Members' Friend and Foe Organizational Chart

It would add community and content to our ATS members section if there was a organizational chart that could be zoomed into our out of which grouped members based on profile associations. For example blue lines would connect friends and red lines would connect foes. "Party groups" would be clustered together. I would expect there would be some way to load the data set directly into a program like Openoffice Presentation (or ms powerpoint).

Your thoughts?

Sri Oracle

Hmm that might violate the terms and conditions....

2d.) Forum Gangs: You will not engaged in an organized collaboration with other members to disrupt thread topics or interrupt the flow of normal collaborative discussion. Doing so will result in immediate termination of posting privileges.

To see an organisational chart of this type you would in essence automaticly be creating a Forum Gang so to speak. I seriously doubt many would abuse this knowledge however certain members if found that had a common foe may inadvertantly start hounding said foe and thus become a quasi forum gang without really realising it.

Couse you could always just get out an excell sheet and do the work yourself

reply to post by whatukno


like forum Gangs arent happening already on ATS
just because you cant see it doesnt mean members arent already abusing the system and doing this, many topics are examples of this.

also question to the OP
your on about a simmiler chart they have on facebook?

reply to post by Sri Oracle


I don't know how this would work.

I like you and name you as a friend. You don't like me, so I'm not listed as your friend. Or, you hate me, and I'm listed as your foe.

Add another person into the mix, and draw the lines where she is both of our friend/foe or my friend your foe.

The chart would be unreadable.

What would be the purpose of this chart?

Otoh, what I already know about the social makeup of ATS is already depressing enough. Not sure I'd want to see it memorialized on paper.

I just want a tally of people who have picked me as a friend, so I can quickly look and see if someone new has picked me. I hate scouring my list to see if there is anyone that I might be ignoring.

A U2U would be nice, but many threads have asked for it and it just seems like it isn't going to happen.

reply to post by bodrul


Well, I don't think we need to encourage this behavior further by making it easier for these gangs to get started myself. I think that just a little time taken to check out your profile every once and a while to see who has made you their friend is well worth the effort.

It's just my 2c

the friends thing should not be used like that here. this is no myspace, and it should not be seen as an overtly "networking" site (although i do network quite a bit unofficially...and those folks don't add me to any list).

I don't pay too much attention to the friends list. i have 7 in mine, but that is more so i can quickly access their posts (those 7 in particular have outstanding content).

Personally, I cant imagine the benefit of such a thing being worth the trouble it would take to create. It could certainly be done though.

Check out this interactive map of American ties to Bilderberg. It shows how relationships can be visually represented in an interactive format.

Interactive Map of Relationships
Give it a sec for the Java app to load...

Originally posted by SystemiK
Check out this interactive map of American ties to Bilderberg. It shows how relationships can be visually represented in an interactive format.

Exactly... a Relationship Map

Thats what I meant more so than "organization chart"

Originally posted by jsobecky
The chart would be unreadable.
What would be the purpose of this chart?

I think a relationship map would be a good research tool to follow "schools of thought" "schools of journalism" at ATS, it is visual representation of data already available.

Sri Oracle

[edit on 17-7-2008 by Sri Oracle]

reply to post by Sri Oracle

I think a relationship map would be a good research tool to follow "schools of thought" "schools of journalism" at ATS, it is visual representation of data already available.

On second thought, I can see how such a chart would be quite handy..

Let me know when you've got a model for us to examine.

Originally posted by jsobecky
I like you and name you as a friend. You don't like me, so I'm not listed as your friend. Or, you hate me, and I'm listed as your foe.

Perhaps along with blue and red for friend and foe, the lines would also be directional with arrows.

For what its worth... I do like you. I just disagree with; am frustrated by, many of your stated positions. If I hated you, you would not have made it to my "respected" foes list.

Sri Oracle

reply to post by Sri Oracle


In case you didn't know, on your profile as well as others here on ATS, there is a field that shows your own friends and foes.

In case you were talking about more in depth organizational charting, as someone else has mentioned, you've got the right to do it yourself, if you really and truly want to take that kind of time, but ATS itself would probably never do that, they do not want one side becoming more powerful than another, and then start posting gangs.

Personally, I don't know anyone here on ATS, with that much time on their hands so as to make an organizational chart.

I know when I personally add someone as a friend, I U2U them, to ask as well as invite them to this, so that's how I do it.