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I used to come on ats to find out new subjects to learn about new inventions new ideas and what people here on ats thought of them, lots of them brilliant people with great ideas about how to change things and they did there research, and i felt like if i posted a comment with a question about the subject or my idea of the matter that was being discussed that i would get a answer that would create more discussion or simply put my mind at ease.

This is not the case any more.

Now i come here and after 30min to a hour i find a subject that honestly stimulates discussion or simply enlightens me on some matter that i had little to no knowledge about but sadly lots of those subject get spammed with rants or trolls feeding on those who get sucked into a argument with them steering the subject away from the subject matter.

And as that´s not bad enough the non stop misleading threads.
THE NON STOP MISLEADING THREADS..............
A small example , i saw a thread named " A meteor is heading towards earth" The guy was actually just asking what could be done if a meteor would be on a impact course with earth. (prolly would get a straighter answer just googeling it) It´s these kind of threads that just make you want to post some ironic comments which bring out the (small evel devil in ourselfs) Now if the thread had been called "What can be done if a meteor is heading towards earth" i would have enterd the thread with the idea that there might be a good discussion about our defences against a meteor striking the earth, and not (the evel devil inside me) wanting to post "Duck"

I have been seing a lot of old timers here on ats loosing there cool over these matters and simply allowing the unleashing of ze inner deamon upon the threads bringing them down to my level of immature behavior. Which we can all agree no one wants to see.

If i wanted to i could waste a lot of people´s time with non stop misleading threads with nothing more then 10 lines of words about the matter im discussing and a link to a youtube video that i know nothing about or even have any idea about the authenticity of video or even if the research is even remotely correct. And considering the non stop rat race for stars and flags , we all know that is what is going on. Well im pretty sure that is the case because i could see myself doing that, and if im willing to do that im pretty sure that there´s a few others as well.

These trolls and star and flag spammers don´t stay for long on this site or simply give up after a little while but with the amount of new people coming here and trying this makes this a endless loop that won´t stop unless it is dealt with.

Im not just going to rant but also toss out a simple solution that i find fitting to handle this matter.

There should be a one week waiting period before giving new members the privilege to post a comment there fore eliminating the instant ranters just joining to troll some persons subject who worked hard on researching a matter . There would be a instant decrease in trolls as most of them come here to rant as they can just go ahead and do it instantly. Waiting would discourage them from joining.

New members shouldn´t be able to post threads right away after they reach the post limit required. There should be a waiting period for that also, or some sort of screening process to sort trough the new threads or simply give new members a new thread limit like 1 each week for a period of 1-3 months. This would decrese the 3-10 liner threads with a youtube link.

There are of course those rare cases where a person actually has something really important to post and i for one wouldn´t want to miss out on that. To handle that there should be either a special forum inside here that new members could post instantly and that post could then be moved to a appropriate forum if it is that important.
But of course that forum would not have stars and flags.

This would mean less spam posts, less spam threads, more real discussion and more happy old timers.

WIN WIN WIN WIN as i see it.

I couldn't agree more. ATS threads are looking more and more like tabloid headlines than any "real" information. I sift through literally dozens upon dozens of misleading posts everyday just to find something that's worth my time. Unfortunately these things are out of our collective control, and mods just let it happen. "If I were king".

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I agree. I've been here for 10 months and I still haven't made a thread because ATS has high standars and a very demanding membership, and currently I don't have the time to do a well researched, well written thread.

I don't post often either because the points I would have made have already been made or the thread turns into a battle of upmanship and immature irrelevant coments. In those cases I just star the posts I agree with and stay out of it. Instead of information you get brief entertainment. Shame.

reply to post by Dembow


That´s exactly how i feel about it, i have been a member now for 2 years on this account i used to have another account but i never commented on anything as i never felt the need to back then because there seemed to be a whole different atmosphere on ats back then. There should be a sertain amount of work put into each thread, not just the quick few liners and a link, or who´s the quickest to put up a thread like it is today.

I have done my share of stupid threads myself and im simply speaking from experience when i say there should be some restriction against people like me who could burst and go on a troll rampage

I agree. Perhaps if there was also an "anti-star" grading system in place as well, it might tend to balance the playing field as well. Lots of posters on here seem to like the accumulation of stars and flags over the propagation of intelligent and respectful debate. Threads can be unflagged but there have been quite a few times that I would have liked to have had the opportunity to award someone an "anti star" for their lack of intelligent banter and disrespect to other posters.

reply to post by anarky1965


The idea is good , but that would be handing all those trollers a weapon to diminish the work of those who put effort into some threads. There would have to be some kind of restriction on that also like people who have been members for a half a year get that option.

reply to post by Spacedman13
You have a valid point there. Perhaps the site mods and people behind the scenes will devise a better system as time goes on.

Being fairly new to ATS I find that ATS is changing even since I joined. I do find many threads with great info and research. I find research is often contrary to reality and vice versa. I try to speak from personal experience. I have worked in many different industries from construction, foreclosures to 18 months working in a nuke plant of the same design that melted down in Japan.

Anyway, many minds are not open and can not even imagine what many posters on ATS say.

but yes there are some real garbage threads out there... with impolite discourse!

Another way to control these types of threads would be to just get rid of the whole star and flag system. If people posted for the true purpose of what this site is made for INSTEAD of for stars and flags, the content would probably be of higher quality. Otherwise it is just a game of how many stars and flags you can get. Wouldn't it be nice to come to the site and NOT see "I am Satan - Prove me wrong"?

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