I would be willing to pay a Membership Fee to ATS if...

A few weeks ago, there was a poll by the Site Owners (Maybe the Mods, I can't remember) asking who would be willing to pay a monthly membership on ATS. I regret not having voiced my opinion at the time.

I chose not to post this in Board Business & Questions as those threads are not seen on the boards and it could be interesting and valuable to get more Member input. Maybe it'll be moved?

Due to a recent action taken by a MOD on one of my threads (No name mentioned as I will extend a modicum of respect that I feel was not given to me), I am of the opinion that a membership fee might not be such a bad idea. But in order to give more value to the Membership Fee, I feel that something should be given back to the Members.

This is not an attack on the site or the MODS but rather a suggestion as to how a few changes may benefit everyone.

I would be willing to pay a $5/Month ATS Membership Fee to ATS,

IF:

1. Members had some control over our own threads such as being able to delete the posts of trolls and rude/ignorant people in general. Many other forums on the net give members that option. It would also help in keeping threads on track instead of de-railing the OP.

If a Member wants to discuss ABC and another Member decides it's not worth his/her time and posts something like "This is a waste of Time" or "This is not important", why even post? And why should the OP have that in their thread if they simply want to have a discussion on ABC that is not against the site T&C? They could simply delete the rudeness.

2. Members had control of being able to block a member from his/her future threads. I have seen cases of people actually posting rude comments in the threads of people they just dislike, time and time again. Bullying so to speak.

3. BEFORE a MOD took action in either deleting or removing a thread, a U2U between the MOD and the OP should take place. Currently, if a MOD wants to delete or move a thread, the only thing that happens is a U2U stating what action has been taken. It would be nice to at least have a say in the matter BEFORE this action. Yes we have the option of a dispute but by that time it's too late and the posters in the thread have moved on so it might as well stay dead.

I would suggest allowing a response from the OP before taking any action as there may be something the MOD isn't seeing. After all, the MODS do have a big job and couldn't possibly research every thread to get all the facts. A paid Member could at least have their say.

I am not suggesting a change in the T&C by any means. The posting, content, language rules can still apply. I am simply saying that a little control over our threads could be beneficial to both Members and MODS alike. We get a say as to the direction of our thread and the MODS have a little less work to do.

Anyway, the point I'm making is that if we had a little more control, I would be willing to pay a Membership. It would be worth it to me and I think it would make ATS a lot less frustrating for everyone.

Now, if a Member decided that the Membership fee doesn't add any value for them, that's ok too. Just carry on as it is now with no changes whatsoever. After all, it's a great site regardless. The fee could be a voluntary option with the minimal thread control perks. The $5 price point is just a starting point for negotiations.

Ok, I can see how this can be seen as censorship by some and that's not what it's about. Simply a suggestion as a way to keep threads on track.

If you have another suggestion as to how this can be accomplished, please post it and discuss. I know that I for one, will appreciate it.

EDIT: One more idea has surfaced with a discussion with a poster:

Maybe when a member has reached a certain level of credibility with points, stars, flags etc would work better?

I don't know but I'm reaching!

What do the Members think?

Thanks!


Edit to include a great suggestion by a poster:

1: Negative stars.
Not only will this make trolls more obvious, it'll act as a deterrent, as people will think twice about posting derailing comments. Make every post count right? the star and flag system is broken anyway.

I would not be willing to pay a red cent unless I could express my opinion and not have it deleted....Best to stay a free site and let mods delete what they will..WE all know what subjects they will allow and the ones they want....I just express my opinions on those things on my face book page...

I agree, i dnt mind paying 500$ PA.

personally I would stop coming to ATS if a 5$ fee were required...if it were optional and it gave members an added benefit of not having their threads trolled or deleted by a mod with hardly a reason I would probably pay it just for that...but if you ask me being able to pick apart your own thread in such a way would definitely give some members an ability to cherry pick who they want in their threads and can censor out certain opinions and would make many threads biased so i dont know

Originally posted by Caji316
I would not be willing to pay a red cent unless I could express my opinion and not have it deleted....Best to stay a free site and let mods delete what they will..WE all know what subjects they will allow and the ones they want....I just express my opinions on those things on my face book page...

And that's my point. Don't pay if you don't see the value in having a little more control over our own threads. I'm not suggesting a radical change in the T&C because it's their site and it's their rules we choose to follow or not.

Just the small change of being able to clean up our own threads could be seen as valuable to some.

Thanks

Originally posted by here4awhile
personally I would stop coming to ATS if a 5$ fee were required...if it were optional and it gave members an added benefit of not having their threads trolled or deleted by a mod with hardly a reason I would probably pay it just for that...but if you ask me being able to pick apart your own thread in such a way would definitely give some members an ability to cherry pick who they want in their threads and can censor out certain opinions and would make many threads biased so i dont know

I can see your point but the way it is now is not so great either. Sometimes I have had to zip thru 2 pages of insults and de-rail attempts to find the meat of the thread. That's frustrating.

Maybe someone has another suggestion?

I'd pay $5 a month for ATS if...
If...
Meh i'd pay $5 a month for this quality website.
Although i'd want to bark at the people that deserve barking.

reply to post by jude11


Surely you all must know that money is the tool of the criminals that keeps us shackled.! Or maybe you didn't see 'those' threads. Lol. I wouldn't pay as...

