vicious and cynical members on ATS

I have been a member of ats for a couple of months now, and it seems that there are a lot of know it all antagonist types on here. Every time I start a thread, I undoubtedly will have someone hop on it and talk so condescending and just plain rude. People, if you read the the thread title and feel you have to bitch.. don't. All that people should do is have a civilized conversation. Too many people act like those internet elitist snotty, better than you world of warcraft poneing newbs (not all wow players are like this I guess, I feel I should say this because someone will probably complain) types with such a dismissive attitude. If someone on ats doesn't have the same oppinion as you, get your umbrella, here comes the #storm. From there you can expect your original topic to devolve into an argument that is off topic. Please, please please be polite, articulate, non condescending and just offer your two sense.

I think that members should always say what they think.

But i also think that if a topic is in its appropiate forum then no one should bitch about it.

I never go on topics i dont like and disagree, argue and bitch.

But if i like a topic, dont believe the OP or disagree, we should be able to state what we think

Give everyone a chance, unless they are proven hoaxers....

its all ego mixed with emotions. or just a whole lot of different perspectives. some give and take, others push and shove.

some people make things happen, the rest things happen to. just be prepared to argue in a beneficial way.

reply to post by BlueLightRain


Its usually some 400 pounder sitting in front of their computer with his peice in his hand, stroking the boat.....
I enjoy this site only while at work getting paid to waste away my time on the internet....
I swear some people actually get off from arguing over a medium where they have no need to expose there true selves......
Thats the great thing about the world we live....It will never change

I'm just tryna reach my 100 post

reply to post by SirKnightE


Sounds like you dont enjoy your work.

I joined this site because of the topics, i like these kind of things. But most of all i joined this site and not another is because of the community.

Alot of people can be assholes, but alot of people are too sensitive too.

It is immposible for me to get worked up because some guy in the other side of the planet dont agree with what im bringing.

There are many, many, intellegent people here.

My advice is change your job to one you like if you can and still visit ATS

Whats one things got to do with the other?

I'm not saying people don't have a right to say what they want but they could be more open minded and at least more polite about it. I don't feel I'm being too sensitive, I'm just looking for civilized conversation about topics that do not get openly discussed in the mainstream.

Hello there!

It's the anonymity of the Internet is the problem. I generally post all my comments with a taste of humour, I am generally only aggressive about the topic. Such as when someone needs defending or when people make rascist or sectarian comments. I would only go on the offensive against another member if they poked me. Don't poke me grr!

Anyway if I am overly agressive I always apologise. It's usually because I am hungry!

But in all fairness to this site I find people much more polite than some folks I have encountered in real life. There are some really nasty people about... Maybe when they go on the internet they are polite and courteous. Some sort of alter ego thing.

reply to post by BlueLightRain


While I do agree that I have seen more than a few mean spirited posts on ATS during my time here, I feel that they are the exception and not the rule.

I think that one of the downfalls to this medium of communication is that tone isn't conveyed properly and can be easily misinterpreted. Often attempts at whit or friendly jibes can be seen as viciousness when it wasn't intended t be so.

Even with the emoticons it's not always clear, to me at least, what a posters tone might actually be.

Originally posted by SirKnightE

Its usually some 400 pounder sitting in front of their computer with his peice in his hand, stroking the boat.....

The irony is strong with this one.

reply to post by Hefficide


Yes definitely, especially when people are being facetious or using sarcasm it sometimes goes under the radar.

I get humor, even if I don't think its funny. I can tell the difference but as it was said earlier, its the exception, not the rule. I have had a lot of it though. You all seem nice and levelheaded but if this thread was about a real topic, I would already have had some guy who was just fishing for something to complain about post something closed minded and ignorant. I have noticed this mostly in the paranormal topics too, just an observation.

reply to post by Dr Cosma


People should think more about what they "want" to say, instead of saying what they think.

Maybe something intelligent might come out of their thoughts.

Originally posted by BlueLightRain
I have been a member of ats for a couple of months now, and it seems that there are a lot of know it all antagonist types on here. Every time I start a thread, I undoubtedly will have someone hop on it and talk so condescending and just plain rude. People, if you read the the thread title and feel you have to bitch.. don't. All that people should do is have a civilized conversation. Too many people act like those internet elitist snotty, better than you world of warcraft poneing newbs (not all wow players are like this I guess, I feel I should say this because someone will probably complain) types with such a dismissive attitude. If someone on ats doesn't have the same oppinion as you, get your umbrella, here comes the #storm. From there you can expect your original topic to devolve into an argument that is off topic. Please, please please be polite, articulate, non condescending and just offer your two sense.

We already have rules in place that demand Courtesy Is Mandatory. If someone is posting against this rule, simply hit the alert button on that post and staff will handle.

Yes people have different opinions and ways of conveying them

Yes people have the right TOO convey them

If you dont like that, grow a thicker skin and some balls..

I don't really like hearing this sort of thing. I've been labelled both 'vicious' and 'cynical' on a plethora of occasions due to the fact that I'm both an atheist and a skeptic. I ask a lot of difficult questions and many people seem to view it as overly vicious. I ask for a lot of evidence and a lot of reasoned arguments, some view this as 'cynical' and 'elitist'.

But honestly, in the pursuit of truth we need viciousness. Why should we coddle the opinions we disagree with? Attack those ideas as harshly as you want, just don't attack the people unless there's a reasoned justification (there normally isn't)

reply to post by greeneyedleo


I'm not trying to be a narc, my point is that people should be more curteous instead of internet elitist attitudes

reply to post by Yissachar1


You're being that guy right now.

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


You and me are pretty much the same then, athiest and skeptical. I demand a lot of evidence but its the way some people are so dismissive that bothers me.

Recently I have admittedly gotten irritated by a very new poster.
I guess it's partly because I don't understand why some threads don't get sent to the hoax forum when they start out with already disproven theories or proven hoaxes.
I also have been amazed that easily verifiable responses to an OP are sometimes ignored, called untrue, and/or seen as a personal attack if they differ from the OP's ideas.
I have tried though to always follow T&C's, even if those abusing me are not. Sometimes, I admit, I have failed.
It happens.

There's just a lot of internet trolls. Don't people have better things to do?

it happens to me too OP.
i especially hate the ones where they use cuss words(ofcourse they have to spell it different) to express how much they oppose your opinion, such as "stfu".

just ignore them and dont reply to them.