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

Why stop there? Let's make it a year of lurking before you can officially apply for a membership, followed by a six month background/credit check process with ridiculous amount of paperwork to scare off the truly uninvested candidates. Then if, not when, you are approved for a membership there is another 3 month wait for your first post with a once a week post limitation for the first 3 years.

There, now we've solved all the board's problems.


::crickets::

Hey, where'd everybody go?

Originally posted by On the level
I am off work with a chest infection so will become the change I seek and will make a big thread on Shell and there plans that I found out about at an event held by them two weeks ago. I am will to make a prophesy too, I bet that I create a well researched and balanced thread about a page long based on fact and experience and it gets less attention than a thread about a ghost cat or a stargate or a reptillian horse someone has

Sadly though, that has got nothing to do with new members, or restricting their posting privileges, it just means that not enough people are interested or have anything to contribute, regardless of how long they have been a member. Not saying your thread won't be interesting or informative, but as many posters have said, it is up to the individuals as to where they post and what they post (within t&c's obviously) and there is nothing you can really do about that.

Originally posted by On the level
I am off work with a chest infection so will become the change I seek and will make a big thread on Shell and there plans that I found out about at an event held by them two weeks ago. I am will to make a prophesy too, I bet that I create a well researched and balanced thread about a page long based on fact and experience and it gets less attention than a thread about a ghost cat or a stargate or a reptillian horse someone has

I hope you get the change you seek to instill and will look out for the thread

Tho, please bare in mind, and this is how it appears to me, that prophecies made on ATS seem bound to fail

reply to post by On the level


You may be right, perhaps if you write this fantastic thread then the ever present idiot threads will no doubt get more attention. However, that is largely due to the fact that people insist on posting in those threads, and I dont mean people agreeing with these posts, Im talking of course about people who merely get cheesed off with the quality of the thread, and insist on promoting the thread by posting thier ire at it !
I know that it is tiresome, I know that it is a waste of bandwidth, I know that it is fustrating, but the ONLY way to solve this issue is to completely boycott the threads which irk you so, and pray that the logical thinkers on the site do this also.
This will reduce the replies the thread recieves and thusly prevent it from becoming a front page item.

reply to post by TrueBrit


Yep wrote the thread, has been up for a few hours, got 4 flags and no replies, dont know why I bother is the last thread I will write had enough will just lurk from now on and make comments, why try to add anything, spend 4 hours researching and publishing it

I have been signed up for almost a year. I know big milestone right? Just wanted to say that I have authored a couple of threads, they were just board questions but terrible in their presentation! On the other hand there are people here who present awesome threads. Thorough, well thought out and even asthetically pleasing. It depends on the person really, some of us are better at some things than others. Some are super organized and have extensive knowledge on one particular subject. Me, I am jack of all and master of none.

It was pointed out in a thread I was in the other day that flags do not neccessarily put a thread at the top of the list, it is how many replies that thread recieved ( I think there is an option to go by flag count at the top of the recent posts page, but it does automatically come up as most recent reply) Knowing this, I will refrain from posting in those irksome threads where you just wanna write "Sigh...shut up...second line" and try to keep the good threads alive.

You know though, those silly threads die out pretty quickly. "All roads lead to Rome" has been going on forever and it is an awesome thread. There are all levels, all ages, all kinds on this board. Not everyone is the same, nor do they have the same level of presentation. I suppose like everything else in life we have to put up with it and let people be themselves, they will attract attention from like minded individuals and repel those that are on a different level/wavelength.

reply to post by On the level


In which board is this thread posted? I only ask because I cannot find it at all in Breaking News. Is it in some other board?? Im genuinely interested in anything about big oil so expect a visit from me in your thread!

reply to post by On the level


I read your thread and will comment on it when I have a few minutes for an intelligent reply. The problem was your media made sense for the post and wasn't inflammatory, stupid, or insane.

