The 404 War!

So many threads seem to disappear before I even click on 'em. So many interesting members gone. Not that I agreed with all of 'em, but at least they kept things interesting.

I've heard--and pondered--all the reasons given. Some of them are good ones. Some of them smell fishy to me.

I've tried to believe and trust that the management is just trying to keep a clean board, but I feel it's sometimes an insult to our collective intelligence that we can't "police" the boards ourselves some and get to the bottom of suspect claims or deal with flaming malcontents for that matter.

For the longest, I declined to publish any original content here because of the trust issues. Recently, however, after reading some of Skeptic Overlord's posts, I believed him and decided to show my appreciation for the good things this community has contributed to my thought process and the "entertainment" value I've enjoyed and as such to start giving back more.

But now I find that inner struggle going on again. Can I trust that the hypothetical one bit of information that could make a real difference in my life would be allowed to stay on the boards?

I really do love this community. But I say that in the same way that I love my country: My family, friends, and neighbors are what my country is made up of. That doesn't include the self-serving politicians who try to legislate away my freedom.

I hope I'm allowed to freely rant here a bit, but I don't have a lot of confidence that I won't join the ranks of the 404'ed.

A very sincere and humble Thank You, ATS, for the entertainment and teaching me how to be part of an online community. No thank you for the wasted clicks following dead headlines and the perceived insult to my intellect.

I have seen a couple weird things on the new topic page. LIke post disappearing from the new topics page but still existing in the forums even though they wear at the top of the new topics list. Or even post move up on the new topics page. The other day I saw a ron paul post at the top, then i came back and it was close to the bottom, then I saw it get moved back up to the top while i was still on the page. Its VERY rare to see a thread in new topics that was posted in the alternative substance conspiracy forum. I am a ATS addict, I am all ways on the new topics page.

reply to post by The GUT


been experience that a lot myself, often seemingly randomly, and I don't mean my own post, just ones I was going to show some people have disappeared, never really sure why, would be nice if there was a place holder with an brief explanation.

Originally posted by benrl
reply to post by The GUT

 

been experience that a lot myself, often seemingly randomly, and I don't mean my own post, just ones I was going to show some people have disappeared, never really sure why, would be nice if there was a place holder with an brief explanation.

Yes, I totally agree. An explanation other than the non-specific/non-informative blanket statement would go a long way. Thanks for the reply and suggestion.

personally i think the payed mods and owners are trying to be just like the MSM so thay might be able to snatch a job by having this on there CV/Resume. ether that or they have one or more agenda's

to me this place lost all integrity a long time ago. censoring PM's helped with that and them banners they cover posts with are a joke to have on a conspiracy web site there should be a remove button like youtube

i only come for the crazy claims nowadays......mercury blew up.....gold

reply to post by sabbathcrazy
Yeah, it probably wouldn't annoy me as much if I wasn't chasing dead links. To see a provoking title only to have it gone messes with my inner child's head.

reply to post by Aceofclubs

What, you don't believe Mercury blew up?! The straw that got me ranting was entitled something like "Leaked Alien Footage."

Did I believe it? About as much as Mercury blowing up. It was most likely some stupid hoax we've seen before, but still. And management might have had a perfectly good reason for the "kill" but there has just been SO many 404's that it starts to beg legitimate questions.

Are you sure Mercury is still there? I'll feel much better if you can reassure me.

reply to post by The GUT


yes the 404 page should have a reason its been removed and who removed it, same with the covered posts. i.ve see way too many threads and posts removed for no reason at all. i know this because i read them before thay were removed and sometimes another poster quoted them before the mod got there

i'd like to be able to remove those boxs after agreeing to a disclaimer and the mods should be named when they censor so if one mod has a problem with a subject/member it is easy to see the pattern

as for mercury i can't guarantee it but i would bet all my teeth on it still being there

reply to post by The GUT


Unless your threads or posts fall outside of the boundaries of the Terms & Conditions we all agreed to when registering with this site, you should have nothing to fear.

By and large, threads that are removed are either because the center around illegal activity (hacking, advocating murder, etc.), openly advocate legalizing illegal substances, obvious hate threads, recruiting and solicitation threads, threads depicting graphic violence, spam threads trying to sell stuff, and on rare occasions threads created by members of outside groups intent on disrupting the boards.

This is a good time to remind you all that ATS is first and foremost a conspiracy site and that speculation -- no matter how outrageous -- plays an important role in that. In other words, it is possible to discuss just about anything as long as it is done in a civil manner and is within the spirit of the T&C.

Also, it is worth noting that on a site as large as ATS our volunteer staff relies heavily on our members to let us know if something is amiss on the boards. So, what many may perceive as heavy-handed moderation is most often the staff following up on another member's complaint or alert.

