Conspiracy? The Degradation of Manners and Decorum,Spamming of Boards, and the Influx of New Members

Hey guys, I just felt like I needed to bring some things up. I will not name any names in my post, but for those of you out there, you know who you are.

I have been a member of ATS since 2008, and tho that really isnt a long time, its quite enough time to see the progression of things here on ATS , and how they "were" as to how they are now, and the trend that seems to be arising since about the first of the year.

We all know that ATS has become a much more popular site then it use to be, and of course, we will see our rising and falling away of members from our ATS home. These cycles come and go throughout the years and we are well aware of them.

However I have noticed a trend here on ATS that seems to be becoming more of the rule instead of the exception.

More and more I come to these boards, reading through various topics and discussions, and more and more while im reading , im coming across people who are absolutely careless about breaking the rules when it comes to manners and decorum. Its on the verge of trollish, just to see if they can get away with it........and they DO, time and time again.

I remember when I use to come on these boards, and people like me and Wukky would get into heated debates over things, but never once resulting to really being ugly to each other, just rib nudging and intellectual jabs in fun.

These people do no such thing, its "your a d*** Head" or "you need to shut up and sit down, your just stupid" ive even seen people insult others appearance when they have their avatars made of themselves. Were not talking "nice shorts dude, where you get em victorias secret?" were talking "Someone as ugly as you shouldnt be posting about ....."

This use to not be acceptable, and within a few infractions like this the MODs and ATS owners would be on top of it, and these people would be culled from our collective intellectual flock.

There has also been an influx of people spamming the boards with topics that have been discussed to the point where you want to pull your hair out .

Do we really need 100 prediction threads about a single date? Do we really need 40 "does anyone else have a bad feeling" threads?

Do we need 400 threads post of the SAME UFO FOOTAGE?



Theres something in common that ive found with a lot of these "violations" to our precious boards, they are all fairly new members, almost ALL of them have joined this year.

Many of these members you can go through their post history, and see that they have quite a history of violations, or instances of attacking people and being ugly, yet theyve been able to continue to do it and degrade the quality of this site.

I would think that the owners and moderators on this website, would be concerned with what is happening here. You all have worked very hard to make ATS what it is, but it is now moving down the direction as a place for "cooks, wackos, and tinfoil hat wearing freaks" with no real INTELLIGENT discussion or research.

Sure there are MANY of us that dedicate a lot of time and energy to our discussions, and many know that you can find really good information on this website, but i fear this is soon becoming a thing of the past.

I enjoy these boards, very much, but there are some issues I feel that arent being addressed by TPTB here on ATS and need to be dealt with.

Myself and A LOT of members on this site are growing quite weary of this break down in quality of debate, investigation and civility that is becoming the norm here on ATS.

Everyone should be able to state their opinion and concerns, but there also needs to be some oversight on what is acceptable, what good is having Civility and Decorum rules, if you can just repeatedly break them?

Please guys, we need to do something about this rising problem, it IS getting worse. And i know MANY long time ATS members that contribute greatly to these boards, who are thinking about leaving ATS because of the issues that I have mentioned.

We feel that our time and efforts get wasted and drowned out by the insincere, the insulting , and trolling members and threads that have become more of the NORM on this site instead of the occasional occurrence.

The big question is , Is this a conspiracy for TPTB to discredit anything coming out of sites like ATS?

Thanks for your time, and please share your ideas , experiences, and thoughts........

I know im not the only one!

MBTM

Thanks for that, you sort of said what I've been feeling also, some of the insults are really nasty.
As far as the repeat topic titles it seems they all hit around the same time the news breaks.
Maybe, just maybe, ad clicks could contribute to the elevated tolerance?

reply to post by HappilyEverAfter


Absolutely man, It has gotten worse exponentially, and i dont care WHAT mods or anyone else says about " oh its always been like this"

yes it has, but not to THIS degree,and not to this voracity!

So what do you think, do you think the influx is coincidence or do you think , someone out there is deliberately trying to bring down the integrity of the site? Be it TPTB or some other website?