That is a serious post on some serious topics most people haven't heard about yet and will not gain popular support.When I first joined up earlier in the year there was a fluff piece (well done) with lots of pictures and emotional junk that was insanely popular and is still getting stars and flags (over a month old).

Can I ask this though: Have you considered the quality of your post may have intimidated some people who might have otherwise replied if the information was presented in a dumbed down fashion? Obviously it is being read, it is getting flagged.

The real sad thing is I likely never would have found it if I wasn't following this thread and I truly appreciate the info.

Just let it go..

Forget about it..

We have but a blink of an eye on this earth...

All you can do is ignore it...

Trolls will be Trolls..

People have trolled a topic they are passionate about, and not even realize it.

Give em' a break.

Good day to you all, I offer up my humble opinion,

I would like to start by saying, I have only one problem with placing any restrictions to new members. Information. Simply put, Just because someone is new to this site, it does not mean they are new to any of the topics discussed, on this site, or that they only have irrelevant things to say. I would like to give an example If I may; Back in late 2006-early 2007, I was a long time member of SiteSpace and followed everything, as I have been searching for truth and putting the puzzles together from 1978 on. One day, I saw a post by someone who had joined earlier in the month entitled "Chicago's New Cameras" I read his post about how Chicago had installed new surveillance cameras and replied to his post asking him why he felt it relevant as cameras where going up everywhere. His reply was interesting enough for me to begin to research. Simply put, his reply had said that they were not just putting up new cameras. They were replacing them, even though some were less than a year old and He said that he found that they were replacing all of the state and federal computers as well shortly after his initial post. I found that Chicago had received a government grant to change their equipment to withstand a magnetic pulse. That in itself was not that interesting because we all know what creates a magnetic pulse and it could be simply written off as preparedness. However, Chicago was not only the first to receive this grant but also was the only city offered it in the first place. FLAG. Two other people joined this thread and all four of us went to work. To make a long story short, we discovered that a nuclear weapon had been secretly moved to an AF base in S. Dakota without a single signing party. This base is responsible for patrolling the Chicago and Great Lakes area. Put all this together and what do you get? BLACKFLAG. We then exposed these events to the internet and BOOM it hit mainstream. The government had no excuse and admitted the weapon had been moved without paperwork and said they would investigate. Thats all it took. Chicago is fine and the "EXCUSE" was never played out. One week later, my computer received over 300,000 viruses that bypassed my security and shut me down. When I was back up and running I found that sitespace had been shut down as well.

None of this was written to toot my own horn but to simply illustrate, you really don't know what information is going to be important unless you really look and new or not does not make information irrelevant. Something someone posts that seems irrelevant may be the missing piece of another puzzle that the poster is unaware of.

If you wish to separate out the trolls here is my suggestion; ATS- install a donation button in plane site. Use that money to create two things. First, an "Irrelevant" button that turns that post pink. This button is on every post and can be clicked by any member. This will cause these kinds of posts to stand out and can be skipped over easily. It also makes it easier for the moderator to find, cutting down on the time they have to invest in finding them for removal or transfer to another string or if truly relevant it can be unchecked by the moderator only. Second, begin a new section for established members only that is password protected and can only be accessed by those who establish themselves in the open forum AND are invited by a member of this advanced forum. Problem solved, trolls never make it into the advanced forum. These forums can, if decided, be read by the general public but, only posted and replied to by advanced members in order to show the correct way to post and get the information out.
ATS MEMBERS; Donate to the site, help them out to make it better. They put this site together to find Truth and make a difference, it is everyone's responsibility to fulfill this obligation especially since it was offered to us free of charge. A couple of "credits" or whatever you decide to make this site strong and worthy of making a difference is not too much to ask.

Thank you all for reading this post and enjoy the rest of your day.
Agarta

Since this is a common problem for many threads, I think here is solution or two that most forums should implement to help solve the problem.

#1 - Create user controlled filters on the home page and each sub-page (hot topics, forums, recent posts, etc.) that allow each user to filter out threads based on information about the original poster, such as length of membership, stars, flags, number of posts, etc.

