Please can we have the ignore button back pretty please?

Originally posted by Sauron

The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

I think not having a ignore button helps the staff out in some small way, instead of ignore use the alert,
Just my 2 cents

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.

Although this may resolve the issues that contravene the ATS T's and C's, it does not resolve the issues where people work around the T's and C's to gain the same negative effect in comment that was intended to annoy or be inflammatory.

I feel the Ignore button removal was a mistake.

Korg.

reply to post by jontap


I really do miss the ignore feature as well.
I have probably been on others' ignore list.
I'm sure there are some who would want me
out of their sights.

reply to post by mamabeth


As I never had anyone on ignore can someone explain what happens if the person you have on ignore posts something and then someone else quotes it? Does that get ignored too? Doesn't it make a thread a little bit hard to read if people are talking about a point that someone has made that you can't see?

reply to post by davespanners


The ignore feature removes all of that member's
posts from any thread you read.If others do quote
that member,you then can see what they posted.
I only had a couple on my ignore list.I would sometimes
get 'mad' at someone and place them on ignore,but,
not for long.

What happened if someone on the ignore list started a thread ?

Was the thread unable to be viewed ?


Personally, I don't see what's wrong with the ''ignore button'' in our brain; just skim through or ignore posts by a person that you would like to ignore.

It all seems a bit childish to me, anyway, as it always struck me as shying away from posts by someone that winds you up, rather than facing up to what they may be saying.

I mean, you don't have an ''ignore button'' in real life, do you ?

Originally posted by jontap
So do we have any Gods among us here who know it all?

Modesty prevents me from answering this question honestly.

reply to post by Sherlock Holmes


It may be childish to some,but,it
kept me from losing my cool a couple
of times.

I'd give up 100,000 ATS points to have the ignore back. Alas, we are perpetually stuck having to peruse the forums that are now littered with the same offensive, misleading, self promoting, repetitive, hateful, etc... messages from the same repeat offenders that we once had the freedom to ignore.

Originally posted by Sherlock HolmesPersonally, I don't see what's wrong with the ''ignore button'' in our brain; just skim through or ignore posts by a person that you would like to ignore.

It all seems a bit childish to me, anyway, as it always struck me as shying away from posts by someone that winds you up, rather than facing up to what they may be saying.

I mean, you don't have an ''ignore button'' in real life, do you ?

1. On a forum with a whole slew of different names to look at, it becomes very difficult to be able to filter just by memory. Over the internet there will always be those who see a reason to be sort of a chameleon, whereas is real life you have faces, real names and actual physical space that you can use to filter your interaction. People on the internet have learned how to effectively interject regardless of another person's attempt at filtering them.

2. Sometimes it might be very good to hear even deeply contrasting ideas, but there are those types who are constantly playing on the negatives in conversation because they feel it's important for various reason. Sometimes it's not about the info that is obtainable in the conversation. It's about weighing your reasons to be a part of it in the first place. If there is an imbalance of what you see as unnecessary BS compared to what you think is valid contribution, it's often enough to tip the scale and make some just walk away entirely and filter all of it out because not enough is being gained compared to what is being interjected as negative social experiments. In other words, it becomes not worth it.

Have you ever studied psychology?

I use the ultimate ignore feature:

I just learn quickly who I don't appreciate, agree with, or get along with - and then ignore their posts. Although in the recent past I've had two separate occasions where I realized that someone I was arguing with, on one subject, quite heatedly, wound up being a person I did completely agree with on other issues.

An ignore button would have robbed me of the chance to experience this - and to grow a little bit from the experience.

~Heff

reply to post by Hefficide


I wish that I could give you a star,this will do
I usually skim over posts and decide whether I will
reply.There have been times that I wish that I had read
the entire post before replying.I sometimes get myself
into trouble.

Originally posted by ChaosMagician
1. On a forum with a whole slew of different names to look at, it becomes very difficult to be able to filter just by memory. Over the internet there will always be those who see a reason to be sort of a chameleon, whereas is real life you have faces, real names and actual physical space that you can use to filter your interaction. People on the internet have learned how to effectively interject regardless of another person's attempt at filtering them.

In another thread on this subject, it was said that you could only ignore up to 10 people. Surely it's not that difficult to remember the names of 10 people that you don't like ?

There's also avatars that give you a visual prompt, and someone's writing style or idiosyncrasies.

There's no reason for not just ignoring them or skimming through their posts, no matter how they may try to interject.

Really, if someone's annoying you that much, then I don't see why you don't just make a mental note of their user name, avatar and/or writing style, so you can avoid the content of their posts.

To me, the ignore button just seems like an easy way out, so you can pretend that their posts don't even exist, and so you don't have to bother yourself with any points that they may bring up.

