Why are distinguished members who have contributed alot to this site over the last 5 years leaving?

Far too many bannings!
InfaRedMan the latest.

Apart from that I don't know why so many highly regarded and long term members have disappeared recently.

Other than:

There are too many threads on the same topics and thus too much repetition.
It does seem as if people are less tolerant and respectful of opposing opinions.
And there seems to be a complete lack of reasoning and research or supportive evidence in so many threads.
The 'cliquey' nature of some sections of ATS and the embarassing hero worship of some members.

However, I do know that there is still quality here on ATS and it is still by far the best site of it's type around and I will continue to support and contribute to it.

reply to post by franspeakfree


In the words of Darth Vader "Now I am the master".

Learning and teaching is the cycle of education. The symbiosis of student and teacher is a balance of feeding both way.

Perhaps now it is time for you to become the teacher that you once looked up to be and accept that some people just want to retire - or find themselves an area where they can do their research without being hampered.

ATS is, amongst many things, a pop-conspiracy site which attracts thousands of people every month - look at the competition they are running this month with a $500 cash prize.

Be under no illusion - this site is going the way that those who own it want it to go (with some variance I'm sure). Dolling out money isn't the only thing they are doing which benefits membership here. Comics, radio and video broadcast make the pale skinned historian reek havoc in his exclusive library.

The halcyon days (as always) are in the past and the future is calm (apparently - according to Twitter).

-m0r

Originally posted by Freeborn
Far too many bannings!
InfaRedMan the latest.

What> ? InfaRedMan was one of the nicest members on this site what on earth happened? I did wonder why he hadn't contacted me for a few days? Perhaps there is a conspiracy to all of this? a clear out perhaps?

Originally posted by m0r1arty
Learning and teaching is the cycle of education. The symbiosis of student and teacher is a balance of feeding both way.

Perhaps now it is time for you to become the teacher that you once looked up to be and accept that some people just want to retire - or find themselves an area where they can do their research without being hampered.

Yes I have thought of this and this has been on my mind, but the thing is they are still teaching just not here, as regards to teaching, I have found that there are more and more skepitcal minded people joining this site which is completely ludicrous to me, as this site is about conspiracies, not debunking them but finding about more and trying to get to the bottom of them with by searching for the facts

ATS is, amongst many things, a pop-conspiracy site which attracts thousands of people every month - look at the competition they are running this month with a $500 cash prize.

I don't know anything about this competition as I am staying clear of this as I am not interested in carrot on a string promotions. Although $500 would come in handy

The halcyon days (as always) are in the past and the future is calm (apparently - according to Twitter).

I suppose we are thankful that you are still here offering your insight through clever word play. Thanks Mor

reply to post by Freeborn


I would love to give support and evidence but now we have a three paragraph limit, which sucks BIG TIME.

MODS, Head honchos, please re-read that last sentence - you cannot give evidence in three paragraphs, I know we have two lawyers in our family.

And, most people are too darn lazy to click the link one gives for source.

How about six paragraphs, just three little bitty more please?

Freeborn, (Although you were not freeborn, but that's another conspiracy thread) :lol Very intellegent and insightful post.

And I agree far too many bannings and stifled information..........why??? Yet another conspiracy thread to ponder

Personally, I do believe ATS has been infiltrated by those that want to keep the populace dumbed down.

ATS has millions of hits per month, a lot of people come here to at least try to find out what in sam heck is going on and with every passing year, it seems the noose is being tightened on ALL our informational systems, ATS included.

ATS is one if not the biggest conspiracy site on the web and TPTB don't like when their gameplan is revealed and the monkies put their heads together and have meaningful conversations.

"They" want to keep us dumbed down, ignorant and in a barbie and ken doll state.

Information is true power and those that have it, don't want the rest of us to have it and will stop short of nothing to discredit and drive away through bullying the sources that could provide valuable ideas and data to the rest of us.



[edit on 1-9-2010 by ofhumandescent]

reply to post by franspeakfree


I have no idea why he was banned and The Amigo's and Admin never reveal details on bannings.
However, they always insist that banning is a last resort, especially for reasonably long standing and well respected members such as he.

So, I don't know what to make of it.

Who's next?

A shame as I had a lot of respect for him and always thought he was a positive member.

As a recent member I find it difficult not to take all these threads regarding the deterioration of the site personally.

All i can really say as I always do on these threads, is just rise above it, be the change you want to see, and keep coming up with new and interesting threads! Perhaps the DEMOS project is already moving forward and you are seeing the effects?

I will understand if you don't take my opinions on board being only new and all.

I came up with a great topic last night which I am working on and will post later today. It is somewhat of a revolutionary idea, I have not seen it elsewhere on the site, but it regards the base level emotional response to certain things. Of course I am biased, but you've go to big up your work don't you?

In it's prime did people call other people disinfo agents or claim to be aliens/angels/God?

I was wondering how long it would take for this thread to mention an ATS conspiracy, not long at all it turn out. Surprise surprise

I agree, quite a few prominent members left several months back and for a while they were missed. But since then the same amount of new members have appeared who are just as informative and prominent on the boards - ebb and flow, people...ebb and flow.

Originally posted by franspeakfree
Why are distiguished members who have contributed alot to this site over the last 5 years leaving?

Real Life Issues.

People move on. People get sick. People die. People find other interests. People get fed up with discussing things with others who simply aren't listening. etc etc. Lots of reasons for folks coming and going. I'd term it ... 'real life issues'.

Originally posted by jazabel51
yeah, where is this unnamed site you mentioned?? l

I am not mentioning anything to do with the site(s) as this is not about promoting to leave here.

