The stages of the journey into the community of ATS

Originally posted by davidgrouchy

...

What evidence, or experience,
do you have to back this up.
What did you have in mind
when you said the self-
inclusion stage can
be a sudden one.

David Grouchy

Self-inclusion, from my perspective is more of a realization than a migration from one mode of participation to another. That it can be sudden or take time doesn't change the abruptness of the moment of recognition that you have 'become' a member of the community; sometimes much to your chagrin!

Most people who are avid Internet socialites are unfamiliar with that sense of belonging. Their experiences have been slathered with marketing glitz and self-promotion, ala Myspace, etc. While many very early on-line communities did have a sense of unifying solidarity, commercialism has squelched that tendency for what are obvious reasons in my mind (consumerism is ego-based - which excludes the concept of community as secondary, or even tertiary in relevance.)

Did I come close to answering your question? Remember now, these are just my estimations of reason, and I will gladly entertain any dissent.

Awsome read! I am a new ATS member altho i have for years read as a non-member thru my husband.I have to say ATS is one of the best sites for discussion on just about everything i have ever been a part of.Altho i do see alot of favortism when it comes to who will give stars or a reply on a topic.I love ATS despite all of that because it is a great place to read,express your opinion without much prejudice and expand your mind with the ideals of others from all over the world.
Thank you for this post.I look forward to being a lifelong ATSer.

Originally posted by impressme

If I may, my description for the “repulsor” would be Troll. In my opinion Most of them do not have anything to contribute on any grounds of “balance” to forum topics. My main passions are primarily the 911 topics and I have had my share of run inn’s with these “repulsor” in such ways that I had no choice but to put many of them on ignore. We cannot even begin to describe the ignorance and one way thinking, and the negative emotional remarks that many of us find so repulsive and on an on going bases by the same repeated posters.

I appreciate your perspective. I think every description I suggest has to be measured in relation to the topic, and introspectively, the person communicating. Some posters develop a tendency to stick with what works for them, and the shame of it is, not everyone with whom they communicate deserves the same methodology of exposition. It's convoluted and in no way written in stone... Also, as you can see by the alert at the bottom of every 9/11 thread, that particular topic is hotly debated by many with agendas that extend well beyond the event itself.

reply to post by KrillsAngelWings


That's great! I was hoping that some new folks would see this thread and understand that although anyone can slip into the same social bad habits that exist in any social environment, we can talk about it; which is something most other social environment resist.

Sometimes people achieve a bizarre 'celebrity' status among those they encounter on the board; but it is so far removed from appropriate that I can only call it 'misplaced.'

This community is devoid of self-declared leaders... and that is how it should be. Without that element of 'glamor' no one needs to fear to disagree, pander to their ego, to be punished or ostracized by others for disagreeing with their favored member. As long as we shun that kind of illusory nonsense, we will have general peace, which is something I appreciate immensely.

Which leaves us to the business of discussing what we want to discuss.

Click here for more information.

Originally posted by etcorngods

This thread is like Obama's answers to simple questions. He has to give a long, boring speach, and you can't stop it. This guy has more posts than anyone ought to ever want to read.

Who cares?

Interestingly... you felt compelled to post that....

I can't imagine why.

reply to post by etcorngods


There you go ladies and gentlemen the pin is in there and the thread successfully summarized you can all go home now.

Really if it was. ... THAT BAD you didnt have to post.

reply to post by Maxmars


Really nicely writen OP, thankyou.

I feel you've forgotten disillusion though - that's not an attack on ATS specifically, but sometimes it will happen. There are peaks and troughs for anyone on this site, sometimes we'll get a week or so of threads that I'm really into, sometimes we'll get a spate of what appear to be troll-posters or a seeming shift in the left/right balance that might influence our enjoyment of the community. It can seem really us vs them here at times.

Like any community, there will be trouble and strife, hopefully these can be learnt from.

Other times we join farcebook

reply to post by Maxmars


Wow!!! AtSheology. The study of ATS.Undeniably there are HUGE truths as to what you have said.I think it should be examined more.

I am quite new to posting on ATS.

I read the OP last night and re-visited it again today. On second reading I am afraid I found it to be a little self-indulgent. Yes, the OP is a very competent user of the English language, but I get the impression that the post was created with the aim of attracting attention, stars, flags and a bit of ATS worship.

The post, as well written as it is, adds nothing to ATS a whole. It's self congratulatory. And, for want of a better expression, the OP is 'showing off'. But that is about it. If this post remains popular and detracts from other posts that bring new information to the community then I may as well accept that I've already 'outgrown' ATS.

reply to post by DSSONE

If this post remains popular and detracts from other posts that bring new information to the community then I may as well accept that I've already 'outgrown' ATS.

Thats my thought exactly. I was just being nice.

reply to post by DSSONE and Oliveoil


I can assure you of little. Only that I don't care particularly for the flags and stars aspect of it.

I'm not sure how I was showing off, or to whom. But it seems such judgments are well outside my ability to influence. Much like the case of being accused of sexual harassment, it is the accuser whose opinion prevails. I'm sure you are not the only one who thinks this is some kind of masturbatory exercise.

