User Generated Content. Where Is It? A Call To The Membership

Originally posted by schrodingers dog

Originally posted by skepticantiseptic[/quote

What is it specifically that YOU want?

Moi? I want nothing. I was just stating my opinion on why the posters who normally post are no longer posting as much. The only reason I occasionally post is to briefly answer a thread. No cream to make, no cream to have.


And cut and paste stinks on this site! Why is it so hard, esp for all us html idiots. I can't get it right as seen above.




[edit on 28-11-2009 by skepticantiseptic]

[edit on 28-11-2009 by skepticantiseptic]

Originally posted by blupblup
reply to post by kiwifoot

 

I don't mean all MSM... some stories are very worthwhile, but stories about What shoes Obama wore or whatever... seem to have increased dramatically.
I don't mean Obama threads... just pointless crap that the MSM lap up and pollute peoples minds with... the kind of stuff that we should ignore here.


I dunno.


Just ignore me...

Nah man, I hear you, don't worry!

And I think I know what you mean.

There are a lot of threads (some of mine included!) that should probably not be on ATS and could quite possible belong on BTS.

No worries mate!

Originally posted by skepticantiseptic

Moi? I want nothing. I was just stating my opinion on why the posters who normally post are no longer posting as much. The only reason I occasionally post is to briefly answer a thread. No cream to make, no cream to have.

I'm honestly not trying to have a go at you, but you did say:

The site doesn't reward anyone for their opinions or work. I don't mean monetarily, I mean by recognition. I have said it before many times, the site needs to get people interested in continuing the contributions.

So I'm simply asking what it is that you propose as "reward" that would motivate one to contribute more than the rewards I outlined in my previous post?

Not nitpicking, just trying to understand.

[edit on 28 Nov 2009 by schrodingers dog]

Seems like its been taken over by the godlikeproductions crew ...

Sorry but its true ...alot of posters make no sense like they are on crack or are like 3 years old...its very hard to have a conversation with people like that .

Well at least I have started a good conversation about our problems here and how we can work together to fix them.

I understand and agree with all those who have given reasons as to why they do not post. But lack of doing so out of saying "cause they don't want it" doesn't really sit well with me.

I don't create threads for anything other than wanting to open a conversation surrounding the topic. We all have things we want to talk about that are conspiracy related, things which have never seen the light of day on any board, let alone ATS.

All I am saying is nothing will change until we as the membership step up and shape our own community. Because that's what it is OUR community.

Sure the staff get a lot of flack for various reasons that we won't get into, but at the end of the day, without the membership this website is nothing.

And without a contributing membership, it's less than nothing. It becomes something akin to Godlike productions and the Prison Planet.

This is simply a thread asking members to work together to elevate ATS from the downward spiral it's been taking.

My apologies if I offended anybody.

~Keeper

reply to post by schrodingers dog


SD you maybe skipped my prior post. Maybe if the members could vote it up to the top you would have seen it, and maybe not. But just the chance would have been nice.

But you ask again and again I say, I want nothing from the site as currently designed. And that is what we all get. (except for the site itself which I love out of necessity)

Please read the "whole" thread and answer your own question to satisfaction.



[edit on 28-11-2009 by skepticantiseptic]

Originally posted by Simplynoone
Seems like its been taken over by the godlikeproductions crew ...

Sorry but its true ...alot of posters make no sense like they are on crack or are like 3 years old...its very hard to have a conversation with people like that .

And a -->star

reply to post by tothetenthpower




I don't think you've offended anyone at all my friend.
You are 100% right in your question/request and your motive is an honourable and purposeful one.

As it is user generated, the only way we can sort out the mess is to do something about it.
It seems at the moment it's more about quantity than quality as far as the threads are concerned.

I'm sure It'll sort itself out.

We have some of the most intelligent,inspirational and enlightened members of any discussion board on the web, it's only a matter of time before things pick up.

reply to post by blupblup


Agreed.

Let's all hope this is just a "growing" pain that ATS is going through and that at some point before the summer we get back to the way it was when I joined.

~Keeper

Originally posted by skepticantiseptic
reply to post by schrodingers dog

 

SD you maybe skipped my prior post. Maybe if the members could vote it up to the top you would have seen it, and maybe not. But just the chance would have been nice.

But you ask again and again I say, I want nothing from the site as currently designed. And that is what we all get.

Ok, so you are offering yet another external "carrot/stick" system as a superior reward and incentive to post ... it is my opinion that no such system works which would please everybody, in fact life itself teaches that lesson.

Unless one is here wanting nothing but the reward of participation for its own sake, one will inevitably in time be disappointed.

Please read the "whole" thread and answer your own question to satisfaction.

Thank you for assisting me in my thread comprehension skillz. I am old and slow of mind, as such any further clarification and assistance is always welcome. Although to be fair, had I realized that it was your aforementioned apocryphal idea that was the spark to turn the tide of this apparently sinking ship, I can assure you I would have given it the attention it merited.

[edit on 28 Nov 2009 by schrodingers dog]

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
reply to post by blupblup

 

Agreed.

Let's all hope this is just a "growing" pain that ATS is going through and that at some point before the summer we get back to the way it was when I joined.

~Keeper

Well I for one don't bother any more. Call it disaffection owing to bad design or whatever. It is an indicator, and along with the falling quality thread numbers seems to point to a problem.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I completely agree to this statement

Now everything we see on ATS is user generated, we all know that much, however I have seen a sharp decline in the amount of actual stories and related conspiracy discussion in the past few months.