** If you wanted to go a step further you could create a score for each thread that is calculated by the combined user stats of each person who posts. This would give top contributors incentive to post wisely so that their stats can promote good topics. For instance, if a new joiner posted a good topic, top contributors would help promote the idea by posting / lending their stats to this thread.

#2 - Let users moderate all posts within each thread that they create. I am not sure if deleting other users' posts is a good idea (censorship), but maybe the original poster could automatically hide posts from certain users based on their stats or their account name. They could also manually hide/unhide specific posts of users. Unhide a good comment by a troll or hide comments of normally good posters who hijack a thread with an argument that goes off-topic.

**Also by hide, I mean make anyone who wants to see the information be able to click a link and see all hidden posts from the face of the thread.

Just a few thoughts. I am not that technical so I am not sure if this would be time consuming or take too much resources to implement.

reply to post by TrueBrit


Click on my profile name Truebrit and the Shell topic with be my last listed thread, is in the fragile earth section of Ats

reply to post by Jinglelord


I agree it could be dumbed down but I believe that the subject is complex, I am currently ill so dont have the energy to add bells and whistles to attract the masses. Was just pointing out again and a well put together, though provoking thread would not get attention even before I wrote it, and it never ;-) I may create a bat # insane thread full of pictures and diagrams about a subject like PROOF DEATHSHIP OFF JUPITER HUMANITY DOOMED, watch those flags and stars roll in along with a 1000 replies. I am not looking for praise or flags and stars just was looking for a debate on a subject and found the boards lacking

Im new here so Im wondering what these flags and stars and titles are all about?

Im also wondering if you think all new members are less important then you? Do u feel less important each time a new member posts? When you meet someone do you expect them to shut up and listen to you for a week before you allow them to speak? How will this site die if this is not changed? Is this a secret society where you only gain true access by proving your worth? if so whos the Judge? I myself would not care if I could never start a new thread, but somehow this attitude seems to go against what this site is for...

Im old not familiar with net jargon someone please define what you deem to be a "Troll"... If that applies to me can I be an Ancient Wyrm instead?

It's my second day as an ATS member and I keep liking it more and more as I go! I'm sure the site could use some adjustments to make it better, but what couldn't? And, yeah I've already experienced threads posted by Trolls that were of zero significance. I will simply skip over them and find the good ones on the top.
But from what I can tell, ATS is the best site out there for this type of stuff.
Looking forward to the site!!

reply to post by ValValient4


Its not a matter of feeling superior or wanting new members to shut up, this is an observation that has been made over the last 6 months that new members seem to be more and more concerned with trolling and abusing other members. I was suggesting a way to stop said trolls that was all. I am not tarring everyone with the same brush however I believe it is a privilege to be able to make a thread on a site like this and that this privilege should be earned. To give you an example of the effect new members posting absolute garbage is having, I recommended ATS to a co-worker who had similar tastes as myself, he came back and said the site was full of crackpots. The 4 threads he highlighted where all created by newish members. I am trying to think of ways to both help the site grow but also retain older members that are leaving in droves and also keep the quality above other sites that are a step away from the nut house

reply to post by On the level


I don't know if you ever listen to Coast to Coast AM but this site reminds me of a lot of the variety there. Thats the problem when your key demographic is people who don't believe everything they're told by main stream. Some don't believe it because they are critical, and some don't believe it because their right thumb has been talking to them about it for years.

reply to post by Jinglelord


I believe there can be room for both level headed debate and far out theories, hense why I am on ATS I just think that we are now reaching the tipping point that good threads, well though out and researched and that are thought provoking are now the exception to the rule.

reply to post by On the level


very good topic , very good ideea!
notice though , that I am new around here but didn't start any stupid topic

Originally posted by On the level
these people are too obsessive and have too much time on their hands.

Sounds like an obsessive person with to much time on their hands made this thread? Its the internet for crying out loud, no one is forcing you to be here.