Ironically, I was concerned that people might feel I had somehow 'dissed' the ATS community, or marginalized its genuine nature. But your comment leads me to think that it could be taken as the opposite, namely, trying to make something important out of something trivial.

In posting, I learn.

I wrote the OP out of a genuine interest in examining what I believe many members may experience, and how the exchange of ideas manifests itself between us. I appreciate your candor and hope that you can keep my "showing off" in check in the future. I didn't feel like it was prideful, nor did I submit this to ATS as anything but a gesture of willingness to exchange ideas.

I do want to thank you for taking the time to read it. And if it somehow offended your sensibilities I apologize, because that was never my intent.

Originally posted by jokei
reply to post by Maxmars

 

Really nicely writen OP, thankyou.

I feel you've forgotten disillusion though

......

Although I didn't specifically touch on disillusionment, I did consider it. It was my consideration that in order to suffer from disillusion you have to have 'expected' something in the first place... since expectation is a precursor to disappointment, I though it might be superfluous to go in that direction...

Often, our own expectations are much more responsible for disillusion than reality.

But thank you for pointing that out.... perhaps it does merit it's own discussion... and THAT is why I posted it in the first place.

Since ATS and it's content is a function of the membership, whatever ATS is is in great part our responsibility, if we see a flaw, or a gap; we should work to correct it. But if there is no desire to invest the effort in the community, then we are but consumers of information and the creative spark is snuffed out.

reply to post by Maxmars


Maxmars, anytime one trys to see outside the box,That alone makes that person Above to whats going on inside of the box.In other words (plain English) If you are not for us you are against us.Dont try to psychoanalyze me then have a positive result.. (although it was spot on) It just makes you seem better than the rest...Perhaps I should take my own advise.

Originally posted by oliveoil
reply to post by Maxmars

 

Maxmars, anytime one trys to see outside the box,That alone makes that person Above to whats going on inside of the box.In other words (plain English) If you are not for us you are against us.Dont try to psychoanalyze me then have a positive result.. (although it was spot on) It just makes you seem better than the rest...Perhaps I should take my own advise.

Dang! Again, sorry if I offended.

Is there anyway to analyze matters involving people without seeming like a show off, or appearing to think that you're somehow 'better' than everyone else? I am not... repeat ... NOT better than anyone else. And I don't expect to be able to psychoanalyze anyone... how could I? - this is a virtual environment ... I don't know anyone here .. nor does anyone know me.. it's just dots on a screen....

Note to self: Never, NEVER post something like this again... wait... that would be surrendering to another person's subjective evaluation.... retract note.

It's all good. If I had wanted to garner accolades and praise I just would have gone the populist route....

Again, I post, I learn....

reply to post by Maxmars

. I don't know anyone here .. nor does anyone know me.. it's just dots on a screen....

No!!! your wrong. I am a person with something to say.I stand for righteousness and truth. I deny ignorance. THIS IS WHAT ATS IS ABOUT!!! You dont know JACK...

I appreciate your prompt and mature response Maxmars. All I will say in reply is that ATS is one thing to one person and something else to another. Your OP is definitely worth reading (I do not regret the time spent reading it) and it should be maintained somehow for posterity (that's not to say, however, that I want it to remain on the front page for the next two years )

A few weeks ago i noticed that a mod had posted a comment that he was thinking about creating a thread on the different stages of ATS membership. I could never remember who it was but obviously it was yourself.

I've been keeping my eyes peeled for it ever since and here it is.

Well, there is certainly a lot to think about in there! It will take a bit of digesting. But it is worth the effort because I could do with some perspective on why the ATS experience is so seductive.

It's a bit frightening in a way - shouldn't I be out getting a 'real' life? What exactly am I achieving by spending so much time on here?

Thanks for sharing your observations.

Originally posted by DSSONE
... it should be maintained somehow for posterity (that's not to say, however, that I want it to remain on the front page for the next two years

Trust me, I don't think it belongs there either.

Peace

Originally posted by Silver Star
A few weeks ago i noticed that a mod had posted a comment that he was thinking about creating a thread on the different stages of ATS membership. I could never remember who it was but obviously it was yourself.

I've been keeping my eyes peeled for it ever since and here it is.

Well, there is certainly a lot to think about in there! It will take a bit of digesting. But it is worth the effort because I could do with some perspective on why the ATS experience is so seductive.

It's a bit frightening in a way - shouldn't I be out getting a 'real' life? What exactly am I achieving by spending so much time on here?

Thanks for sharing your observations.

Yeah ... that was me....

I have a bad habit of always doing what I say I am going to do. In this case the task sort of ballooned into something much more involved than I initially thought.

At any rate.. this OP isn't going to answer all the questions that can be asked... it was just my way of showing that many of us go through the same experiences and fail to realize that they are shared...

As for getting a life.... all things balance out and there is no rule that says part of your life can't include discussing things with people who share the same interest in discussing them.

My initial attraction to ATS was that "here" (so to speak) I could find people who can discuss matters that my local "real life" community seems too preoccupied to discuss.

It has its ups and downs... but in the end it is well worth it... to me anyway.