[HOAX]Disclosure!! (The Day of Declaration)[HOAX], page 22

Hope And Maitreyal

NOTE: This little semi-off-topic rant contains my personal opinions and does not represent anything "official" regarding ATS. Also, because I'm posting personal opinions here, I won't be modding this thread. Finally, please be assured that disagreement with anything I have to say here is -- and should be -- treated no differently than any difference of opinions among members, and nothing more.

Originally posted by justjoemusic
hope this isnt one of them threads that has some people fooled for a week then it gets moved to the Hoax section of ATS.....

Abandon all hope.

I know there are all sorts of theories about why ATS tends to be plagued with such threads, but the reality is rarely as sexy as the theories.

Which brings me to...

Psych Eval

Originally posted by Emilyh
It's more than obvious threads like this are allowed and jokers given the green light to thrive because this stuff brings in the ad revenue. Least you could do is admit it. If this type of stuff continues(it will), maybe ATS should do what the psychic hot lines had to do years ago and have a (* for entertainment purposes only) up on the banner.

Having been an ATS mod for four years, and privy to the behind-the-scenes discussions over that period (and for this thread, as well), I find statements like these to be somewhat frustrating, because they represent a false assumption about how things actually work around here.

This is AboveTopSecret.com. It's a forum for people to discuss things they often can't discuss elsewhere. What distinguishes it from "mainstream media" is that ATS is specifically designed NOT to filter out information just because some people don't believe/like/trust it.

It is not the job of the ATS staff to decide what you should believe, or what your opinions should be, what you should read in the forums or what you should post.

That's up to you. That's your job, not ours.

Anyone with an email address can create an account on ATS, and as long as they honor the AboveTopSecret.com Terms And Conditions Of Use, they can post whatever they want.

In the course of providing a relatively open forum for discussing "alternative" topics, cases like this one will inevitably arise. When they do, and we have solid evidence that a member is hoaxing or otherwise violating the T&C, we'll follow what we consider to be the best course of action.

Please bear in mind that in cases where there is any doubt, it is the longstanding policy of ATS to offer our members the benefit of that doubt. We are strongly discouraged from taking action without a solid basis in the T&C for doing so.

Some people honestly believe they're the reincarnation of Cleopatra, or the Grand Poobah of the Beta Reticuloid Empire, or a vampire, or a chupacabra, or whatever. If a person truly believes that, talking about it on ATS is NOT a violation of the T&C. It is perfectly legal to be "different" on ATS.

I understand and largely share your impatience for hoaxes and frivolous nonsense that serve only to increase the noise level in our forums. I also understand the impulse to want to stamp it out.

But please consider the consequences of the ATS staff becoming the Ultimate Arbiters of Truth and removing all content we don't agree with. The results would be devastating. ATS would end up being just another small-time fringe site of like-minded "true believers" chasing away anyone who didn't agree with them.

The Internet has enough of that already. ATS aims higher, offering a worldwide platform for divergent, sometimes radically subversive points of view to be aired and challenged. We can't do that by acting as some sort of Ministry of Truth.

Rather, it's up to the extraordinarily astute ATS membership to make up their own minds what to believe.

I realize that, as a new member, you might find all this somewhat off-putting, but I'm confident that if you give the concept a chance, you'll become just as addicted as I am.

As for "ad revenue", I can only pray that the owners are at least making enough to keep the doors open, and preferably making truckloads of money, because they've damn well earned it.

The assumption that they would encourage crap threads for short-term ad revenue is patently false. They have made no secret over the years (both publicly and in the mod forums) that the key to the success of ATS lies not in junk, but in quality. To that end, they tirelessly encourage the best members can deliver.

People WILL troll ATS. That comes with the turf.

However, as a fellow member, you can help by ALERTing dodgy threads (thanks to those who did for this one, by the way) and giving your best when you post in a thread.

I cannot speak on behalf of the site owners, but I am certain that they appreciate every effort made toward cutting the clutter and making ATS a better place.

I hope you can agree that's the best way to go.