyfloating]

If one is asking for an opinion, here goes...

I don't much care for it. I realize that most of us don't use our names as screen names, but this anonymous stuff is...well...too anonymous. With most member posters we know what to expect after a while...those that we don't neccessarily get along with, we can ignore one way or another...

It just seems so impersonal to me. I know I'm making a hash of explaining myself, hopefully you'll all understand what I mean?

As you can see the Anonymous poster can now make derogatory remarks towards ATS www.abovetopsecret.com...




this was a reply by a Anonymous poster
posted on 26-5-2008 @ 04:37 AM single this post "quote"REPLY TO:

guys, it's simply the number "1" and it just happens to be positioned over a light colored rock. yes, a white number 1. similar to the 0's visible in other photographs. it is part of the image, not part of the martian landscape.

i would think anyone working with a decent monitor and decent vision can see that. then again i'm on ats.


[edit on 26-5-2008 by deadcatsrule] added link

[edit on 26-5-2008 by deadcatsrule]

[edit on 26-5-2008 by deadcatsrule]

ATS Anonouymous observation

When ATS ANY posts, a mod must view, and accept the post, before being posted on the thread.


But.

In a thread with less then 20 responses, when you click on reply, below where you post your text it shows the previous posts, if the topic is on 1 page.

When you are looking at the posts, you can see the reply of the ATS ANY, but the reply is not yet veiwiable in the thread itself.

1. Is ATS aware of this problem?

2. If this is not a problem, how can we view ATS ANY posts on threads that are 'long'?



Just letting you know...

reply to post by TKainZero


The Staff are aware of the Topic Review thing TK, it was brought up by several people a day or so after the Anony feature came back. Hehe

reply to post by TKainZero


Yes...this has been brought up a few times.

The reason for this is that anonymous posts have to be "approved by staff" before they can be seen.

This is to avoid the spamming and abuse experienced with the old anon-system.

If I had of known that I could have always just posted anon. I probably would have.

My member ship here now means less. My opinions mean less.
The points have just become a meaningless gratuity.

I have lost the feeling of community as some truly fine thoughtful members have been banned or just lost interest. What's going on?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!

[edit on 26-5-2008 by whaaa]

Originally posted by seagull


It just seems so impersonal to me. ?

I so agree!!! You really get to know one another on here by our screen names and avatars. But, this is like, "what the heck" I don't know. I like knowing who I am talking too. Too secertive this away.

Why are they hiding? Could it also be someone whose been banned before?

Call me a drama Queen, but I liked the idea of anon posts not being screened/approved.

More chance of something "off the wall" or "risky"!!!

LOL, well it's the truth!

I would still expect something "unacceptable" to be removed immediately by quick staff or member alerts, but I do like the element of open anonymous posts.

reply to post by interestedalways


The stuff that gets filtered out is not the "risky" stuff. Its the T&C breaking junk such as topic-unrelated advertisement, name-calling-vulgarity, the posting of private phone numbers and email adresses, gore, etc.

Anybody have anything nice to say about anonymous posting?

reply to post by Skyfloating



Well, that's fair.

I suppose some people would take advantage of an open border!!!

I do remember an incedent when some one came off with some mutilated gross stuff and it was taken care of pretty quickly, thank goodness, but I could see the potential for abuse particularly for the marketers and such.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
Anybody have anything nice to say about anonymous posting?

Ummmm.... Nope

Well I do love that avatar

I think the avatar is cool too!

2 Anonymous ATS post to 2 different threads have yet to be posted. (1) Fema Coffins in Georgia www.abovetopsecret.com...' and Pine Gap Underground Entry www.abovetopsecret.com...'

on "myATS" page it shows Anonymous ATS post. Would you be so kind and help me to understand?

Originally posted by musselwhite
2 Anonymous ATS post to 2 different threads have yet to be posted. (1) Fema Coffins in Georgia www.abovetopsecret.com...' and Pine Gap Underground Entry www.abovetopsecret.com...'

on "myATS" page it shows Anonymous ATS post. Would you be so kind and help me to understand?

Be so kind...there´s no need to alert us to anonymous posts the entire staff sees them all. Some are published, some are not for reasons explained above.

Originally posted by Skyfloating

Be so kind...there´s no need to alert us to anonymous posts the entire staff sees them all. Some are published, some are not for reasons explained above.

Thanks. I'm not alerting anyone, I am just curious as to what "might" have been posted on a thread of mine and that of another I am interested in.

I appreciate your kindness.

I don't really care about anonymous posting on ATS, but anonymous posting on BTS doesn't really make sense to me. I thought BTS was where members got to know each other better. If this is so people can try ATS before joining I think it should just be on ATS, and once they join they can go into BTS and talk to members about other stuff. Like another perk of becoming a member.

[edit on 27/5/08 by enjoies05]

Originally posted by Skyfloating
Anybody have anything nice to say about anonymous posting?

Nope, Sorry. I just don't see the point of having anonymous posters. One of the main reasons is that if a discussion is moving along at a really brisk pace, by the time the anonymous post is approved, it may not be relevant anymore, or end up out of sync with the other posts. It may not be too big of an issue now, but down the road when 100's of anonymous posts need to be approved every hour or two, I think this will start to show up.

I also don't see what is so hard about registering. By taking the time to register, it shows sincerity in providing a (hopefully) decent post and a genuine interest in the topic. And in the end, all members are anonymous unless you choose to reveal a lot of personal info on your member page.


EDIT to add: I also think that I would prefer to have the mods moderating threads rather than spending time approving anonymous posts...

[edit on 5/27/2008 by DCFusion]

Thanks for all the contributions for staff consideration guys.