ATS is finished!

I like the star and flag system. Sometimes admitting that is hard, because of that notion that we should rise above such "pettiness."

I see the flags as corroboration that the issue is important to others. True, sometimes my opinion on importance varies greatly with others' opinions, but that's okay. If one of my threads gets five flags, I feel great.

As for the stars....again, I like them. Yes, sometimes the most idiotic and simplistic statements get the most stars....but that's still a good indication of the mood and feelings of others. I admit, I star the funny posts because I enjoy a good laugh, and my star is my laugh. Its also my thumbs up and my way of showing support for a position or contribution.

So, call me petty, but there it is....

reply to post by MamaJ


I've spoken with friends who say, "You may not have heard, but blah blah blah" and I say, "I'm a member of one of the top conspiracy forums on the internet. If something's happened and there's a bone to pick about it, there's already been 5 threads posted by the time I've had my coffee."

I have a certain degree of pride in knowing that if there's something I want to know, I'll probably have about two dozen different opinions from "informed" individuals in half an hour...give it an hour if I'm looking for moderator advice.

With all that said, I have not a problem with ATS. It may wear its britches a little tight, but that's a necessity considering all the trolls that wander in and say, "Look at all the seriousness, let's mess with it a little." I like to have fun, but I like to learn as well.

Thanks for providing that opportunity, ATS...and all the people that make it run from day to day.

reply to post by AfterInfinity


Oh yeah, Im right there with yea...love me some ATS.

When I came here almost two years ago I had no clue there were so many mean people in the world, so many atheists, ufo lovers, and so on.

This place is awesome... even if it does have its own favorties members .. I am sure I am one of the favorites.... surely!? lol

Seriously though, ATS allows someone to sit on their couch and get to know people in other countries better and try to understand different view points.

reply to post by FrostForests


Well, I would agree with you that quantity seems to be more important that quality. Stars mean nothing to me in terms of seeking them out. I confess I rarely post threads but I do reply to threads and I will star comments I think are worthy.

Where I think this site has lost it's luster is that apparently people don't understand that staring is indeed applause. Why do people then feel the need to post a reply that says "great post. Thanks" or my all-time favorite "looks interesting, can't wait to read it later over a beer" WHAT? THAT is you CONTRIBUTION? And then THESE posts get stars! There is nothing more frustrating than reading a great OP and having to get to page 4 before there is an actual reply worth reading that isn't one or two sentences praising the OP. If you've starred him, you've praised him. Posts like "stars and flags, my friend" should be removed. But I'm certain that if the Admins took this task on they'd never see their families again. People, please, have something more to say than two words. You've added ZIP ZERO ZILCH telling us you are too busy right now to read the post but that you will later "over a beer", Who cares?

reply to post by FrostForests


Great post OP

I have not taken much interest in ATS's for years probably since 2007 however in the sad state of the tabloid esq media these days i still find myself reading front page threads here day to day. So many of us have become inundated and desensitised by hucksters and charlatans fear porn weve lost sight. We all have our own vision of what ATS should be. There is no general consensus however. Our mission statement to b]Deny Ignorance has become a paradox. Ive become one of those annoying naysayers and a critic... for the better. But i miss the excitement and prospect of a real conspiracy afoot. I long for that world of mystery, ive become so disgusted with the lunatic fringe and it's personal endeavors. I started out UFO researching to find my youtubes filled with hoaxes and CGI docs about reptilians, trolls, attention wh*res, and nut bags plundering my mission to find answers sighs same applies here bangs head against wall

There is no conspiracy too big or too small on ATS. But it's impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff. The enablers of disinformation willing/unknowingly and the emissary's of chaos and fear ... gotta love em they keep the entertainment and comical value up to par. Because we are all scholars and we know every thing lol . I think ive had my fill of every field here enough to know the grand scheme of ATS inner workings. I guess you have to take the good with the bad. Pick your battles wisely. Spot the not ( a whole lot of em ) maybe stick to what you know. You will get lost if you try too hard.

In the end , these are not the droids you've been looking for

ATS finished: NO

ATS taking a downward spiral in to the mouth of madness: YES

I agree to a point. I usually breeze through Yahoo lies first then come here, and it seems more and more frequently that all the stories there that intrest me have a multi-star flag post here on the same topic. I always enjoyed reading the x-files type stuff, news of the weird kind of thing you expect here, but all to often its the MSM type of posts covering everything up. I noticed after every new episode of Ancient Aliens, plagiarism was abound. I never write posts so I shouldnt complain, but darnit, im ready for some more mad ramblings of the insane! This is 2012! Im ready to be entertained by you nutjobs.