If someone's posts are causing you any kind of unnecessary emotional response or anxiety, then maybe internet message-boards aren't your thing.

Originally posted by ChaosMagician
It's about weighing your reasons to be a part of it in the first place. If there is an imbalance of what you see as unnecessary BS compared to what you think is valid contribution, it's often enough to tip the scale and make some just walk away entirely and filter all of it out because not enough is being gained compared to what is being interjected as negative social experiments. In other words, it becomes not worth it.

But, ignoring a member won't filter out the BS for every other member that hasn't put that member on ignore, thus making the thread still top-heavy in BSery.

If you don't want to make a contribution to a thread because too many contributors are making points that you consider to be rubbish, then I don't see how ignoring the fact that these people are still present in the thread will alter the effect of your input.

Originally posted by ChaosMagician
Have you ever studied psychology?

I study it every day.

reply to post by Sherlock Holmes

If you don't want to make a contribution to a thread because too many contributors are making points that you consider to be rubbish, then I don't see how ignoring the fact that these people are still present in the thread will alter the effect of your input.

Take for example that you have a big thread of 20+ pages the topic is a really interesting one and its something you want to get your teeth in to. It starts out great and people are discussing it on the first few pages then somebody comes in to it whos bored and wants to bait and troll, and before long you find that the thread has been hijacked by snide remarks and childish behaviour. The OP tries to bring it back on track and various people try to calm it all down. Unfortunately the childish posts have not been seen by the moderators therefore, the behaviour continues, and in amongst the trolls the OP and followers of the thread are trying to get on discussing the issue at hand. It would be much easier to ignore these people.

When the ignore feature was available I used the three strike rule. Everyone has off days therefore, sometimes people just say things they don't mean to vent their anger, you can normally tell this because they will apologise after their outburst, but some are just here purely to troll and throw threads in to disaray, god knows why

In regards to the 'why don't you just ignore them' posts, I am sorrry but I don't look at every single members name on every thread when I read a post. I just skim and read. To suggest that my brain should be trained in order to avoid certain members by scnning the posts and the usernam is ridiculous. I am old I do not have the skills to do this like the whippersnappers let alone the time.

Lastly I have been here a while I have ready many threads and I have spoken with many members, before the new ATS look there were a few people who I had on ignore, but now, it seems every thread I go to is plastered with *off topic* banners from mods and childish posts from the ones that haven't been censored. I mean I counted numerous posts with one liners and smileys on one single thread. This IMHO is not what ATS is about.

I understand the whole get more people in the door and the sponsorship deals, but I truly believe if we had the ignore button back we could gain some headway.

Originally posted by Sherlock Holmes

Originally posted by ChaosMagician
1. On a forum with a whole slew of different names to look at, it becomes very difficult to be able to filter just by memory. Over the internet there will always be those who see a reason to be sort of a chameleon, whereas is real life you have faces, real names and actual physical space that you can use to filter your interaction. People on the internet have learned how to effectively interject regardless of another person's attempt at filtering them.

In another thread on this subject, it was said that you could only ignore up to 10 people. Surely it's not that difficult to remember the names of 10 people that you don't like ?

There's also avatars that give you a visual prompt, and someone's writing style or idiosyncrasies.

There's no reason for not just ignoring them or skimming through their posts, no matter how they may try to interject.

Really, if someone's annoying you that much, then I don't see why you don't just make a mental note of their user name, avatar and/or writing style, so you can avoid the content of their posts.

To me, the ignore button just seems like an easy way out, so you can pretend that their posts don't even exist, and so you don't have to bother yourself with any points that they may bring up.

If someone's posts are causing you any kind of unnecessary emotional response or anxiety, then maybe internet message-boards aren't your thing.

Originally posted by ChaosMagician
It's about weighing your reasons to be a part of it in the first place. If there is an imbalance of what you see as unnecessary BS compared to what you think is valid contribution, it's often enough to tip the scale and make some just walk away entirely and filter all of it out because not enough is being gained compared to what is being interjected as negative social experiments. In other words, it becomes not worth it.

But, ignoring a member won't filter out the BS for every other member that hasn't put that member on ignore, thus making the thread still top-heavy in BSery.

If you don't want to make a contribution to a thread because too many contributors are making points that you consider to be rubbish, then I don't see how ignoring the fact that these people are still present in the thread will alter the effect of your input.

Originally posted by ChaosMagician
Have you ever studied psychology?

I study it every day.

If only 10 posts can be ignored, then that totally defeats the purpose of having an ignore feature. How many members are on this site? Ten thousand plus active members? You want me to make mental notes? Are you kidding me? Visual cues? Avatars?... Ah DOY!... I never thought to look at those.

