ATS is finished!

I was just posting the other day - can't remember if it was here or Facebook - about the nature of the universe being motion. I said that all divinity can be found in the three 'M's: math, music, and motion. And I said that if the nature of the universe is motion, then anything that resists motion resists the nature of our cosmos.

Which brings me to my point. OP has lad me to believe that he/she desired a certain resistance to change...a certain reluctance of progress, or whatever. S/he wants the site to take it's time growing. That's against the fiber of our reality.

The moment ATS can no longer relate or connect with the world, that is the moment ATS is finished. But the fact that ATS is keeping up with the times, and has the youngsters and radicals here to keep it "in the know", is only helping to enable its relation to the rest of the world. What I'm trying to say is that OP has pointed to the change in ATS and said, "There's a sign that ATS is dying." My response is to point at that change and say, "There's a sign that ATS is learning. If it had stayed that way, then it would have grown outdated and died, yes. But it's keeping the young blood. That should give it some new legs for a while." And the cycle continues.

Stop worrying so much, OP. There's bigger fish to fry.

reply to post by Lucid Lunacy


Good point and very true!

reply to post by Shuye


Thanks for the reply and I agree with you. I chuckled at the phrase 'star whores' then when I saw the facebook cartoon I basically blew a snot bubble out of my nose

Nobody comes here anymore. It's too crowded.

Total Posts: 14,878,243

Total Topics: 869,324

Total Members: 269,675

6,290 new posts in the past 24 hours

43,460 new posts in the past 7 days

191,837 new posts in the past 30 days

187 new topics in the past 24 hours

1,330 new topics in the past 7 days

5,557 new topics in the past 30 days

3,631 guests visiting right now.

475 members logged in right now

4,977 members visited in the past 24 hours

1,488 members posted in the past 24 hours

3,889 members posted in the past 7 days

I have to agree that ATS has changed dramatically! We need more aware people in this world,but everybody has to come about this in their own way. The more people who read about something new and expand their horizons, the better. That means unfortunately that you have to deal with "shiny rock syndrome" as we call it in our house. Until the extent of the spider webs are understood by people, every bit of information is valuable. It takes maturity to recognize the difference between information, knowledge and wisdom and then the insight to rearrange the clues to make a meaningful picture. Some of us (myself on a personal level not as a contributor) have the added bonus of years of research. After awhile you can tell what may be pertinent or not, but how many days (weeks, months) did we all spend sifting through the crap in the first place. I applaud ATS for making the people driven information available, and yes attractive, to a slightly more mainstream audience. The internet has made it all too easy sometimes to express our sometimes misguided opinions, but at least now we can hear from people and not TPTB. I agree that ego is playing a bigger role though too, and there is more intolerance than I have ever read here. Those are 2 qualities that humanity could use less of everywhere, in every level of our lives.

As a side note, I like the fact that other people are bringing news here. There are too few reliable sources anywhere anymore, and at least here the facts can be debated, exposed & researched. I have added ATS to my morning news round (among a half a dozen others) just to see which events have been debunked or lied about or whatever the case may be. Call it laziness if you want, but it saves me alot of time to have helpful links and such already provided.

Originally posted by yeahright
Nobody comes here anymore. It's too crowded.

Total Posts: 14,878,243

Total Topics: 869,324

Total Members: 269,675

6,290 new posts in the past 24 hours

43,460 new posts in the past 7 days

191,837 new posts in the past 30 days

187 new topics in the past 24 hours

1,330 new topics in the past 7 days

5,557 new topics in the past 30 days

3,631 guests visiting right now.

475 members logged in right now

4,977 members visited in the past 24 hours

1,488 members posted in the past 24 hours

3,889 members posted in the past 7 days

Thank you for posting some stats...

But I have a question regarding them.

I just looked at my profile and it says I started 24 threads..yet I know I haven't started that many, and when I check all my threads started under my profile it has a grand total of 8..

