ATS selling out: Membership quantity over quality

it wasn't anything special, just something that didn't sit well with the folks we were dealing with.

reply to post by Crakeur

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But the higher the membership and the more threads create the more 'hits' the site gains on web searches, and the more ad revenue it gains, right?

That's always been the way I've seen it. And if that is moderately correct, does that mean that the quality of the threads doesn't necessarily matter, as long as it has more pages, and the possibility of hitting certain key words in google searches.

Maybe I'm wrong on that though.

I see, you must be the first ammendment police, sorry I didn't see your badge, it is all brown and stuck to your nose.

do you always try to deny free speach or only when you don't agree with it?

The only negative thing that has been obvious and has stood out to me since the big boom of ATS growth has been the notable disappearance of what I would call a lot of "old school" posters.

That is, people who used to post daily on here who had a lot of wisdom to pass along are suspiciously absent from the boards these days. Not to name anyone specifically, just posters who were well respected and added a great deal to these forums, people who actually had inside sources and were experts in their chosen genre. Posters who's work first attracted me to this site back in 2005 and made ATS a learning experience and a wealth of useful knowledge.

I remember back when the quality of material was so high grade that you would almost hesitate to post as a novice for fear of appearing dense compared to these other brilliant minded folks.

These days....not so much.

I don't know if it is the huge influx of noobs or the overall current negativity and political squabbling that dominates the boards, but something seems to have made a lot of these top notch contributors back away. So in this sense I see what the OP is saying by quantity over quality.

reply to post by ObamaMomma

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I'm not denying free speech, i'm denying you the right to act in a condescending nature towards other posters, which is very similar to how you are acting towards me right now.

You might feel that is somewhat unfair, so;

Cry to mommy.

reply to post by BlackOps719

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Just my opinion - the quality's still there, but we're bigger and busier than we were 3 years ago. I'd invite you to check out the newest forum, if you haven't already - www.abovetopsecret.com...

Some significant quality there. But don't blame me if you head over there and get caught up in it.

reply to post by Anti-Tyrant

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You can't deny me anything friend
you can't even make me lose my temper. In fact I have enjoyed this little squable.

But I apologize to everyone else for staying off topic.

cheers

The personal commentary shall cease now. How ironic for such to occur under this topic.

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I wanted to add that there is an implicit responsibility in being a member here. If one encounters an inflammatory post, or an ignorant one there is more than one option to consider as response.

1) The obvious course of action is to denounce the post for its sub standard quality. This is far and away the most used response and is the most inadequate, as the only accomplishment is a perpetuation of a "he said, she said" type mentality.

2) Denounce the substandard post, but in an analytical fashion, using objectivity and supporting facts to highlight the inaccurracies of said post. A good option. This furthers the base for discussion and encourages others to post in kind.

3) Perhaps a personal u2u to the member (Staff need not be the only ones who can extend a friendly hand), especially if the member is new. Many may be surprised at power contained in the simple gesture of friendship. By making the interactions personal, a member who is here for kicks or for incessant spamming may just decide the quality of our membership is a good reason to up the quality of their own participation.

4) Just ignore it. Retreat from the rising cesspool that said thread be creating and find a worthier topic/thread more suited to the use of your time.

Seriously, a lot of energy is expelled at defining the fact that their are problems on this board. What I haven't particularily noticed are solutions. It seems we get a thread like this on the declinig quality and they are at times an implicit, if not intentional, harping on the membership and the site.

To what end?

I say post quality. Read Quality. Those who know what quality is, will recognize it. Let the people here to play and speculate do just that. If we notice someone along the way that has potential, give a direction or a simple hello.

The best way to increase/retain the quality that we do have here is by being the quality and focusing on it.

Honey and vinegar...that's all it is.

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Byrd kicked my butt on my first thread...

I might not have tried as hard as I did afterwards if I hadn't been so embarrassed!!

My logic is if you wouldn't say it in a pub then don't write it up here.

And stretching this alcoholic beverage outlet analogy to its breaking point, if a guy's sitting at the bar wielding a megaphone & telling all the other patrons, day in day out, just how bad Obama is ... no other subject, just Obama ... & not listening to the other patrons, ignoring all their replies and just going on and on and on about Obama like a cracked record ... the landlord would throw him out eventually, free speech or not.

