Star and flag appathy

Hello ATS a pattern I see quite often people that get involved in a thread seem to like the thread but nether flag or star the thread . Why is that I often see good threads go south because of this apathy that seems to be proliferating here. Its a real shame. I often go to some threads that are really good with 5-6 participants and only one flag. Why is that every thread that I participate in I flag and star the OP for there efforts if I like the thread. I almost always flag and star any thread I become involved in.

I often see people that agree with other posters and yet they have no star in there post for the approval of there comments. I thought stars were just for that purpose. If you agree or like the comment you should reward the person for there wit or comment you agree with.

When you see a good thread with many people involved in the thread and you see 1 or 2 flags Its kind of disrespectful to the OP, the OP has made an effort to bring you the information and took the time to author the thread the least a person could do is spend a half a second and reward the OP with a flag for there efforts bringing you the information or news story.

When you agree with a poster and you have posted you're agreement with the poster shouldn't he get a star for that? Why has he not revived a star for you're agreement with his post ?

Is it just me or does any one else notice this apathy around here? comments?
Just to add any one who becomes involved I will not be stingy with the stars take care all.

I honestly forget about the stars at times...but lately I have been giving stars and flags for threads I appreciate , even though I don't participate in them.

I will try to remember your post about this , because I think I have been guilty of doing that myself, though not intentionally.

Preach on brotha!

I agree and always try to star-flag anyone who puts in a lot of effort and uses their creativity to come up with ideas to share.

Even if I disagree with them.

I look at it as I am spending my flags and stars to promote important stories, good reporting, and creative analysis or even purely hypothetical theory-based threads.

However the sad thing is, I can only use 1 flag per story.

reply to post by enament


I have noticed that too. I usually won't dwell on it though. I star everyone on my threads even if I disagree with them, as long as they are not a complete troll. I flag any thread I read as long as it deserves it , even to members I have had run ins with in the past. There are a few members I can think of who do what you
mentioned in your OP, I picture them as miserable grumps and LOL for a sec then move on.

Good post though, I have never seen this discussed before

Originally posted by gabby2011
I honestly forget about the stars at times...but lately I have been giving stars and flags for threads I appreciate , even though I don't participate in them.

I will try to remember your post about this , because I think I have been guilty of doing that myself, though not intentionally.

I starred your post because I do that too.

I typically star posters in threads I am only reading and not actually posting in.

I probably only post in 1 out of 10 or so threads I actually read. I assume most ATS members generally follow the same random protocols.

But I sure do love giving out stars and flags to those who make great points and help facilitate better debates or discussions and can dig up research that is relevant. I really do love some of the folks here at ATS, as they are certainly one of the best communities in Earth history.

Oh and people, please remember to star and flag new members threads (especially if they haven't made an avatar yet). Those are the folks that get overlooked too often, and we need to pay more attention because there are so many great stories and revelations that we miss because of this type of behavior.

Originally posted by gabby2011
I honestly forget about the stars at times...but lately I have been giving stars and flags for threads I appreciate , even though I don't participate in them.

I will try to remember your post about this , because I think I have been guilty of doing that myself, though not intentionally.

I also give stars out for threads i like but don't participate in if i like what i read and i also give them a flag if the story captivates me to read it and view the information on articles.

reply to post by muzzleflash


I remember one time being a poster on a thread and commenting wheres the flags this is an important story wheres the flags.
What dumbfounds me is people who get lots of flags without posting any facts to back up there story.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


I honestly think its jealousy sometimes. Sometimes I think people don't flag because they have a competing thread that is in competition with there thread to remain on the new topics board.

One major problem communities like ours face is the "cult of personality". It happens to all of us all the time in real life, the 'cult of personality' causes us to irrationally idealize certain personalities and make them 'larger than life', etc.

On websites for example, little cliques or groups form. To use ATS as a specific example, in general, there are often times certain people that become part of a group and they typically support each other on a lot of things, for example threads.

Nothing necessarily wrong with this behavior, since we all partake in it to some extent in some way in our lives.

What goes wrong is that many of these folks become apathetic and will merely flag-star their buddies thread without even reading it at all. It's a pointless 'cult of personality' flag, and based entirely off using a clique to falsely inflate the popularity of something. This is very similar to the way corporations pay people to act like normal Joes and plug their products at every chance they get (without anyone figuring out they are shilling for $$).

This is why I generally avoid cliques and groups, and although I sometimes (rarely) get supportive comments from members (and I cherish those moments), because far too often such social structures and the group-think are enforced by ostracizing people if they step out of bounds.

So when I flag something, it's because of intellectual reasoning and not based on social influences too often.

I do believe it can become a problem and we as a community should become aware of it and do what we can to avoid the pitfalls of the 'cult of personality'. Especially here on ATS.

