3 Months before new members can make a thread - Either this or the site dies

Originally posted by On the level
reply to post by markygee

 

have
Mark if it was just about some strange subjects then it wouldn`t bother me, I don`t discuss cryptozoology for example as does not interest me. This is a site wide issue with new members being disrespectful and trolling

I notice the quality of discourse fading, the topics inane ramblings of people posting their own opinions and not associated with any news story, program, field study or journal.

The loss of intellectual heft along with the influx of trash has dealt ATS a deadly double-whammy.
Add the "Debra Norville" makeover and you have a tough transition. You can say .."you knew it when."
Looks like they will have to reinvent themselves yet again, to get good people back.

But then, isn't there an ATS ATS?
A private discussion you join by using your points?
Velvet ropes and a VIP room around here? I am just try to keep up!

reply to post by On the level


I know exactly how you feel. I have been on this site for 3 years in which I came to notice that more people joining means more dumb threads and bashful posts. However, I wouldn't say a three month waiting period would benefit anyone. I think that there should be 3 strikes and a 1 month post ban, than two more strikes and you're out for another month, than 1 strike and you're banned for good.

Unless the MODS already have something in place like that.

Well there is one thing everyone should keep in mind: Quality of posts is in the eye of the reader. Unless it is against T&C, what one believes is quality, another may not. If it is not against the rules of this site and you feel it is a less than stellar thread or post, then I would suggest to either debate and discuss or ignore and move on.

Again, if it is against the rules of the site, feel free to alert staff and we will handle

reply to post by rusethorcain


A lot of my favorite threads dont follow your forumula for success. If I wanted a news feed, I would subscribe to one. I want peoples voices, input, research, ideas, their experiences, their insights, their metaphysics. To discuss out of the box, right brained, not left brained, freedom from the matrix, solutions, ideas, musings. That is the reason many of us go on ATS. And the level of truth, insight, and precious pearls to be found is good.

Not even interested in the same kind of info the ones promoting this are. And by the many varied threads on ATS, many aren't.

I still like my idea best...Post 5 postings a day....I hate to read a thread and find out the poster just became a member today...I realize they are usual just here for their amusement and not the knowledge this site has to offer...No matter what I 'd like to see some kinda of intervention for this problem...

As somebody who's been floating around ATS for a long time, I can tell you from experience that even in the "good old days" there were numerous threads from people who wanted "the good old days" back.

Growth is change and change is a wonderful thing. It's nothing to be feared, even if there are the occasional growing pains associated with it.

One of the reasons that I love ATS so much is that I can refresh my browser and almost always there is a new reply for me to see. And I am not talking about site wide. I am talking about in a single thread! it's dynamic and fast paced.

By way of comparison, I've visited other sites where there are literally no posts, anywhere on the entire site, for days on end. I just don't have the patience or attention span to engage in such debate - where I might have to wait days or weeks for anyone to reply to my post.

As it relates to ATS, sure there are posts that don't live up to standards, regarding T&C - those we have a remedy for. Report them and staff will edit or delete them as necessary.

Regarding those posts that aren't up to snuff (at least to our own personal standards), well maybe we should keep in mind that there are folks out there who might believe differently from us, or who might be shy, or who have difficulty with English, or any number of other things.

As a community the best thing we can do for those people is to help them learn how to contribute. If we lead by example, as members and posters, then the overall content of the entire site tends to become better.

So, to beat a dying horse to death, once again... be the change you wish to see.

~Heff

Originally posted by On the level
I really don't think this is either a crazy statement or asking too much, before I joined ATS I lurked for a good year and posted anonymously. On ATS there is a deluge of absolute BS hitting us on a daily basis, we have trolls by their hundreds and some generally insane people. I have noticed more and more established members leaving and am thinking of joining them. I love this site and try to be an addition to its content and membership but nowadays on the site there is at least 35 crackpot and trolling posts to every quality one.

I have been giving it thought as as per the title propose that is someone joins they can post however have to be active on the forums and if they do not get warning etc then after 3 months they get the privilege to make a thread. The 20 post rule or making it 100 posts wont work, these people are too obsessive and have too much time on their hands. Again due to this new members come on and add "S+F second line" to threads or just add brief snippets of abuse.

If you make a 3 month rule for threads then it would stop a lot of the trolls and crazies posting as they want attention and they want it now, it takes them minutes to set up new accounts in Libraries and come back on saying they are a Prophet of the Reptilian Stargate. it would make dedicated new people more likely to get a feel for the place and make their first threads more of a success.

