"Are dragon flies real?" etc ad nauseum.

Is there a legitimate sensible answer for this?

I am baffled as to why ATS sees fit not to protect its integrity.

Investors are lost in such ways, as you may well know.

You may want to recheck your defintion of "quality content".

You may want to start moving a hell of alot more threads to BTS.

Will this turn into a website that people just go to when they're bored and want to amuse themselves?

Curious,
SteveR

Some of the threads are bad. But whats worse in my opinion, is the daily helping of threads-about-threads...such as yours.

The time invested in writing this one was 5 minutes. That could have been invested in adding quality content to balance out the non-quality-content.

With hundreds of threads a day you´ll just have to choose the 2-3 that are good and interesting in your eyes.

Its about choosing rather than judging.


Disclaimer: Not posting as a Moderator here

That applies anywhere but it is also a cop out from addressing my points. You know as I do that ATS touts itself as high quality content that is superior to most websites. This was true in the past, no question. Right now though, it's a tenuous statement. That is to be fulfilled by the posters ofcourse, but what I see is you do the posters and yourselves a big disservice by tolerating the clearly definable nonesense that permeates these forums incessantly. You bring the average quality level down by allowing superb well-researched threads and "dragon flies are US government droids" side by side. You make the forum uncomfortable for investors and high caliber members alike.

If a concerned thread in the board questions forum is worse to you than the situation I've just described, you do not have ATS's best interests at heart.

reply to post by SteveR

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I agree with you to a certain extent. The plague you speak of has become more prominent in the last month or so IMO. Threads such as the dragon fly thread would quickly go away, yet people continue to post in them. Though I've chimed on a few due to the utter ridiculousness of them.... yet, the real solution is to ignore them. If no one posts on these junk threads they will die faster than Molly Ringwald's career.

I have noticed that mods have been a little less vigilant in throwing threads into BTS that clearly belong there, and letting some really really bad threads remain, but give them a break. This site is growing quickly and they have a lot of posts, threads, and people to keep an eye on.

In the end it probably is better to just ignore the junk threads, and maybe this thread is relatively pointless as well. Just know that I do share in your frustration, and I don't really blame you for starting this thread either, even if it is just to vent.

[edit on 14-7-2008 by Osiris1953]

Ive always been for quality-management and quality over quantity.

Ive always said that its more important to have good members than many members.

However, the enormity of it all (in amount of posts) and the ambiguity of it all (who decides whats good?) have taught me a lesson.

Lets take your example: "Dragon flies are not real".

A few years ago I read a serious article stating that a company was considering using dragonflies in the context of nanotechnology for spying purposes.

So there you have it: Someones "crazy infantile imagination" has something to it seen from another perspective.

So again rather than judge whats good and whats not good, choose.

reply to post by Skyfloating

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yeah ive had people laugh at my low point level (when I did have points)

i replied, i usually join in, i just dont start a thread about anything

there are tons of posts that dont belong at all or people just making small talk through posts

too many same old arguements that people want to get in on with a fresh thread than be on page 212 of some other posting

its nonsense, i like long posts like that cause it keeps going

most people are too lazy to even read

i google alot of sh*t before i post or think about a thread

i think alot more people need to do that as well

inform yourself before asking tons of questions so you feel prepared

It's summer time we have more visits from the younger members at this time of the year.

So is not unusual to encounter more threads that seems to be written out of boredom.

Just ignore them.

No offense though SteveR. Im just as concerned about quality as you are. But the only real solution seems to be to contribute it onself rather than expecting it from others.

Assume Responsibility for the Quality of ATS.

[edit on 14-7-2008 by Skyfloating]

totally agree skyfloating but when a post runs out way passed than it should, i think something should be done

i guess there is balance too

i also see the kid aspect of it, which you cant help, its not like you are going to monitor every member

i just sift, it does get frustrating to find the good ones, even if i just read more than i post

and have posted on dumb ones i guess from comic relief

ob la di ob la dah

reply to post by MurderCityDevil

---

yes, something should be done. By who? By you. You can file a complaint with the official Complaint-Form and in 1 instance out of 2 an extremely low quality thread will get

a) trashed
b) moved
c) closed

These three happen many times a day.

reply to post by Skyfloating

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No offense taken. We are both interested in the same outcome. Many thanks for the replies all.

reply to post by Skyfloating

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did not know that existed

i need to fool around more with all the hoopla here

i mostly read and post here and there

Fact of the matter is, we need your help in keeping the quality rolling. This is done in two ways:


a) Alert us to extremely low quality posts using the complaint-form in the MemCenter

b) Create thoughtful and sincere threads.

One thing I have noticed about these the threads you are talking about SteveR, is that if no one went to them, read them, and posted in them, they would fade out in 30 minutes. Therefore, someone, and apparently a lot of someone's judging from their popularity, are finding them interesting.

Just because you don't, doesn't mean a large number of members on ATS don't. I don't read threads like that but it doesn't bother me in the least that they are around. ATS is for all levels of interests, ages and levels of intelligence and it is content driven from the members so what you see, is what the members want to read and write about.