Or do you think that its just an influx of really rude people and our inability to stay on top of it?

I agree with happilyeverafter.

I don't know much about how this site used to be, but I can tell that this site is an advertising cash cow. Major motion pictures advertise on this site. Enforcing the forum rules and banning members for slight infractions may contribute to an overall healthier forum, but it would be a forum with a smaller amount of members. From a business point of view, the more members you have, the more money you make from advertising. If the bottom line of a business is to earn money, then that's what they'll do.

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask

So what do you think, do you think the influx is coincidence or do you think , someone out there is deliberately trying to bring down the integrity of the site? Be it TPTB or some other website? Or do you think that its just an influx of really rude people and our inability to stay on top of it?

I think it it a bit of both with more towards the latter--your last either/or...

just my opinion of course.

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask

I think, speaking in parables here,
'when the light at the door to the house is bigger and a brighter color it attracts more bugs'
some bugs are beneficial, some destroy, the current condition is indicative of the type of bugs within,
the one thing I notice is that attacks on the first reply are up, so who knows?
Keep your head down.
(you got moved to rant) ouch !

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask


Starred and Flagged.

There is one more point that I would bring up for scrutiny. I have noticed that some members seem to enjoy taking "shots" at Mods and Owners. How is that acceptable?

The staff, I am sure, is overwhelmed by the many points you so accurately mentioned. Do they need to be given unrespectful arrogant attitude on top of it?

In real life, either at home or at work, some would most certainly be shown the door. I know that this is an internet forum but where is the line drawn?

I have been part of management teams all my life and some comments that I read here on ATS just make my head spin. When things get too much out of hand, a clean sweep is in order.

This is just my personal opinion.

reply to post by againuntodust


I guess I can see that perspective, but doesnt that kind of undermine the reason this site was made?

Doesnt it take away from the original purpose that people join this site? For discussion, truth and somewhere along the way, fact finding?

Has ATS lost its direction?

To be completely honest, I think there have always been trolls on ATS, at least since I started visiting (2007). I think you just happen to notice them more and more when a) sensitive issues arise, and b) when they are directly attacking you.

These kind of rants are constantly appearing, and have been for a while... I think that shows that the problem isn't some kind of "influx" but its part of a larger problem that ATS faces.

reply to post by HappilyEverAfter


LoL yes i agree, and I see I got moved to rant, its ok tho, as long as the topic keeps going and we get Ideas flowing.

I cant help but hope that mods and others will see this, and take in consideration our feelings on the subject, and perhaps maybe some other members will change their behavior..........if not lol maybe it is a conspiracy to take us down!

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask


Hey, you should not mention a member specifically in an OP.

I myself have transgressed the decorum protocols. The world is currently going through an economic crisis and emotions are heated.

Yes, think about the time frame you are speaking about. Is it that new members are causing problems or is it that people are looking for answers to the questions that everyone is asking? With a little heated emotion to boot.

reply to post by Portugoal


I can see that point of view, but honestly I really dont get attacked that much.


There are the members that i regularly "joust" with, but i wouldnt consider that a violation, or attacking me personally, its more of a gentlemans debate of sorts.

However when the thread was moved I did get a "There is no conspiracy" as an explanation on the move

How do we know there is no conspiracy by other sites, or TPTB to discredit sources such as this

It wasnt very long ago that the gov released parameters on "infiltrating" and "Deconstructing" websites and organizations that they deem a threat......

How can this site be overlooked?

reply to post by saltheart foamfollower



I had to bring to light that one member, because tho me and him go at it on the forums, its a very good example of how debates SHOULD go, there is no degradation of topic discussion in to harsh personal attacks or anything of the sort.

Thats the way things use to go on here a lot more regularly , it just seems that it has declined.

Or it could all be in my head!

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask


No, the member you mentioned, he and I get in heated arguments. I think he takes it too far and gets away with it.