I know this would have an effect on some members and would not be a popular with new members however if you don't act you will lose your established membership and have nothing left but some quality and a whole stable of trolls. I know you always tell members that complain that "ATS is what you make of it" which is correct however when the content is becoming so shoddy and crazy what is the point of creating some quality work when it will be over looked for the latest "OOHHH NOES A SOLAR FLARE" or "LOOK PROOF NIBIRU TOTALLY NOT A SUNDOG" threads.

Thanks for your time.

I think you have a very good valid point,but this should of been put in place 11-10-2008, a little to late now. Then maybe people woudnt waste the data in the ats system,by writing stuff like this.
Good thread,f f f f f f f f f f f f f f ff f f f f f f f f f f

Originally posted by Hefficide

So, to beat a dying horse to death, once again... be the change you wish to see.

~Heff

I would have to say setting good examples is the key. I think when people get out of line on ATS they tend to paint themselves into a cyber corner, thus showing there true colors.

Don't react to trolls, because it only gives them the fuel they look for.

Sometimes I twisted our motto hear on ATS, instead of "Denying Ignorance", I just ignore it when it comes to rude people.

I've had an idea. I wonder how many of you may agree with me?

This may take a little extra time and effort on behalf of the staff though, but it's worth some thought at least.

How about....

A beginners forum.

An area (Much like in a computer game) where 'new members' can join, discuss and talk about topics, which can be viewed by any members, and will be a gradual introduction to ATS. This way, new members aren't punished and have full freedom to discuss topics etc. But it will be separate from the 'regular' threads.

New members won't be able to fully contribute to existing standard threads until the trial period is over, but they may link to and refer to existing threads. They can of course fully browse and refer to any existing threads.

After say... A month or whatever, they then have full access to any part of the site besides, say R.A.T.S (which i still believe shouldn't be too accesible).

Just my thoughts. Not quite sure how it can be fully organised, but maybe a kind of ATS-lite, kind of thing?

What do you think?

Because it would be a shame to lose valued members simply because of the actions of a few trolls, and it would also less likely scare off new members who DO have something to contribute.

Don't forget we all started new, and at one point nobody knew anybody here.

Any thoughts?

TROLL Hey you guys are all fruitcakes

Regulars 20 Regulars have a comeback takes up three pages

Noobies 50 noobies jump in and either side with the troll or the regulars

Mods Come in and post "Off Topic" and other warning banners

Final result:

Three pages of deleted posts with warnings... Viewer hits that and thinks he just missed WWIII

Troll wins.. because he has disrupted a thread with three pages of BS with only one post

Next thread...

TROLL Hey you guys are all fruitcakes

WHY? Why do we all fall into the trap? Yeah me too occasionally and I was even slapped on one of those three page messes for telling people to stop feeding the troll

Just skim over them... don't go to a thread you KNOW will get your dander up...

But if ya do... you can't complain about it

My personal solution : Dont visit crap threads, ignore trolling posts in threads, and let the insane ones die on the vine. They WILL go away if they arent fed, receive no replies, get any attention.

Originally posted by greeneyedleo
If it is not against the rules of this site and you feel it is a less than stellar thread or post, then I would suggest to either debate and discuss or ignore and move on.

Less than stellar doesn't even begin to describe the majority of stuff in A&U right now. When I read something utterly idiotic I find it really hard to ignore and move on, after all, I became a member here to deny ignorance.

Originally posted by zbeliever
I still like my idea best...Post 5 postings a day....I hate to read a thread and find out the poster just became a member today...I realize they are usual just here for their amusement and not the knowledge this site has to offer...No matter what I 'd like to see some kinda of intervention for this problem...

I really like that 5 posts a day for 4 days idea. Either that or ATS better recruit a lot more moderators.

Originally posted by Advantage
My personal solution : Dont visit crap threads, ignore trolling posts in threads, and let the insane ones die on the vine. They WILL go away if they arent fed, receive no replies, get any attention.

star star star star star star star star star star star star starr

Being honest it's not that bad.

I've been on dozens of forums, that practically crumble on the troll horde.

But ATS deals with it much better than most. Not just the mods, but other members too, some have keen eyes or noses.

What a load of rubbish.. Thats the mentality that feeds censorship, internet restrictions and promotes ignorance via denying open and honest dialogue...
Pfffth and a two finger salute to anything that restricts / limits / prohibits open and honest dialogue..

