Is Everyone On ATS Fine? I Notice High Decrease In Activity

I generally do a lot more reading than posting, as well, as many have already mentioned in this thread. Since I'm a relatively new member I haven't really seen any decrease in new threads or responses. I enjoy reading though.

Me, I've been busy with springtime things: preparing and gopher-proofing the gardens, getting the pool clean again, weeding, fixing stuff. Still have a ton to do.

But I've noticed a lull in quality, or perhaps more accurately, relevant-to-me posts. I haven't had the time or energy to do more than check in every few days to see what's up. I think the current sociopoliticoeconomic situation is in some sort of circularly stagnating downward spiral that defies further discussion: we've seen this and passed that several times now. Something new needs to happen to spark more substantive discussions.

Balance Due

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
Managing a very-large social content community is a balancing act. If we reacted as (apparently) angry as you are to some of these relatively minor offenses, we'd be turning away a lot of people who may have something extraordinary to say.

I think this is a very important point for all members to keep in mind.

Despite the usual suspicions and "censorship/Nazi mod" allegations that tend to get hurled in our direction, we really do try to be as reasonable and flexible as possible without being too lax about enforcing the terms & conditions.

It's not always an easy call. Sometimes members post some pretty awful things, and sometimes the best response is to come down hard without a lot of fanfare. But more often than not, it's usually better to try to cut some slack and give members the benefit of the doubt.

The consequence of a less hard-edged approach can indeed be an increase in rude, off-topic or disruptive posts in our forums, but that's still generally better than over-moderating and being "board tyrants".

Ultimately, the best judge of what belongs on ATS is the community as a whole, and all of us as members are the ones who set the tone with every post we write. Granted, that means some ups and downs, and we all have good days and bad, but it also means we are rewarded with a broader range of viewpoints, which is a win for everyone.

The way we do things on ATS can often seem imprecise, because it is. While it is tempting to want to fix every little problem and strive for uniformity and perfection, it turns out that a relaxed approach is a more robust and appropriate strategy for managing our forums.

It is understandable that some (heck, maybe even most) of our members might be unhappy with that to some degree or another, but so far, it has proven to be much better than the alternatives.





[edit on 4/8/2009 by Majic]