Of course he uses the letter of intent of the TOC's and attempts to rile people. I do not know about you, but I have seen several members leave because of this. Or at least U2U me about the outrageous stuff posted.

I like wuk, I bet he and I could be friends if we knew each other, but to label everyone in a certain viewpoint is detrimental to the discussion.

I have done this, and I attempt to not do it too much.

There are vast chasms between the ideologies of members here. That is one thing that will always be true in political discussion. It was true 500 years ago and it will be true 500 years from now.

Of course, the times I have really gone beyond the TOC, was usually when I was drinking. I get a little obstinate and lose my cool when imbibing the spirits.

We all make mistakes. To err is human, tis Godly to forgive.

edit to add-by the way folks, if I piss you off, give me a U2U. Direct discussion sometimes is better than airing grievances in the open. I also ask forgiveness for pissing anyone off in the past and in future heated discussions.

Another thing that has been irking me, is people just keep repeating the same insult over and over and over in longer threads I have read. I usually try to start from page one, and read them all before trying to jump into a discussion, and I will see the same thing multiple times....

Good thread. I was the one he was talking about being insulted for my avvie. I am not upset and took it for what it ws trolling.

I have noticed an upswing on stupid and insulting posts, we need to be alerting each and every one. I am tired of insults and comments like, what a waste of a thread, or what a syupid topic. Well why are you posting in the thread then?

I try to ignore them in my threads, I do not always suceed.

I really hate to see mods engage in the nasty behavior, but some of them do too. Skirting the lone and insulting you, but in a way they can get away with. And how can you alert on a mod anyway?

Maybe there is an infiltration, because Obama said he was starting a cyber force.

I was a member a long while ago. I then left due to the very fact of ignorance that is condoned. As I have returned, it would appear that ignorance is not only prevalent, but is sometimes appreciated. I too have seen many " personal attacks " as I too have unfortunately found myself verbally sparring with the minds of a child.
Sadly, on many occasions, i will see very well thought out responses, statements that only an intellect would be able to conjure up, and yet, these are the statements that are removed, under the premise of T&C or "Off Topic Post". I do realize that the Mods must enforce some type of action, and I commend them on their efforts. But
I do believe that some of the people who post are doing so simply to instigate an argument. Much to my surprise, I have found that no matter the topic, FACTS always fall on deaf ears.

and many flags over!

And another thing! What's with these individuals who will sometimes make an off topic post, then re-post it over and over again, taking up not 1, not 2, but sometimes 3 and 4 pages of the thread? Why are these individuals not banned? I have often seen these people, posting on another topic, with no consequences?
Just sayin is all~

Originally posted by ManBehindTheMask
Absolutely man, It has gotten worse exponentially, and i dont care WHAT mods or anyone else says about " oh its always been like this"

yes it has, but not to THIS degree,and not to this voracity!

The longer I'm here the worse it gets. I can remember when I first found ATS in 2006 (jeez have I really been here that long? ) there was some of the insults and trolling, but not to the degree that there is now. ATS was smaller then, obviously, so less trolls had found the place and the ones who did were dealt with rather quickly. Now even members who wouldn't have stooped to such low levels a few short years ago regularly do so. I have to wonder if the site has just gotten too big to be able to keep a handle on it.. The mods do a good job, but they can't be everywhere at all times. Perhaps SO should consider adding more mods?

Or do you think that its just an influx of really rude people and our inability to stay on top of it?

Both. Trolls come and go with the seasons and a certain amount of them is to be expected regardless of which board you're on. The growth ATS has experienced, however, has brought in an extraordinary number of people who care little for basic civility. That growth has also made the mods' job more difficult. We lose nothing by being polite, yet by all appearances some of the posters here would literally drop dead if they even attempted to do so. It's sad really.. The more time that passes, the worse the problem gets, and the less I like it here.

I agree as well. My newest beef is with the new members who use INTRODUCTIONS as a place to post stories.
Pay your dues and start the thread where it belongs. I guess I would be considered iron fisted if I were a mod because this stuff would be on my radar.