That's what I dislike about ATS at the moment. Those with closed minds & their own agenda. It should die off come November, hopefully.

I understand and respect your view that you may be disgruntled with posts from fellow members or anonymous posters.. but "generalizing" the whole ATS as being bigoted and biased is a bit "unfair" to the majority of members in each field of interests/topics.

Since this is an open "free" forum on the net one would expect a "diverse" group of individuals to come and post at their leisure what may be interesting to them. What they may say may rub others the wrong way, hence why there are "rules" for those who "contribute".

What I find misleading is how you throW out your findings that all "ATS" is, how should I say, hitting the rocks with slander and inappropriate "views".

Perhaps you could clarify the "areas" within ATS that is troubling you? As I hope you're not referring to "all" of ATS as that would mean you're critizing every topic available to ATS.



[edit on 24-6-2008 by Willbert]

reply to post by yeahright

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I appreciate the heads up, I will definately check the new forum out when I have a few minutes.


I agree there is still quality to be found here, I guess sometimes you can get lost in the chaotic shuffle. I don't think the site or the ownership has sold out, I would likely attribute most of the current issues to growing pains.

It's not easy to handle so much new traffic Im sure, you guys really do a terrific job (and often thankless...so thanks!)

reply to post by ObamaMomma

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Yes i can, i just did.

It doesn't mean that you or anyone else has to accept it, but there you have it.

I deny you your right to act in such a callous way towards other posters.

Understand?

Well then, clear sailing for me here, isn't it?

reply to post by MemoryShock

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Yep...I have been taken down a peg or two in my day by veteran members as well. When you first start out you think you know everything, and by the end of the first day you realize that you know very little about anything

Like you said though, makes you tougher and forces you to shut up and listen and hopefully improve.

reply to post by Rasobasi420

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Content is key. As is always the case, when you have more people offering their input, you will have more to sift thru to get to the good stuff. Hopefully the good stuff increases along as well.

It should also be noted that some of your oldest, most often discussed conspiracies revolve around hatred. Jews have been scapegoats for centuries. So it should be expected that any new conspiracy will inevitably be tied to such a long standing evil group of people. Look at it from a ufo and alien position. There are many long standing members who can rattle off the list of accepted hoaxers in the ufo community and still we get new members who come here, sign up and want to know more about (insert hoaxer here). How on earth can we still be talking about Meier or Serpo or the Haiti video when it has been shown, over and over, that these stories are not true? Well, for someone who hasn't heard both sides of the story, they don't know what we've shown here.

So, you get new members who come here with only the knowledge that they learned in their lives. We educate them and, hopefully, they grow and evolve. I dated a girl in college who came from a very small town in Indiana. The first night I kissed her she was running her hands thru my hair, massaging my scalp. I asked her what she was doing and she responded with "feeling for horns."

that's right, as recent as the 1990's there was someone who thought jews might actually have horns. (we do, but, being jewish, it's more like a kazooo but that's another story for another day). She seriously had no clue about jewish people beyond what she had learned in her little town and from her family. nobody in her town had ever really come into contact with the fearsome horned jew until her. On a side note, when summer rolled around and she asked me to come visit her I quickly declined and told her she had to come to me as she wouldn't be a sideshow attraction in my neck of the woods, other than for her hotness.

reply to post by Crakeur

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that would be annoying. because i get plenty of pop-ups on this site as it is. though this is new i dont remember this happening a month ago. my blocker dosent catch them on this site. im not leaving because of it, but id rather see them on the side of the window instead of popping up when im in the middle of reading or writeing....

I think this statement came out wrong hu? you don't think they are evil, i mean you are one so..? just confused.

My opinion was this

Be the change you wish to see

Writing a post complaining about ATS is far easier than researching a subject and writing about it.

But the less people who research subjects and write about them, the more people will complain about ATS and "standards"

Its a simple message be the change you wish to see.

reply to post by ObamaMomma

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sarcasm

Ive been reading this Forum since 2003, and every few months someone who is bored and/or frustrated will come up with "ATS is selling out" or some other BS.

Instead of contributing their own threads or remaining silent, they bash the place, ignorant of the fact that it is their own threads that make this place what it is or is not.

Get a clue, get a life.