Disclaimer: People who promote good threads about interesting topics and present great thinking, will always win a flag from me. I have several buddies who keep me up to date with their latest ideas, and I am always supportive of that. But I actually read the thread! That's the difference.

Originally posted by enament
reply to post by Corruption Exposed

 

I honestly think its jealousy sometimes. Sometimes I think people don't flag because they have a competing thread that is in competition with there thread to remain on the new topics board.

I actually flag threads competing with my own and generally post updates in them every once in awhile.

I look at it like this, the truth takes the front seat over anything else.

And the more exposure we can get for the truth- the better off we all are.

Originally posted by muzzleflash

Originally posted by gabby2011
I honestly forget about the stars at times...but lately I have been giving stars and flags for threads I appreciate , even though I don't participate in them.

I will try to remember your post about this , because I think I have been guilty of doing that myself, though not intentionally.

I starred your post because I do that too.

I typically star posters in threads I am only reading and not actually posting in.

I probably only post in 1 out of 10 or so threads I actually read. I assume most ATS members generally follow the same random protocols.

But I sure do love giving out stars and flags to those who make great points and help facilitate better debates or discussions and can dig up research that is relevant. I really do love some of the folks here at ATS, as they are certainly one of the best communities in Earth history.

Oh and people, please remember to star and flag new members threads (especially if they haven't made an avatar yet). Those are the folks that get overlooked too often, and we need to pay more attention because there are so many great stories and revelations that we miss because of this type of behavior.

I couldn't agree with you more. I too only post in about one out of ten posts when online I usually just read a lot of them too but also give flags of approvals for it.

reply to post by muzzleflash


I find that too that there seem to be clicks here. A post up for a minute with 5+ min of reading with three flags. I've seen this many times.

reply to post by muzzleflash


I especially flag threads with important news. And competing threads with good info.

If I like a thread and feel it has worth I will flag it
Reading the comments I star the posters who I feel have made a contribution to the OP
Even if I do not post myself .

S&F good thread !!

reply to post by granpabobby


I often find a lot of threads where the participants agree with the thread poster and yet neither flag or star the op and I just watch the thread die off into the abyss of lost and forgotten threads. I've seen many good threads go this route. Thank you for you're response.

reply to post by enament


Yes...I have noticed this ...and I have been wondering too. I am glad you brought the subject up. Also...what bothers me is when people announce in their replies that they have starred and flagged someone...just star and flag them and then be on your way...you don't have to announce it!

Also...I have noticed ...that a lot of really good, informative and intelligent threads....get very little response....but yet....many of the really absurd and ridiculous threads get a lot of response....to me it is irritating...I'm just saying.

I'm guilty of starring and flagging threads but leaving no contribution.

That's mainly because I've been impressed with the content & presentation of an opening post but have nothing to add to the discussion. For example, I've starred & flagged ATS member Rising Against many times. His JFK threads are very well written, but the subject matter just doesn't interest me.

"If you don't have anything useful to say, don't say anything at all."

Some members here need to learn that.

Originally posted by Niall197
I'm guilty of starring and flagging threads but leaving no contribution.

That's mainly because I've been impressed with the content & presentation of an opening post but have nothing to add to the discussion. For example, I've starred & flagged ATS member Rising Against many times. His JFK threads are very well written, but the subject matter just doesn't interest me.

"If you don't have anything useful to say, don't say anything at all."

Some members here need to learn that.

I like the fact that you star and flag threads even if you have nothing to say ...at the moment. I do that too.

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by enament

 

Yes...I have noticed this ...and I have been wondering too. I am glad you brought the subject up. Also...what bothers me is when people announce in their replies that they have starred and flagged someone...just star and flag them and then be on your way...you don't have to announce it!

Also...I have noticed ...that a lot of really good, informative and intelligent threads....get very little response....but yet....many of the really absurd and ridiculous threads get a lot of response....to me it is irritating...I'm just saying.

edit on 23-7-2011 by caladonea because: add more

I think announcing you stared and flagged someone is a way of saying thank you and that I appreciated the thread
I will often add S&F as a way of saying I appreciate your contribution.

I especially agree with you're statement in you're second paragraph. Its so true . So people sure post some ridiculous stuff and get ridiculous amounts of stars and flags,and not putting up any proof at all to bolster their opinions. and still get many stars and flags.

reply to post by Niall197


I also believe in you're point. Some people just need to realize if they have nothing positive to add then they just shouldn't say anything. And when I say positive I mean agreeing with the OP or engaging in a healthy debate with them. Shooting someones thread down is despicable. The other thing I see often is (this topic has been posted before) Well maybe it has but its nice to see other opinions on topics and maybe there is new info or a new perspective to understand. If you don't like the news as fox news reports it watch ABC news instead. At least thats the way I look at it. And besides How do you know everyone has seen the topic?

Thanks for you're response.