Now let's get past that tidbit of obviousness just for a second and look at the fact that not all these members come through everyday but also consider how many of these users are alts. i'd like to condense this for the sake of efficiency. Basically I'm saying, let's face reality. 10 to 10000 possibly active members is not a good ratio when your desire is to whittle down a forum. I have to say... I'm not real concerned with someone who I disagree with in one post and agree with on another.

Here's MY view of it. I've got a lot of things to do with my time. Do I really care if some person on here that I think is not someone I want to listen to in general, one day says something smart and I might miss it? The answer is a very certain "NO"... There are already too many posts to read in the first place, what do I care if I miss a few good ones from people who I think are the types of people who would put socks in their trousers? There's already a lot of posts I am missing anyway... What am I going to do about that, implant a direct ATS feed into my brain? I certainly hope not. What I would LIKE to be able to do, is as I stated.... whittle it down... and I know how to use an ignore function very well.

As for message board experience... ... just because I do it from one user name, does not mean I don't know how to use a forum for all sorts of enjoyment purposes. Fun AND informative. Sure, I have been told by a disgruntled forum member or two that I might be a little too big for my britches but I wear them well so it's all good. My problem is that I'm simply unhappy wasting time on the posts that seem to serve as speed bumps for the rest of the content and they are numerous. If there was an ignore feature, I'm sure I would have dozens on it by now... and no need to get into the area of "maybe this isn't the message board for you" because on other message boards and in life in general, I have to admit that I find the majority of people as having a lot of personal hang ups that makes me not want to interact with them. Before I become compelled to have fun with them in ways I should not, it would be better to ignore them completely. not only will they not bother me, but perhaps more importantly I will not be tempted to start playing on the whole situation for the sake of entertaining myself even though others do. My light heartedness is not always taken as such while my openness is taken as opportunity by those with double standards.

Speaking of people with personal hang ups, you say you study psychology. I have looked into psychology and found it full of colorful labels and rigid text book descriptions that are plastic and unfeeling to actual issues that people I have been around in my life have had. The reason I looked into it though was due to problems in my own life and expecting to work through them to easily I suppose, and not being able to work through them fast enough... issues due to a few tragic events, having an atypical personality compared to most kids and then getting into trouble as a teenager every time I turned around because of so many people wanting to see me walk the straightest line knowing I wasn't an idiot. I have sought help from many different people in the field of psychology and my consensus was often the same "these people have way more issues than I do and need to be working on themselves"... but how they worked on themselves was exalting their egos by getting these degrees and pursuing careers in the field of psychiatry to basically be able to classify the problems of others.

Now, I'm not saying all are bad, some are more understanding and less egotistical but the simple fact of the matter is this... If a person has had real issues and has worked through a lot of their problems on their own and with the help of those who love them, does that make them less knowledgeable of psychological issues than someone who studied text book examples and learned how to prescribe drugs? If you know a lot about the psychology/psychiatry field in general... don't you think it's kind of funny that many mental illnesses cannot be cured and are only managed through drugs? Why do you think this is? to me, the answer is obvious... it's too difficult for people who have learned from text books to be able to help people seeking help to find REAL answers and skills... actual tools that will help them overcome something that could be organic but is often totally psychological... so they "manage" it with drugs that don't work and the patient lives their life this way never getting any real help.

Colorful names and diagnosis are labels meant to categorize people in light of what they might be capable of in society... capable of hurting or even just stirring up society. The labels are not meant to help the person. They actually scar the persons records permanently. Now, not only does the patient have to live with their troubles, they have to wear a stigma for the rest of their lives because this system is less about helping, more about social containment. It's more about damage control than it is about helping anyone. I have to say that in some circumstances containment is critical for the safety of others but the labels of psychology are loose cannons that don't seem to know where to draw the line. When they cross certain lines they actually become more of a detriment to the patients well being than anything. This is why I become greatly offended by people who insult my intelligence repeatedly by interjecting their need to be a psychologist every chance they get.
I'd rather be insulted directly because then I would at least be able to believe the person had a spine and was not hiding behind some facade.

Having committed no crimes and not asking for help, what I see around me often is not "normal human behavior" that "normal people" should just be able to adapt to. It is *acting* that the average person is expected to simply accept without thinking how full of # people seem to be. Sometimes it's about me, sometimes it's other people... but what it is NOT is exercises in social adjustment as it *pretends* to be... such as the ridiculous notion that I should compare my real life and compare my general tolerance level of others and my adaptability to social situations in real life to a message forum where there is a plethora of threads on all sort of unconventional and somewhat confusing things. Like.. "Oh. tolerate people?... well that thought never occurred to me at all... I better get used to this"

Actually, I refuse to get used to it... even if it makes me a failure in the world, because there are things I will consistently refuse to accept. I wasn't born yesterday but long ago I did make a promise to myself that I would spare myself more harm from those in society who have clawed and climbed above others and exalted themselves with all sort of little pieces of paper claiming they are wise people because at a young age they learned to put monetary value and status above all else and like to push the buttons of others to further the examples of their aptitude.