A. Im a student.

B. I don't pay for itunes, i get music free. It translates over.

C. The best thing about this site is that you log on to get information. And... Once you're here you get this info. Buckets of it. So much you couldn't read it all. You've to sift through it but it's there. If you have to pay we will lose this wonderful facility. Because alot of people WILL NOT pay.


FREE. DOM.

You can't pick and choose,who you want to reply in your threads...

It's up to the mods to remove the troll posts...which they seem to leave up most of the time.

You will always get people who will try and de-rial some threads on purpose,or say ridiculous things..but you have to put up with that,and if your argument holds weight,then let the people decide.

Most people here are not stupid,they can see when a thread or person is being attacked or insulted for no real reason then to belittle a thread.

hmmm .... If the threads were marked as "paid member thread" I think this is a good idea. So that readers know it has the possibility of being censored ... in a case where a thread is horribly being censored, another thread could be created to show the fallacy in it ... this could spark some real debates

Im down for 5 a month.

Originally posted by TheMaverick
You can't pick and chose,who you want to reply in your threads...

It's up to the mods to remove the troll posts...which they seem to leave up most of the time.

and i agree,you do get people who will try and de-rial some threads on purpose,or say ridiculous things..but you have to put up with that,and if you argument hold weight,then let the people decide.

Most people here are not stupid,they can see when a thread or person is being attacked or insulted for no real reason then to belittle a thread.

Good point.

Although I have seen it on other forums and it seems to work for them, there is no way to foresee how it would work here.

I guess there is no simple answer to this. This is why I asked for feedback.

Thanks

What you're suggesting is paying for self moderation and preferred member posting. Such an idea is not only destructive to the site itself, but to member to member relations within the site.

Think about it, its more or less a popularity contest at that point. You say it's for trolls and people who constantly harass, but think of the further implications. I don't know if you are responsible or not, but consider an irresponsible member using these features. Individuals who they simply disagree with, but bring up good points that refute all of their assertions are banned from that users threads. You may add that moderators can come in and discern whether or not the member ban feature is being utilized properly with little to no abuse, but it becomes a he said she said situation. The moderators would be over-tasked with complaints, arguments, and general member infighting.

Another problem I see, which is HUGE, is member equality going down the drain under such a system. Some content available to those who pay, and some content private and or inaccessible. This would be the tantamount of hypocrisy for any self respecting conspiracy theorist and or site (lol). We constantly b and moan about the free flow of information, and then we go around and advocate and pay for a restricted information flow. Not the most genuine set of values, if I do say so myself.

Also, paying for a site would imply that the site is going to maintain an active force of administrators, moderators, and general janitor personnel to monitor the on goings of the site 24/7. The quality of the posts, threads, and U2Us would have to be dramatically increased. You see my post, this one you may or may not be reading right now? Yeah, I would consider this post way too short for a site that requires pay for use.

Oh, and if you want to change your mind and go for, paying for extra content, then I got something to tell you. That also destroys member equality and goes against the spirit and general ideology of the conspiracy mindset. Information is free, dissent is acceptable, and paying for such a website is quite ridiculous by my standards.

Have a Fine Day, sir/madam.

Originally posted by WordPlayJAy
hmmm .... If the threads were marked as "paid member thread" I think this is a good idea. So that readers know it has the possibility of being censored ... in a case where a thread is horribly being censored, another thread could be created to show the fallacy in it ... this could spark some real debates

Im down for 5 a month.

Now this makes sense. Thanks!

Great input.

"the weakness of man is power and greed"

no thank you

I will pay $100 a month on ATS. But let me be a part owner of ATS.

I think a premium membership would be cool, one with maybe am ats email address, and perhaps a "members area" for topics not normally allowed on ats, like adults only ie: adult language, mind altering substance (seen a ton of these threads pop up some with valid questions get deleted)

I pay for a similar service on another site, if ats did this I would pay, you could even have the option listed above but only in premium members.

You could also give it free to top contributors and so on.

Just what we need, a forum with micro transactions so we can show how big our e-peen truly is.


Wretched idea.

reply to post by TheOneElectric


I have to agree. I would hate to see ATS create "premium" memberships because it will create a huge divide between regular posters and those willing to pay $5 to post...

However, I would agree to the $5 a month fee if it meant that person's membership could not be banned as long as they kept up with their payments or receives full reimbursement if they do get banned. A bad joke/innuendo in the chat room is enough to get you banned sometimes.

reply to post by Lysergic


Hell I'd pay if it just got rid of all the ads with no extra value

reply to post by jude11

1. Members had some control over our own threads such as being able to delete the posts of trolls and rude/ignorant people in general. Many other forums on the net give members that option. It would also help in keeping threads on track instead of de-railing the OP.

If this was allowed, I would no longer come here at all. Not one thread on the site would be worth reading. Because they would all be unbalanced and lopsided. This is what the alert button is for. I know it doesn't always work perfect, but I think the staff does a good job as a whole.

2. Members had control of being able to block a member from his/her future threads. I have seen cases of people actually posting rude comments in the threads of people they just dislike, time and time again. Bullying so to speak.

It will be the same problem, just in reverse. Everyone will be blocking everyone else that isn't in their fan club or clique.

I can tell you right now, if you give the membership that much control of this site, SO may as well close it. It will be utter chaos.

We have a T&C that is followed by both membership and staff. Maybe it could stand a little tweaking, but it will never be to the satisfaction of everyone. It just doesn't work that way.

Not a dig on you OP. Just some thoughts that came to mind after reading your post.