Originally posted by silo13
Regardless - where else on the internet can you find such a huge audience to climb on your soap box (whatever it is) with little censorship?

Really - as the other poster said: Be the change you want to be. Raise your own bar. Don't beat down, build up.

With the MASS of info 'out there'? At least here it's a bit easier to rake through the crap to find the pearls than anywhere I've found to date.

peace

This poster always makes me laugh, so loyal and so biased-ly naive. ATS has little censorship? Funny...the chinese censor their citizens less than ATS censors topics and certain users.

ATS is manipulated by a few people some old time posters and some 'newer' posters who are in fact older posters. I dont think that this site get much "real" viewing from the general public at all to make any difference.

Yes they can post their stats on website hits and individual users but again these things can be easily manipulated to suit any given trend.

You also get those hardcore ATS'ers who are so firmly entrenched in loyalty to this site they throw a mass sh** fit when someone comes and pokes their tiny world. After all they have their glue filled saying "deny ignorance".

Kinda like the US citizens and their brainwashing "pledge of Allegiance"

I believe and this is only my little opinion that the site is a database tool, one of many on the net.

Originally posted by TexasTruth
I agree to a point. I usually breeze through Yahoo lies first then come here, and it seems more and more frequently that all the stories there that intrest me have a multi-star flag post here on the same topic. I always enjoyed reading the x-files type stuff, news of the weird kind of thing you expect here, but all to often its the MSM type of posts covering everything up. I noticed after every new episode of Ancient Aliens, plagiarism was abound. I never write posts so I shouldnt complain, but darnit, im ready for some more mad ramblings of the insane! This is 2012! Im ready to be entertained by you nutjobs.

HAHAHA! Thats what Im talking about!!!!

Lets get down the dang rabbit hole and see what we find!!!!

I love it when one, mysterious, nut job signs on the very same day he creates such a wild and crazy story!!! Ahhhhh!!! I love it!

And then to add to that excitement we have stereologist and his crew come along and wipe all the doom and gloom away! Ha!

The thing is, we know this and love ATS members for all they contribute. The good, bad, ugly, crazy, logical and all in between.

Even though it can get waaaaay out there, its still so much fun!

Im still lol thinking about the last nut job's thread!

reply to post by Six6Six

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Manipulation is an interesting word...

*****************************************

Further to my previous statement, in reply to the OP, as I say, I frequent the "old skool" ATS.

Much better content back there, you'll see the star system is barely used, just the way I like it
And lucky enough, ATSs archiving still provides me with plenty of material. Some right old gems.

I recommend it for any one who wants reading material, yet a break from the daily hum drum.

I guess you gotta take the good with the bad.

I'm addicted,yes I have admitted it now.

Even though I have been here a year in a half,my knowledge has greatly improved.
When I try to talk to people about certain issues brought up in here,it's like talking to a wall.

So,I come here with like minded people searching for answers to everything.

I usually get one.

Originally posted by Sinny
reply to post by tothetenthpower

 

Manipulation is an interesting word...

*****************************************

Further to my previous statement, in reply to the OP, as I say, I frequent the "old skool" ATS.

Much better content back there, you'll see the star system is barely used, just the way I like it

And lucky enough, ATSs archiving still provides me with plenty of material. Some right old gems.

I recommend it for any one who wants reading material, yet a break from the daily hum drum.

Thanks for the great idea.

Can you recommend any threads?..or perhaps bump a few so that they can resurface and catch our attention?

reply to post by WhisperingWinds


I have many favorites, I tend to go to "top topics" - "all time" open a few (in fact I think I've read them all aha), and follow impresive members from there on, via checking profiles, threads and posts... Beyond the "all time" option you have to do the searching your self.. It'll lead you to great places tho.

Another option would be to check the tops WATS, some of the older members profiles will take you down memory lane. Also checking the history of old or founding members that occasionally pop up, such as Valhal.

If you'd like though, ill spend a few days recording some of my favorites and suggest them to you

What the OP describes unavoidably happens when something turns from an "insider thing" to mainstream.

"Insiders" do it for a specific purpose, many are result driven and have a comparable set of standards. Popularity on the other hand brings in the diverse masses, they do it because they've seen others do it and because it's the trendy thing to do.

Surfing ATS means picking the jewels out of the bull-poop. And I agree with the OP that - even though I have not been a member for a long time - the ratio is slightly leaning towards the latter, and the jewels get more sparse, or hard to find, I don't know. In my opinion the forums are just too widely arranged, and some should be .. oh well .. not going there lol

But after all ? We still come back regularly,don't we !