Also my posts, when I check under all posts, has a grand total of 800, yet my stats on the left side say I have posted over 1700.

This is very confusing to me, and I wonder why

Perhaps a mod could look into the difference , because it is substantial.

I decided to bring this up in this thread because you posted some stats, and my stats don't match up with the reality of my posts and threads started.

Thank you for the time you take to look into it.

Edit: Curious if any other member seems to show a discrepancy in actual posts and threads started, and what is listed on the left under profiles?

Originally posted by WhisperingWinds

I just looked at my profile and it says I started 24 threads..yet I know I haven't started that many, and when I check all my threads started under my profile it has a grand total of 8..

Anything you submit via Alert or Complaint/Suggestion will start a thread in a staff forum. Those aren't seen anywhere publicly but still count as a thread start.

Also my posts, when I check under all posts, has a grand total of 800, yet my stats on the left side say I have posted over 1700.

The My Posts page is capped at showing 800. If you'll notice, as you make more posts the ones at the bottom will drop off. They're still on the site, but won't display on your My Posts page.

Hope that helps.

reply to post by yeahright


Yes, that explains it..Thank you.

So in other words..anytime someone posts an alert, it is considered a thread.

That seems to actually veil the true amount of threads started on this site it...and is very misleading as far as stats go.

It also seems that would effect WATS status, and would discourage people from alerting mods, which we have been encouraged to do.

Just my opinion...which probably doesn't count for much to many..but ..hey ..still my opinion.

reply to post by WhisperingWinds


Well it's not a "perfect" system, and I don't think anyone would say otherwise. The percentage of thread starts in public forums for most members far exceed the number of Alerts and/or Complaints. Since the W system, as it is, is designed to reward those who start public threads, I don't know as that's fundamentally contradictory.

The overwhelming number of my (and most staffers with any tenure) thread starts are in the staff forums, and as such, aren't available to be flagged. You could view that as punitive to whatever 'score' I might get, but it probably won't be surprising to learn it doesn't bother me.

Originally posted by yeahright
reply to post by WhisperingWinds

 

Well it's not a "perfect" system, and I don't think anyone would say otherwise. The percentage of thread starts in public forums for most members far exceed the number of Alerts and/or Complaints. Since the W system, as it is, is designed to reward those who start public threads, I don't know as that's fundamentally contradictory.

The overwhelming number of my (and most staffers with any tenure) thread starts are in the staff forums, and as such, aren't available to be flagged. You could view that as punitive to whatever 'score' I might get, but it probably won't be surprising to learn it doesn't bother me.

Quite honestly it doesn't bother me, as far as stars and flags, and wats go either. I don't base my self worth on these types of things, and I know my higher power has little regard for them.

I just find that it is very misleading when you post stats saying the amount of threads started, when in fact many aren't actual threads started.

The issue here is FACTS about the stats, and I think it very misleading.

I thought ATS was all about searching for truth , and digging beyond those veils of incorrect information.

I wonder how many members are not aware of this?

Hopefully these posts will serve to inform those who are unaware of the glitches in this "imperfect" system.

reply to post by WhisperingWinds


For anyone who's all that concerned about the relatively thin ratio of threads started in Staff forums vs threads in public forums, then I hope it does, too.

Originally posted by yeahright
reply to post by WhisperingWinds

 

For anyone who's all that concerned about the relatively thin ratio of threads started in Staff forums vs threads in public forums, then I hope it does, too.

My concern is honest representation..which I find lacking with this current system.

reply to post by FrostForests


S+F to you! You must realize that the Iran issue and the close friendship of Romney and Netanyahu speaks to war upon our shores and could see our children shipped away to fight some really brutal war. This is not nonsense! This is the way of the world, and those who seek WWIII should be stopped!

Accept it or not friend, but if our elections are for sale then you effectively live in a dictatorship not a free democracy and right now a clear path to an extremely brutal war is clear for all to see. In your book we should just hush up about it because its BS right?