This thread is about trying to find out from other members as to why these people are leaving and trying to raise the awareness to the right people in order to stop other members from leaving. Before we know it this site will be over run with teenage hoaxers.

I am new here and enjoy the older posts. I see the courtesy and civility in them. I rarely get a post after after mine as they are over a year old. But I see what you are saying about how "those" members are leaving.

The quality of the content of these new posts are for the most part laughable.

I was the first one to have a chance to reply to "I don't have any friends" and hand to forehead, I moved along. I am almost sure that thread is fire hot right now!

Maybe it's just me, I joined expecting intellectual threads and banter.



[edit on 1-9-2010 by Tribble]

Originally posted by ofhumandescent
reply to post by franspeakfree

 

Very good observation and I believe you are right.

And as this is a conspiracy site

[edit on 1-9-2010 by ofhumandescent]

I will disagree.

This is not just a conspiracy site, but a site for alternative news and science, spiritual beliefs, and even less well accepted paranormal news and observations.

Throw in the occasional threads on lost civilizations, and you have the recipe for a very interesting read.

But again, without acceptance in the form of popular association, and a "feeling" that you may just be making a difference to find the truth and deny ignorance, it gets to be too much work for the reward.

I can't for the life of me figure out why the Three Amigos try to advertise the site as a "Conspiracy" forum

Yes that goes along, but I would hope the owners would push the site as a search for the truth, no matter what form it may take.

"if you always do what you always have done then you will get what you have always got"

Nothing stays (or should) stay the same in evolution and that is surely what is happening here - Evolution !

If people are offended, annoyed or upset by others comments then they do not need to respond or argue back. I think I speak for most here when I say that posts written by some are Obviously NOT THOUGHT through properly and they stand out like SORE thumbs !!

They make the Poster look stupid without the need to highlight them...

Regards

PurpleDOG UK

(i'm sure I've done one or two of those myself - oh well)

Originally posted by joe7pack

Originally posted by ofhumandescent
reply to post by franspeakfree

 

Very good observation and I believe you are right.

And as this is a conspiracy site

[edit on 1-9-2010 by ofhumandescent]

I will disagree.

This is not just a conspiracy site, but a site for alternative news and science, spiritual beliefs, and even less well accepted paranormal news and observations.

Throw in the occasional threads on lost civilizations, and you have the recipe for a very interesting read.

I agree wholeheartedly with your post, as Mor pointed out earlier, I have always been interested in ufology and ET and my views have changed on the subject, I never regarded an interest in other topics as I didn't believe that they were connected in any way. However, after learning from others and researching my own topics I found out just how naive I had been. Since looking in to other topics I have begun to put more and more pieces of the puzzle together and indeed increased my level of understanding and awareness. Through such topics as ancient civilizations,history and archaeology we can all learn so much. The problem we have is there appears to be more and more people that would prefer to argue than to talk rationally.

I cant believe about Infrared Man he was one of the first people I added as a friend on here I think the admins can be very heavy handed these days I was on a thread and the poster was talking about ghosts talking to him. It was clear from the post he had psychological problems and I said he should really speak to someone. Because I wasnt supporting the ghost idea I got my first warning and a point reduction, I found this laughable after some of the stuff that has been recently posted.
To be honest if you arent happy then maybe taking a break from ATS would be best and coming back with a new thread that adds value, that is what I plan to do. The other site mentioned isnt as good to be honest, I have been on and the set up give me a headache and the same problems exist on both sites. The internet is a #ty place

reply to post by franspeakfree


I agree, I feel like way to many people jump at the chance to make themselves seem witty or on a higher level. Sure, I am interested in a lot of fringe topics and I understand there are hoaxers in the scene but I would still like to have a discussion of "what if" rather than "hoax, move along"...

If you want to disagree that is fine but trying to be a witty smart a** all the time isn't doing anything. Look at the latest Greer/Hoagland thread, they might have been labeled as "hoaxers" but that thread couldn't even go a few posts without being derailed by the same few people...for like 20 pages at least.

Discussion should still be encouraged rather than just disregarding all the information because people don't agree with it

Just my two cents, though I'm pretty sure that someone will tell me to "STFU n00b!" in a more loquacious way...

I've been active on a variety of internet communities (forums, listservs, newsgroups, IRC channels, etc.) since '93. And I think I've seen this exact same lament on every single one of them at some point. All of these communities have a life cycle. There's even been published research on the topic and a couple of proposed models.

There's an initial building period while the community is relatively new. No one is really a lurker because there isn't enough content for there to really interest a casual observer. People contribute and become invested in the community. The regulars are established, the casuals are established and some come and go. The community begins to attract some attention and people come just to watch the content and not participate actively. Some become regulars, some stay lurkers, some leave. Leaders begin to emerge, and they become the voices of authority. The reputation of new potential regulars is made or broken based on the response of the leaders.

All the while, the total population of the community grows. The signal-to-noise ratio will shift a bit to the noise side because, after all, there's only so much content out there to be shared and discussed. So even though the magnitude of the signal is growing, so is the magnitude of the noise. And some of the regulars and leaders will move on for that reason and others - they may have changes of opinion or be undergoing real life changes that draw their attention away from the community. And there will always be something of a rift between the people that were there from day one and the newer members of the community. Keep in mind, the newer members have (hopefully) the same enthusiasm as the veterans did when they first found the site. Mistakes will be made, old topics will be rehashed, toes will be stepped on - think of it as the virtual kids playing virtual ball on the virtual old folks virtual lawn. The trick is for the vets to not shake their fists and yell at the newbs to get off their lawn or they're calling the cops. Instead, harness and nurture the enthusiasm!