Also lot of unreliable sources(private blogs, no facts etc) are being used as sources in discussions but also as sources to create new threads which not only degrades the quality of informations but the quality of ATS itself.

reply to post by schrodingers dog


People like recognition from all, not just the community. The ability for all threads/posts to be recognized as the very best is ALL it would take.

Imagine during a time of important breaking news if the threads that are voted most important by the membership would rise to the top along with all of the important posts.

I know, the threads with most replies rise to the top...yes, but the posts do not. And also if the most popular threads and posts were able to be saved in order of popular vote. Damn man, we are a voting DEMOCRACY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

Instead of trying to one up each other which really does nothing to contribute to this thread except to point out the inadequacies of the current website design.

That is my final reply. I tire of this "I know best because I'm a "Super Moderator" banter. I have real work to do to pay my cable bill, so I can get back on ATS in the future and not contribute or be recognized except for the occasional lousy star or flag.





[edit on 28-11-2009 by skepticantiseptic]

Originally posted by skepticantiseptic
reply to post by schrodingers dog

 

Imagine during a time of important breaking news if the threads that are voted most important by the membership would rise to the top along with all of the important posts.

Isn't that what the flag system does?
If people (members) think it's important they flag it so it goes to the top?

Or am i misunderstanding you?

That is my final reply. I tire of this "I know best because I'm a super Moderator" banter. I have real work to do to pay my cable bill, so I can get back on ATS in the future and not contribute or be recognized except for the occasional lousy star or flag.

So as S-Dog said.... what recognition is it you'd like?

I don't want recognition. I did when I first joined, but disaffection with a less than stellar design, and a leadership unwilling to listen and make a change as suggested by popular vote has removed any desire of recognition. I was simply stating my opinion on why the site is going down hill.

And in answer to your flag question, I'm talking about the secondary "posting" page, not the homepage. But also, they are not ordered by popular vote and saved in order and able to be searched by the popular vote as it should be.

I'm sorry, but the current recognition system and site posting design stinks. Still, it's the only site dealing with the alternative and contentious subjects, thus I will return again and again, just not to contribute except for the occasional reply or response to posts I agree/disagree with.


Oh, and yes I have been banned several times. I'm an old hand, and Schrodingersdog knows me well. Shall I be banned again? I really don't care since I no longer post very often. Exactly why the site is spiraling downward.

[edit on 28-11-2009 by skepticantiseptic]

ATS will decline as its own iron fist control clenches tighter and tighter.

I feel there is a hidden agenda by the 'management' to provide more mainstream and acceptable threads, to appease both their investors and pave the way for more saturated ads. I expect to see the day when you'll get twenty pop-up ads when opening a thread, much like the Terminator ad, which always took me to play.com, even if i tried to close it down and then waiting ~10secs for pages to load. It's now been fixed with FF SW.

Perhaps their end goal is to sell the ATS brand to Sky.com, so they can have their own CT channel, once the digital switch-over begins in earnest.

I strongly suggest ATS review their Draconian 60,000 word T&C's and take a leaf out of slashdot & reddit's book of user generated content.

Guess what, you can swear, vilify, denigrate, whatever your dirty digital fingers can muster. Those posts / threads will either die quickly, or spark interest, but to smother content by saying it's off-topic or circumvented profanity, is pandering to the wrong audience. ATS should focus on their adult demographic and if kids are offended, tough 5hit, go and play on FaceBook.

TBH, i feel it's pointless writing this post, as it will probably be removed by some power-hungry mod; another reason why i won't be creating anymore threads.

I'll just lurk occasionally and if i get banned, it's ATS' loss, not mine. They made the mistake of banning too many members with solid credentials. Perhaps their content was too close to the truth.

Deny ignorance...yeah whatever.

Well there are other factors at work here too ..

Alot of people have been sick (Swine flu etc) .....( I think I have the flu this week myself ) ....
The Major Media is just a bunch of bs right now (so not much to talk about)
Everyone is too poor to even concentrait on conspiricies or even care about them right now (lol this is one of the main reasons I havent posted much lately ) ........


I have to agree though that unless we post .this place will fizzle .....and we may not even have much longer to even have a place like this (so much going on about posting news links (copyright issues)etc and the crack down of the Internet) ..

reply to post by Simplynoone

alot of posters make no sense like they
are on crack or are like 3 years old

Yes. I sometimes wonder if the quality of discussions around here would improve if members were screened for literacy. I don't mean to be a grammar nazi, but it's not uncommon for me to read posts and genuinely have no idea what the person is trying to say.

i cn stll undrstannd wut u meen evn witt lotz of speling mizsteaks.

But...

much is for to know when harder people if to write more badly

Originally posted by LordBucket
...discussions around here would improve if members were screened for literacy

Good God, why do people feel the need to censor / screen / filter UGC? Pathetic!

To quote Harry Enfield's Yorkshire character..."I say what i like, and i like what i bloody well say!"

Originally posted by skepticantiseptic
reply to post by schrodingers dog

 

Maybe if the members could vote it up to the top you would have seen it, and maybe not. But just the chance would have been nice.

[edit on 28-11-2009 by skepticantiseptic]

Threads do get "voted up to the top" by members and they appear on the front page of ATS and in the side bar. It is called flagging a thread. The thing is, what you may deam exceptional and "top" worthy, others may not.

And members do get recognition by members and staff. Flags, stars and applause.