I'll make this short and sweet. Hopefully this idea isn't a dead horse.

I think it would be fantastic if ATS took part in helping to organize people and help form unity and groups in real life. I'm not sure how this would work best, but possibly a groups and projects system, similar to the what Zeitgeist has going on with some of the goodies on their site and regional sub sites, etc.

Just something that helps ats members get together more and communicate more effectively between one another.

I'm rather frustrated with all the partisanship on this site, there is more debating than acknowledgment of our agreements and organizing around these commons.

So while we have the boards for info and debate, I believe a subsystem to help people organize with like-minded folks and get physically connected to one another based on common perspectives and geological locations would be beneficiary to our community as a whole.

Just a thought.

[edit on 22-3-2010 by Scarcer]

T & C

Read it?

Short post intended.

I have to agree with the OP. Oh I know the T&C here. But can their be any denying of this websites commitment to denying the ignorance of 9/11? I am sure we all remember the petition against the advertising opt in bill too. This website might dissuade member activist recruitment but from time to time the ownership of this site has VERY DIRECTLY engaged in solicitation of member activism. I, for one, would like to see a little more of that on issues we can all agree on.

I can understand the desire to avoid affiliating oneself with one side of an issue or another at the risk of alienating certain segments of the membership. And yet, I think their comes a time when the right thing to do is self evident and regardless of whether or not you commit to action, not everyone will be satisfied one way or the other. This being the case logic would suggest that it would be better to at least do what you feel is the most correct course of action rather then remain in a state of inaction. But you know whatever, Its your site, I just post here.



[edit on 22-3-2010 by Flakey]

I understand that "activism" isn't allowed on ATS, and ATS stands as a neutral source, BUT we also have the ATS news, which isn't exactly a community democratically scripted feature, showing that ATS does have some room to scoot.

99% of this sites content is community created, excluding ATS avocations (such as owners & mod's work.)

If ATS claims they are advocating anything by proxy on this site, then they are responsible for every single post in this community that has any kind of bias.

So to set up a user ran "grouping and community" system that's monitored by ATS for violations (just the same as the boards) would be just another form of what we already have with the forums.

I'm not going to debate if ATS decides to-or not to do this, but I am arguing that Bias by Proxy isn't a valid argument, comparable with the rest of this sites content.

Would it be a further violation if ATS were to open up geological sub forums for example?

Regions, states, province, countries that users can focus on?

I'm not talking about a "boys only club" type thing here. We already have forums on specific topics such as NWO, and 9/11. Forums on specific locations could be opened up. Users could use these sub forums for issues concerning these areas, news, concerns where anyone can contribute... OR people can also use these forums to get in contact with people in their area, where if posted anywhere else, the thread would sink into the oblivious sea of unlimited threads.

BUT it doesn't have to be geological or regional threads, it could be any system. But this is an example of how ATS could go about this without so called "further bias."

[edit on 22-3-2010 by Scarcer]

[edit on 22-3-2010 by Scarcer]

The Best-Kept Secret

NOTE: The following are my personal opinions on the topic, no more, no less.

Originally posted by Scarcer
What could ATS do within it's ability to protect member privacy?

You can't steal what doesn't exist.

Thus the best way to protect member privacy would be to gather no more information than the bare minimum necessary to facilitate online discussion.

In other words, what we do now.

If more personal information was needed to become an ATSer, I would have never registered, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Passive Activism

Getting back to the issue of ATS supporting or facilitating activism, the big decisions on all this are up to the site owners, who have made a lot of good calls over the years, so I wouldn't presume to gainsay them on matters like these.

That said, here's how I see it.

Activism seeks to unite and motivate people toward a common goal. Doing so results in groups of people who come together to take action because they share the same opinions on some issue of interest. Activism that fails to do so fails as activism.

Meanwhile, by far the greatest asset ATS has is the fact that our community consists of people with significant, often passionate differences of opinion on pretty much anything and everything.

The "chemistry" of ATS comes from the interaction of our members as we compare, contrast and challenge each other in the forums. To the extent we agree on things, there's ultimately little to discuss other than why we agree, which leads to boring threads and an increasingly homogeneous, potentially insular community.

So I see what ATS does as being different from what activists do to a degree that is in almost diametric opposition.

However, it's also very clear that ATS can inspire people to take action on issues they discuss here. In that sense, I suppose participation on ATS might, by virtue of that, constitute a sort of "passive activism".

We may not be circulating petitions and marching in the streets, but the mere act of publicly questioning the Powers That Be and applying ATS values such as "Deny Ignorance" to the subjects we cover is powerful indeed, and may itself have a stronger impact than more ostensible forms of activism could ever possibly hope to achieve.

What ATS already does is remarkable enough, in my opinion, and I don't see a good fit for "movements" in a community where critical thinking and intellectual freedom are so paramount.

Of course, Your Mileage May Vary.






[edit on 3/22/2010 by Majic]

Is it that time of the month already???

This has been done to death on a few threads already - the answer is always the same.

Also...
When posting a new thread, the search button is your friend - that way you can read about how other people have suggested the same thing, and the reasons why the idea bore no fruit.