A Rebuttal In Defiance Of The GFL Troll Thread (and others like them)

It doesn't take a lot of common sense to notice that the GFL thread is severely depreciating the quality of ATS and the enjoyment to majority of ATS Members... Good, Productive Members!

As a clever Vulcan once said:
"The Needs Of The Many Outweigh The Needs Of The One".

I don't like to walk away from here feeling it's more acceptable to act like a kook or troll than it is to call someone out for overtly being one. Sadly it seems that the later is the bigger T&C crime at the moment. Yet it's the first that is doing the greater, overall damage...

Are we living in some alternate universe here because it all feels a bit back-to-front?

Sure, the sensationalism (and overt neo-religious zealotry) gets the website hits and that's all great but what about the long term? All good companies build their futures on reputation and this isn't the kind of reputation ATS needs.

Is this really that good for the members, The Aliens/UFO's Board and the future of ATS? I don't know, what do you think?

Sure, were told by management to just walk away and ignore the thread but when you truly care for the forum you contribute to, when you try to make it a better place, it's hard to turn a blind eye. After all, it's the turning of blind eye's that has made civilization the sad & sorry sight that it is today.

Sure I'm all for freedom of speech and right to express yourself but when there are dubious, divisive agendas driving those words and actions, a stop needs to be put to them.

Is it wise for ATS to be essentially giving unfettered air time to a UFO Cult that can never provide proof or substantiation of anything they say? Do threads that cannot provide evidence ever add anything positive to UFOlogy, a field that has already sustained many near fatal blows in the past?

I welcome comments from all those that support an end to much of this nonsense!

Star & Flag If You Feel This Is Important To You & Us!

IRM

[edit on 6/8/08 by InfaRedMan]

Mods - please fix my typo in the thread title thanks!

IRM

I definitely hear what you are saying, and agree.
I have noticed the increase in absolutely pointless threads about nothing but someones wild imagination running a bit wild. Agree, this is not the place to post these fantasies.


Starred and flagged

I kind of feel the same as you.Hadnt accessed ATS for a long while and came back a few weeks ago but the quality of threads,especially on the Aliens and UFO section have decreased dramactically over that period.
The GFL thread is a case in point....people have posted that you should just ignore these threads but in my opinion they are dragging down the good work of those trying to post serious evidence about UFOs on ATS.
It just makes people more cynical about what gets posted and forum members have little patience when people post and take time to produce evidence...for whatever reason.
It is coming to the point that,myself included,would think twice before posting any picture or evidence of a UFO here for fear of what would get posted in reply....

I hear you all!

Thankyou for those who have taken interest, contributed and supported the thread thus far! There are many that feel as we do - we are not alone.

Best,

IRM

I agree with the OP...But on the other hand we dont want this site to become what we all seem to hate and fight e.g. Loss of Freedom/REPRESSION ect.

I think the mods need too be a little more heavy handed...but with the option for the members to vote against a mods decision if it does not already exist.

It is getting harder to sort through the crap these days

I think it gets a bit silly this time of year on most forums (fora) It's the school holidays,every year is the same. The quicker threads are just destroyed,and the posters get the abuse they deserve,the quicker we can all have tea.

Better still,if everone just ignored pointlessly crappy threads like GFL stuff,then they'd just drop iff into the ether,and there'd be no 12 page slag-a-thons of people saying how much it brings the place down. Just ignore them. Do not feed the troll.

Originally posted by LastOutfiniteVoiceEternal

---

I come back and more of this crap still going on. C-ya, I'm out for another few months. What a waste of life, seriously.

These people and their organizations that spout this decrepit non-sense should be put up for crimes against Humanity, some sort of treason or deceit would be nice to subject them to.

Anyway, I'm out, have fun all.

Taken from the GFL Thread: (Page 10 no less)

Not a pretty sight is it....
Sadly this is a classic example of the real effect such threads are having on decent members. Hopefully LastOutfiniteVoiceEternal wont loose faith is the forum - but finding decent content is becoming as hard as finding a nanotube in a haystack.

IRM

[edit on 6/8/08 by InfaRedMan]

I get where you're coming from too,and I agree,the threads are pointless. (unless one day it comes true,then we'll all bow down greacefully in defeat I'm sure) But until that day,it's tosh. But,what can be done about it? I mean,this is a forum where the wild and wonderful stories can come together under one roof so to speak. What kind of censorship would be needed? And let us not forget,one mans crappy GFL thread is another mans gold ect. I'd rather a place of true free speach,accepting the stupidly insane,and inane alike. Over a place where if posters thought it was BS,threads get deleted on say so.
It's a toughy.

Wouldn't it make sense for mods to just move the threads in question to more appropriate forums like "Skunk Works" or "The Gray Area" when they show up? Then everyone can have their free speech (which is important) and the more evidence based forums like "Aliens & UFO's" can run a little leaner and more productive.

I don't think we need any kind of limits on what kinds of ideas can be expressed on ATS, we just need those ideas to be in the appropriate forums.

Well, I give you a flag and star, because I absolutely agree with you and this was well said.

As a skeptic who is trying REALLY hard to find the truth of this topic....I [repeat myself] am really frustrated and disconcerted with the whole topic of UFOs/Aliens. I barely even visit this forum anymore, whereas, I used to visit it every day, thruout the day. I have to wade thru so much obvious crap lately, that I really dont feel like doing that anymore. So a skeptic I remain.

I also agree with Internos that everyone should just ignore this crap and stop giving these frauds such attention. The more attention they get, the more threads that are started.

I also think the MODS should immiedately remove these types of threads to The Gray Area or Skunk Works. That way people who dont want to wade thru it all can avoid it all together.

Originally posted by Acidtastic
Just ignore them. Do not feed the troll.

That's a great idea.....but of the 360 members currently logged in, how many of them are going to practice that philosophy.....a dozen maybe? Of the 2000 that were on in the last 6 hours, how many?

The reasonable people here don't have enough fingers to plug the leaks in the metaphorical forum dike.

(Metaphorical forum.....nifty huh?)

It is a level of ignorance that is beginning to pervade the grand halls of this great forum.

It isn't just the threads on GFL, or the "I am being chased by a horned demon" threads. Luckily, we haven't seen many "Indigo" threads in awhile (thank God). But the other childish crap is tiresome, and has decreased my average input on this site quite a bit (as well as others I enjoy reading).

Moreover, the posting style is getting bad. I think it is due to political sockpuppets...but i have seen several pages of posts in the "Tyson Foods/Labor Day" thread arguing about how it isn't right to take away Labor day for Islam. This, after i posted an email FROM TYSON stating that it wasn't true and that the employee were being given individual choices.

Until after the election is over, we are going to see all internet forums go in the toilet for awhile. Same thing happened 4 years ago, and is why i generally abhor politics.

Better still,if everone just ignored pointlessly crappy threads like GFL stuff,then they'd just drop iff into the ether,and there'd be no 12 page slag-a-thons of people saying how much it brings the place down. Just ignore them. Do not feed the troll.

Great thread OP.

I totally agree and follow this, I don't participate in threads I don't think are legit in hopes it will drop off the "recent posts" list.

So start a don't feed the trolls campaign or stay away from threads that get those tiny hairs up.