So, if you have something to share with our members, please do so.

Originally posted by maria_stardust
reply to post by The GUT

 

By and large, threads that are removed are either because the center around illegal activity (hacking, advocating murder, etc.), openly advocate legalizing illegal substances, obvious hate threads, recruiting and solicitation threads, threads depicting graphic violence, spam threads trying to sell stuff, and on rare occasions threads created by members of outside groups intent on disrupting the boards.

you can get many many threads down twisting these terms esp the last one.i just seen one closed for review(this just kills it) and another 404'd tonight both needlessly. something i have seen many times

reply to post by Aceofclubs


The staff does close threads on occasion for review in relation to the T&C -- which is the only standard we go by. Sometimes threads are closed because members are unable to remain civil towards one another on especially emotional issues.

But mostly, threads are closed or removed because they run afoul of the rules. Really, it is as simple as that.

reply to post by maria_stardust

Thank you for your courteous and thoughtful reply. Like I said: It's a tug-o-war with me. I can see a lot of the points that have been made by staff in the past, but I've also been left with some very serious questions considering the fact that this a board that's sure to attract attention from your alphabets and homeland security types.

How do you feel about the suggestions above in regards to more detailed info in these instances? I'm sure you understand that it does leave members with questions at times.

As for heavy-hitting members being gone, the biggest one that worries me regards a member who didn't post about debatable super-conspiracy issues, but was very in-your-face regarding our government, the military industrial complex, and the malfeasance of super corporations.

Did he get fingered, gitmo'ed, and vanished from his life and these boards? Maybe not, but things like that would be of concern to anyone who has or is thinking about speaking out.

Being kept in the dark is not very enlightening.

reply to post by maria_stardust
that may be how you do it and how its supposed to work but whats to stop you removing a thread that hits a personal nerve? i'm not saying you do. but how many mods are ther now? can you safely say that none have an agenda to promote or just a personal dislike of a standard member that they will act on?

what do you think of my ideas about the cover up box's and 404 pages?

reply to post by The GUT


There is always our Really Above Top Secret forum which is viewable to only members with more than 200 posts and is not accessible by web spiders for indexing -- so that's always an option available.

As for your fellow ATSers, the staff has a policy not discuss other members as a matter of privacy. What I can tell you is that members have a tendency to come and go. Sometimes they need a break from the conspiracy side of things, sometimes they have more pressing real life concerns. Then there are the few unfortunate times that we have had to ban member accounts for egregious T&C violations, trolling or other disruptive behavior.

As far as the alphabet agencies go -- well, SkepticOverlord says it best.

Hope that answers your concerns.

reply to post by Aceofclubs


Our volunteer staff is rather diverse in regarding our various backgrounds, political leanings, personal beliefs and religious faith. Integrity plays a fairly large role for each staff member -- so the chances of a moderator going rogue and removing threads that they don't agree with are practically non-existent as we do a fairly good job of keeping one another in line. Also, charges of mod bias are taken very seriously. In all honesty, at times it seems we are harder on ourselves then with the membership at large.

As for stating reasons why a thread has been removed on a 404 page -- well, that's more of a programming issue than anything else as far as I know. I'm not quite as knowledgeable on the tech side of things -- which translates to I don't understand quite how this whole thing works.

Thank you guys for sharing your concerns.

Originally posted by maria_stardust
As for your fellow ATSers, the staff has a policy not discuss other members as a matter of privacy.

That is incorrect. Members may not discuss other members negatively. I have seen countless posts where people are waiting for a certain member to post to give their input on a subject and talk about the member by name. These posts are never moderated.

reply to post by maria_stardust
Thank you Ms. Stardust. You have my sincere respect. And I did read SOs thread when it came out and I appreciated it, except for the part where he seemed to dismiss the idea that any alphabets would monitor the site.

That's ridiculous in my opinion, but I figured he had to say that part for business reasons. Other than that, I could pretty much understand his viewpoint and it was his OP that made me reconsider my previous reluctance to post original content.

I believe that's also the OP where I commented that less 404's would go a long ways with member concerns. I can see that it's a tricky issue, but I do believe it's going to have to be addressed somewhat differently in the future or see a decline in quality content/members.

reply to post by SonicInfinity


You misunderstand -- the staff has a standing policy not discuss other members. We receive the occasional query from Member A wondering where Member B has has disappeared to, or why Member C was banned. Those are privacy concerns that the staff does not divulge.

Hope that clarifies things.

*removed offensive quote*


As you should well know by now, ATS does not tolerate hate threads or the trolls that perpetuate them.


ETA: This was most unfortunate.