Like skyfloating said, make your own threads or at least post in the ones you like and contribute content to them, and don't worry about the "investors." Let the owners worry about that.

Yes we get our fair share of "interesting" threads - that may or may not have ANY merit at all - but this still remains a Free Site - that anyone is allowed to join. Anyone is allowed to join, anyone is allowed to post replies, and anyone is allowed to start a thread. As this is the internet, and people can be whoever they want, its hard to determine WHO will contribute excellent posts...and who won't - we're all just 1's and 0's in terms of information. We all have screen names - we don't have resumes or cridentials - essentially, we are anonymous.

Unless we'd like to start paying for this site and restricting people from making such posts - then I don't think we can really complain...I think we just have to sort through the threads and decide for ourselves - which ones interest us, and which ones don't. We also have to understand, that everyone has different interests - and what interests you - may not interest me, and vice versa.


- Carrot

i thought i seen it all until i saw the thread saying the dinosaurs died because humans went back in time to eat them

Again, and again Neformore covered this a while back, I thought his ideas on this subject were well thought out. I liked his ideas so much I linked his thread into my signature Be the change you wish to see.

This is paramount in my opinion. Don't post to bad topics even to tell the op that it is a bad topic. Just let the bad topic die. It happens, the offending topic if not fed will eventually slide right off the board never to be seen from again.

Also BTS/Skunk Works is not the garbage can of ATS, I really find it offensive that some members think that these areas are the place to put garbage posts. BTS is for less than serious or off topic or non conspiratorial contributions of members.

Again it basically comes down to you as a member, what do you want to see? Make that effort instead of making a relatively whiny post about threads you find not to your liking, make ones that are or better yet find those topics that are worthwhile to discuss and add to them.

I have seen a great many good topic just slide off the board because of what I feel bad topics taking all of the members time and effort. But then again that is of course up to members, as this is a user generated content site, it's up to the members to contribute to it. So my take is that those topics that in your eyes aren't worth discussing others seem to want to discuss them. Therefore they are valid topics aren't they? Those members seem to show the change they wish to see.

There are tons of topics that I find ridiculous on this site, I don't post in them because I find them ridiculous. But others feel that they have to share their thoughts about how ridiculous the topic is, which unfortunately is the wrong thing to do as it brings the topic back to the top of the page, gives the topic another view and another reply. When in my opinion the topic if left alone would die a natural death never to offend the main board again. Yet these members are in their way being the change they wish to see.

This site is evolving, it is evolving at an ever increasing rate. This means that we all have to either evolve with it, force it by our contributions to change to where we want it to go, or leave altogether. That is the only real solution. Why bother a mod with a topic that you find stupid? Just because you find a topic ridiculous, stupid, moronic, or pathetic does not mean it's not a valid topic. It just means that you feel those things about the topic and if you do not post in them that is one less time it will be at the top of the board and you in a way will be the change you wish to see.

So my suggestion again is to read the well thought out thread by Nefermore and initiate the change you wish to see on this board by bringing what you feel is quality content to this site.

Sorry SteveR but that's my small minuscule opinion on the matter, nothing personal against you, but I am quite getting tired of reading these kinds of whiny threads about this site when it's perfectly obvious that the original poster in each case has the power to instead of bitching about the site could be contributing to its content in a positive way and make this site what they want to see.

Not all people are created equally. Tolerance in a public forum is requiset for a democratic and open forum to exist. Yes you need to plod through dreck, looking for pearls. There are those who help shift the content into neater piles for you.

As you make your transition from the shelter of your dear and sainted parents, into a more public environment you will find that not everyone on the street is your age, went to the same schools, or is a native speaker of your language. Not all are even as intelligent, or mentally stable, or well you name it.

He will always be a burdon to his dear and sainted mother and he will always be another one of us. Steppenwolf lyrics.

You are also, one of us,: Welcome to the monkeyhouse!

[edit on 14-7-2008 by Cyberbian]

Precisely. However, I do find it highly troubling when a thread written (obviously) from a juvenile or "just for ___ and giggles" standpoint is discussed so thoroughly.

Its the fault of the members, not the Mods. We can self-moderate by just pressing the back button instead of contributing to the neverending bumps these things get.

Sadly, it seems the posters don't mind seeing garbage float to the top of their lake.

reply to post by SteveR

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I see where you are going, Steve. But I really think that a lot of these posts have a deeper meaning than you give credit for.

For example, the "Dragon Flies" thread was brilliant in a lot of ways -- really original viewpoint. (I think Dragon Flies might actually be spying on us -- who knows how the mind of an insect works? Really, its worth pondering.)

You know what helps me? I've spent a lot of time studying Stichomancy -- give it a shot:

www.facade.com...

I am convinced that a lot of these ATS and BTS posts are actually guided by a strange type of predestination that even the original authors are not quite aware of.

I am sympathetic to your viewpoint, but I disagree with it.