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.

There maybe a thin ratio of threads started in Staff forums..which no one besides Staff would be able to check out...but I will take your word on it.

I did a little digging into just a handful of profiles.

Without going into member names (irrelevant to what we are discussing)..I came up with a member who has in actuality started 49 threads, but is listed on profile as having started 239.

Another member has an actual count of 254 threads started, but the profile lists 776 threads started.

Another has approximately 300 actual threads started, but threads listed in profile is over 900

If this is an example of the small margin you are talking about, it has me confused.

So much for the stats of actual threads started on this site being even close to accurate.

Funny place ATS is I like it. I like many of the people and most all of the mods. I see a lot of mod bashing and "authority figure angst" here.. but in reality Ive meet some choice folks. Little things.. like last yr Nef messing with my 6 yr old on ATS live. LMAO! If you want to be a part of a community and make it a place you like.. then you actually have to make an effort. Ive made great offlline friends here that I rarely speak with actually on ats in a thread anymore. Ive brought people from real life to ATS. My first acct here was in 07. YEP.. things have changed. Its good and bad, but far from finished.

Strange phenomenon though, those who claim to hate ATS are here more than I am blabbering away . Seriously, nothing is holding anyone here. I flounce off of here all petticoats in a bunch once in a while then return and have a good time learning and babbling. ATS invariably becomes a class A cluster when election time is afoot and one would have to be pretty dense or not have been around as long as they claim if they havent noticed the cycles.

I knew I had finally reached big-kid-dom when I realized ATS would not crumble if I left or if I stayed, that mods were just folks and even the ones with an attitude problem are just folks or having a bad day, that I should be thankful that I am not neighbor to some posters here, and when I realized in 2008 that I would NEVER desire to mod this place even if paid. Maybe its just me, but I dont really care about the discrepancies in threads started or stars or whatever... I just come here for my own reasons and if those ever change.. then I will leave without a huge look at me flounce and ATS sucks butts thread.

reply to post by Advantage

Funny place ATS is I like it. I like many of the people and most all of the mods.

I obviously enjoy it to some degree or I wouldn't be here as well...and yes..I too like MOST of the mods, and many of its members.

I just don't like stats that are misleading, and not just by a small margin.

I don't like it in government, or in sales pitches, and certainly expect a better representation of truth from a site that claims to be about denying ignorance.

reply to post by WhisperingWinds


Just to give you an idea, there have been less than 100 alerts or complaints filed in the last 48 hours by my count.

So yes, those count towards thread started, and each of those is a 'post' in those stats. So are the subsequent discussions within staff forums regarding these alerts.

On any given day there are about a dozen mods on. If we all posted on every alert that came up (which we don't, as most things are pretty cut and dry, require only 2 or 3 mods), that would only still be a pitance compared to the rest of the site, the ammount of posts and threads created.

So you can claim that the stats are 'manipulated', but in reality the difference between the staff only posts/threads in comparison to the public ones is so great that it hardly makes a dent.

~Tenth

For the record, point noted about the change of character around election time.

Wait....now that I think about it, the dem/repub bantering and president bashing never really quiets down, now does it?

I think the posts noting the idea that "Well if you don't like it, don't read it/go away/nobody is forcing you to visit here" is a bit of a fallacious statement.

This thread isn't about bitching for the sake of bitching, it's a stab at improving the forum by trying to get members to understand that by acknowledging what they are mindlessly doing with the S/F system, especially when it stems not of content and validity but rather by admiration/acknowledgement/tip of a hat of a regular, or even just jumping on the bandwagon. I'd not be surprised if there are a number of people who star a thread before/without even reading it, just based on the other 30 stars.

Solid, real threads on real topics are being ignored partially due to 20 page flame wars over a quip or misquote uttered by somebody on the president's staff taking up room and attention, S/F's and adding nothing. Now this isn't exactly the fault of the system we have here, but the fault of the members who bite into these threads.

And yes, they have that right, and I shouldn't be the one to cast judgement on what people want to do or type with their own time, they can do whatever they want.

All I want is for forum members to be more aware of what they are doing. This is after all, as much entertainment as information gathering for most, and I understand that, but all the same, I guess I just miss the days when there was a little more thought into what you added to the conversations here, a little more value in the reasoning to star and flag, and a little more meaning in what you came away with.

reply to post by FrostForests


Great thread, hit the nail on the head with this one bud.

Peace