Originally posted by Expat888
What a load of rubbish.. Thats the mentality that feeds censorship, internet restrictions and promotes ignorance via open and honest dialogue.
Pfffth.. And a two-finger salute to anything that would restrict / limit / prohibit open dialogue.

Here is what I've noticed, and I won't be surprised if this post is plucked from existence.

With the ever increasing amounts of ads on this site, It looks like the owners don't really care much about the quality of the board, but just the quantity of hits. You can't blame them, the bandwidth this site sucks up must be insane. This is the largest message board I have ever seen by far. They don't charge a membership fee, and this site is certainly the core info/entertainment site for tons of people. Myself included.

I absolutely love this site, even if most of the people here are bat# insane.

New mods are delegated to drive the impending pile of T&C violations back, which is the mainstay of the board... it's manners and decorum. They don't really care about how much truth a post or thread has unless the outcry from members is obvious. I swear, I've seen threads that have literally been CELEBRATED by mods as being debunked by "keen members" when it's ABSOUTELY OBVIOUS that the UFO IN THAT VIDEO/PICTURE WAS EDITED IN THERE. You can literally post about the most insane thing as long as it doesn't violate the manner & decorum based T&Cs. The whole marketing thing about HOAX threads drives part of the fanbase.

reply to post by RestingInPieces

Here is what I've noticed, and I won't be surprised if this post is plucked from existence.

With the ever increasing amounts of ads on this site, It looks like the owners don't really care much about the quality of the board, but just the quantity of hits. You can't blame them, the bandwidth this site sucks up must be insane. This is the largest message board I have ever seen by far. They don't charge a membership fee, and this site is certainly the core info/entertainment site for tons of people. Myself included.

I absolutely love this site, even if most of the people here are bat# insane.

New mods are delegated to drive the impending pile of T&C violations back, which is the mainstay of the board... it's manners and decorum. They don't really care about how much truth a post or thread has unless the outcry from members is obvious. I swear, I've seen threads that have literally been CELEBRATED by mods as being debunked by "keen members" when it's ABSOUTELY OBVIOUS that the UFO IN THAT VIDEO/PICTURE WAS EDITED IN THERE. You can literally post about the most insane thing as long as it doesn't violate the manner & decorum based T&Cs. The whole marketing thing about HOAX threads drives part of the fanbase.

No, I think self appointed skeptics should have their own sub forum, that would be fair, then we wouldn't have to wade through all of those negative comments and not see good things hoaxed.

We can call it a Sub-Forum for Sub-Humans.

How about members just alert staff to threads and posts that violate the T&C.

How about bringing back the IGNORE button? With all due respect, the quality of this website is neither my responsibility, nor my concern.

We don't mind the complaints folks, that's what we are here for. And every one of them will be reviewed and discussed at lenght before any decisions are made.

Having had a few experiences with mods who have a blatant political agenda, thanks, but I'll pass on your suggestion, which is nothing but a waste of time.

One of the reasons that I love ATS so much is that I can refresh my browser and almost always there is a new reply for me to see.

Yeah, like mindless replies to the millionth thread about Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Beyonce being Illuminati/Reptilians.

Just skim over them... don't go to a thread you KNOW will get your dander up...

Are you kidding me? Those are the only threads worth visiting.

With the ever increasing amounts of ads on this site, It looks like the owners don't really care much about the quality of the board, but just the quantity of hits.

You got it! More Garbage = More Hits.

Originally posted by Unity_99
reply to post by rusethorcain

 

A lot of my favorite threads dont follow your forumula for success. If I wanted a news feed, I would subscribe to one. I want peoples voices, input, research, ideas, their experiences, their insights, their metaphysics. To discuss out of the box, right brained, not left brained, freedom from the matrix, solutions, ideas, musings. That is the reason many of us go on ATS. And the level of truth, insight, and precious pearls to be found is good.

Not even interested in the same kind of info the ones promoting this are. And by the many varied threads on ATS, many aren't.

If I had a formula for success please share it since I would like to make a note of it.

Hefficide..You are right and always uplifting, positive.
Zorgon I love that comic and mr_lizard your idea!
Expat888....eeeeasy cowboy

I'd like to see a long sheep herders hook or a trap door..
At first like sort of a joke but... thinking a "delete post" option rather than deleting everything a person writes might be good.

If we could make individual posts disappear... not totally but to us, on our own threads.
Ignore is such an ugly word and the atomic bomb of solutions...Perhaps a dump bucket button....some hogs feeding and our unwanted posts go ceremoniously in....a little music playing. Or they could blow up.
I would like something like that.
If anyone is asking.