Has ATS ever considered a change of technology?

I hate and love ATS. I've been a member for a couple of years now, I don't post much but I come here every day, several times a day. I have been feeling unconfortable sometimes, specially in the last couple of years. In the back of my mind I can't stop thinking that the Robbie Williams affair created a huge flux in this site's popularity, which was great and at the same time it was the worst thing that could of had happened to the community. I don't think I'm the only one who has seen a decline in the quality of the posts (and the posters).

Recently I started browsing Reddit a lot, and while I didn't thought much about their design, I started thinking that it was in fact a great way to replace the old 'phpbb' kind of forum to this new way to interact. For everyone that's not familiar with the system, here's a basic explanation: you post something in a particular subreddit (the equivalent to a subforum), the other users upvote or downvote your post which makes it more visible of more hidden. Inside that post, the other users' post also get upvoted or downvoted. The good thing about this is that reposts, hoaxes and just plain troll posts don't get the protagonism they get in a regular forum; and this also applies to dumb comments within serious discussions. The other good thing is that creating a sub-community is fairly simple, so while a particularely popular forum is more likely to get trolled, a sub-community with less active users is somehow more protected. Also, you can submit a link to a comment within another discussion, which in itself creates a new discussion about that comment.

This system also has it's bad sides. The first site to make this thing popular was Digg, which fell into oblivion when it became known there were a group of users that worked together to bury stories by downvoting them, but these problems can be avoided using good algorithms and such.

Anyway, it's just an idea but the more I think about it, the more it seems like a good way to energize the community while also trying to recover it from the boost of population it had.

reply to post by Radiobuzz


I TOTALLY agree. The current ATS model seems very outdated, however I would hope that the owners are in development of an overhaul.

Nah I have to disagree I love the way ATS works.

“If it an’t broken why fix it....”

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
Nah I have to disagree I love the way ATS works.

“If it an’t broken why fix it....”

It's not broken, but do you still watch movies in a VCR?

There are so many things that would help with progression of this site....like, an APP which I've been screaming about for years. Push notifications, etc, etc....

reply to post by Radiobuzz


I like Reddit a lot too but I'm not sure the upvoting thing would work for ATS, popularity is by no means a guarantee of truth sometimes quite the opposite in fact, uncomfortable facts are usually a lot less popular then comforting lies.

Besides, we would end up with this as the front page



Yes I am well aware of the irony of me saying this with the avatar i have

reply to post by davespanners


Well first of all, of course I didn't meant we should turn into Reddit, obviously the community would still be about conspiracies, not about sharing pics .

Regarding popularity, is really no different to the current flag system with the difference that this method also works for comments, so when reading a discussion you would read the most upvoted first, and if you don't want to read a particular thread within that discussion you can hide it with a single click. This eliminates the noise that a chronologic discussion (such as the current system) generates, and this to me is where a huge benefit can arise for all of us.

Bottom line: an overhaul is overdue, as well as an app.

As well as an app.

App. App. App.

Originally posted by amongus
It's not broken, but do you still watch movies in a VCR?

Yes.

I like ATS the way it is.
Actually, I prefer it the way it was, but such is life.

Constant updating, and keeping up with the "coolest" stuff tends to make one look, well, like an ass.
All one has to do is look at the past "coolest" to see this is true (think red leather jackets and parachute pants).
Things that work well don't change much, or often (think anvil)

ATS should be the anvil.

Of course, I'm just a simple caveman. Your modern world frightens and confuses me...

I love the mods...I have never had a problem with them. They're doing a great service to this site, and without them it would become stale.

My issue is with the technology. Some people are happy with a VCR, or an Atari 2600... Although this would be more like an original Xbox. There are so many people joining this site, and many more getting used to the change in the way websites are used.

ATS needs a change.

Op had it right.

reply to post by amongus


Thanks, that was what I was thinking when I wrote this, the site's popularity has grown terribly and the site itself has not been able to adapt to this new found attention, which created a negative effect in the community and the way it communicates with itself.

reply to post by subject x


I'm not talking about going along a fad just to be cool, I'm talking about paying attention to things that evidently are working for huge communities and what can we learn for them in order to make this a better forum. If you prefer ATS the way it was then you are agreeing with me that it has being going down a road now that is not really the greatest. I don't think this board can just roll backwards to a previous state because back then the number of active users were smaller and hence it was easier to keep a certain level of quality.

reply to post by dxlyauv

I'm confused. This is your second post. Welcome to ATS. Wait - you say you've been around since '09. Is it welcome back then? You mention mod bias, and link 2 banned accounts. Do I understand that these were your previous ATS accounts?

I'm only just getting to grips with the features from the last upgrade. So I say no. I fear technological change.

reply to post by amongus


Yeah, an APP Would be cooool!

I'd like to see a newer format, but I'm not crazy about reddit's layout.
The collapsed replies form can be a pain to read.
I REALLY dislike the whole karma whoring aspect (or any derivative of it) as well.
Post popularity should be based on posting, not back patting.

If ATS does a new format, I'm sure it'll be well thought out as I've seen here in the past.

reply to post by shadow watcher


I agree that the karma whoring is a problem, but I disagree about the replies. To me it's more confortable just to hide a whole nest of a discussion you don't care for instead of having to scroll post after post trying to ignore those that have no real value and read only those you care about or follow a particular discussion you are interested in.

Originally posted by Radiobuzz
reply to post by shadow watcher

 

I agree that the karma whoring is a problem, but I disagree about the replies. To me it's more confortable just to hide a whole nest of a discussion you don't care for instead of having to scroll post after post trying to ignore those that have no real value and read only those you care about or follow a particular discussion you are interested in.

I like the general format of ATS but I agree with you on that feature. Parts of threads need to be maskable based on the post quoted and replied to, and/or on posters' names (not "ignore", just temporarily shadow).

nanu nanu

the change doesn't have to mean the design/function would vanish, ATS Trending Pages is a link, just saying.