I don't want to see my kids involved in more aggressive war! I don't want to see Netanyahu having any effect upon our policy making!

I am not playing any hand, but rather just saying no!

reply to post by FrostForests


Seems more and more people complaining about stars and flags. I don't see why anyone cares how many anyone receives. If a topic interests a person they flag it. if they feel it was handled well and presented well they star it. It is a great way of showing approval and withholding approval and yet effects no one.

As far as the content on ATS I see more and more nostalgia for what was. There are so many subject areas on here. There must be a place for just about anything, why read the stuff you are not interested in.

Interest may be down because the truly interesting subjects have no answer, we know no more now then years ago and it is rehashed out of interest in the mystery...can get boring over the years, but then again, new minds appear to give it a think and that is how eventually answers may be found.

Originally posted by intrptr
reply to post by FrostForests

 

constantly refreshing media sources and then posting these news stories/links to gain stars and flags.

Or to get others to begin digging for the truth of it. Thats why I come here. Once I have been dis-informed by all the TV MSM, I come here and see what a thread about the subject has developed into. In there I will find a nugget of truth. You may have to pan a while to get the nuggets.

These threads, these topics with a hundred stars and flags always amount to nothing in the grand scheme of things. Every time a new news story hits, true, false, regardless, it's ego boosting and argument with little validity. It aids nobody, it adds nothing.

Yah, its not supposed to be a breaking news site. But every subject has been discussed several times (with reminders). The site has evolved with lots of new members and adapted to bringing current trends in events. Young people who are waking up and exploring, some for the first time. Now its time maybe to return the favor and share the knowledge we have received, to give back to the site and help others?

There is a BREAKING NEWS section on ATS. I think ATS is a place for everything site.

Never forget that you are in control.
Don't like it? Don't read it.

No offense OP but I'm sick and tired of people crying about the star and flag system. This isn't necessarily geared towards you but I believe a lot of this complaining has to do with jealousy.

For example, I can put a lot of effort into what I consider to be a great thread and it gets no replies and barely any stars of flags, but if I post a news story...I go to bed...wake up in the morning and have received countles stars and flags.

The news stories that you are complaining about many of us posting actually interest many of the fan base on ATS as we like to point out the BS coming from the mainstream media. Many intelligent members are in the habit of doing this which leads to intelligent discussion but can also lead to the back and forth bickering that we see on various issues.

I feel like you are wanting to customize ATS to your liking while forgetting that different people have different interests and will not always be interested in the same subject matter that you are.

I said this previously in a similar thread, I wish I could give these stars and flags away even though I appreciate the gesture from members who take the time to star and flag our posts. Some members consider stars and flags to be a special currency that you can convert to gold... this is obviously not the case. This is the internet and can be considered somewhat of a popularity contest.

I believe a lot of it comes from favoritism. There are cliques on ATS, these cliques usually follow eachother on certain threads as "back up". I know I have friends that I keep track of their threads, and they keep track of mine. I also know of other members in other "cliques" who have the same process.

Who knows, maybe all this complaining about the star and flag process on ATS may cause some changes but I think the system that is in place is working quite well so why fix it if it's not broken?

This site is full of great information from so many different topics that there is something for everyone. Many of us consider the world events that are unfolding very worthy of discussing and to ignore them would be pure ignorance.

That's my counter rant to your rant

Cheers

I started a thread the other day that was totally outside the box and the thirty minutes it was up was not long at all to get a real good discussion going. So be it.

I understand your frustration with the stars and flags but there is nothing we can do about it. Is it really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things? Not really!!

There are so many topics and threads of interest (old and new) that I find it hard to compete with, so I just read threads instead of creating them.

I love ATS and for the most part enjoy coming here daily because still we can find the news will hit here immediately and for that we have real time news.

Im sorry it has changed for you, keep in mind though, with anything there is change.

Give it some time and maybe you will see the change in a different light.