You see, the problem is that some people who fancy themselves as knowledgeable in psychology even if they are not pursuing a career or have gotten their degree... some of these people will NEVER STOP trying to interject psychology into every single scenario they come in contact with as though it was their life's purpose to label everything that is unusual to them, categorize it and put it beneath them. No matter how small or frivolous in detail. That is actually a mental symptom in itself but it blends into society... however, society is broken.

This is why I asked you but it's not just a question I'm asking you personally. It's something I wish everyone would think about because it's pretty common for people to analyze others. I guess for some it keeps them from having to analyze their selves. It gives them a sense of purpose to poke, pick, prod at the mental weaknesses of others to simply help their selves better understand something even if it has nothing to do with them. Ironically, they often cannot control the compulsion to think of any and every situation in life as a problem for psychology to figure out. It's like an addiction of the ego. they can't seem to stop them selves.

I don't want to figure many other people out. A lot of them I don't even want to listen to! I'd rather skip ALL of that and extract what I want to extract out of my chosen life experiences. You only live once and I admit that I do like controlling many aspects of MY own life... even small details, but at least I'm not controlling others.

hell, when it comes to most people... I don't even care. Not that I'm hateful but I like the things I like, want to do the things I want to do and some crap I just don't want to hear.

Now, here is the kicker and I'll make this the end. This thread is about gaining an ignore feature for those who wish to have one. The ones who want to use an ignore feature are making their cases while being overshadowed by those who protest the idea. Sure we are all entitled to our opinions on any matter we wish to voice it on but compare yourself to those who are wanting to gain a tool for their own purposes.

You don't want it. If they installed one, they would surely not *make* you use it... so tell me why it's so important for you to not have an ignore feature despite those who would like to have it when as far as I can see, it shouldn't affect anything you do on this website. Are you afraid people might ignore you? Who cares if they do? Surely others will read your posts. Why is it so important to YOU and to the others who have voiced their opinions against it to have others be deprived of something they want that you will not be forced to use if you choose not to?

Seriously, help me to understand why it's important for you to voice your opinion on this if it's not going to alter your contributions to this forum in any major way. If you can, in honesty, help me to understand this then perhaps I will see this as really gaining some kind of meaningful understanding from your words. Perhaps I will then believe this as being worthy of my time.

Originally posted by franspeakfree
Take for example that you have a big thread of 20+ pages the topic is a really interesting one and its something you want to get your teeth in to. It starts out great and people are discussing it on the first few pages then somebody comes in to it whos bored and wants to bait and troll, and before long you find that the thread has been hijacked by snide remarks and childish behaviour.

What would change by putting the troll on ignore ?

The troll who posts, deflecting and disrupting the thread, will still be there; the only posts that are '''ignored'' by you, are those from the poster that you can't handle.

I think that this whole concept of an ''ignore button'' is ridiculous.

Originally posted by franspeakfree
The OP tries to bring it back on track and various people try to calm it all down. Unfortunately the childish posts have not been seen by the moderators therefore, the behaviour continues, and in amongst the trolls the OP and followers of the thread are trying to get on discussing the issue at hand. It would be much easier to ignore these people.

I'm no Mod, but the ALERT! button should cover all your whingings and complaints.

Perhaps you just can't stand people that have a different perspective to life, and a different philosophy...?

Ah... no answer to the question.

*writes on list*

Ignore is absolutely necessary!

There are avatars that are utterly insane!

If I see a particular avatar, I immediately WILL NOT put up with it, PERIOD.

I'm GONE from any thread that has people on there with horrific avatars.

SORRY, that's the way I roll. It sucks that ATS can't accept that "ignore" is that vital.

JR

PS: I know my avatar isn't "pretty". At least it doesn't MOVE!!!!

Im sorry but the ignore button is useless and im glad it is gone. One more way to deny ignorance and annoy imbeciles? ATS has my support!

It requires resources to maintain kill files and resort threads. If things get bad enough maybe someone will write a browser plugin that filters like a high power usenet reader. Getting moderators involved to remove posts is a waste of resources.

I can understand if a person doesn't go along well with someone due to arguments arising out of difference of opinion and a mutual lack of understanding. But without any reason and even conversing with a certain member (just based on your whim), if you try to demean someone, then not only you are being unfair to them, but that also speaks loads about you and your own personality rather than the person you are portraying a negative picture of.

I can think of no better reason than this:

www.abovetopsecret.com...