Myth of the ATS Cool Kids Club ( How To Win The Game Of ATS )

reply to post by Hefficide

In short, if I ever did "position" snipe you, and collect stars without earning them? I didn't mean to!

No you did not "position" snipe me at all. The post I made was on a different thread a few months back. The post you made was on a new thread from today.

I just found it funny, because those thoughts did go through my head. (in a light heartened manner of course) and low and behold, the next post I click on is this one.

You are one of the "cool kids" in my book, because I do enjoy your posts.

This is a great thread Heff. It's funny I have seen so many potentially great members get banned for falling for some of the problems you have highlighted. I have been tempted to send u2u's to certain members just to warn them to not rise to the bait . You can almost predict certain members won't last long. I'm sure we can all think of a few.

Some members are very good at creating a reaction or rubbing people up the wrong way. They manage to do it in a way that ensures they themselves never get banned, but probably get the required reaction that will get someone else banned.

As far as a kool kids club,, of course it's a myth. It must be or surely I'd have been told about it .

reply to post by Hefficide


Regardless of where you go in life, whether it be on the web, your workplace or even your social circles, the cool club will always exist. It's just a reality of existence that some people strive to have that popularity and get noticed more than others.

The trick is not to care about it. I've seen just as many posts receving endless stars and flags that deride an OP and add nothing but sarcasm, as I have posts that add volumes and great insight to a discussion.

I'll admit a bias that there are certain posters that if I see their name on a post or a reply, I will stop and have a look at what they say. Why? Because they always have something good to add, even in disagreement, or a unique insight or perspective that gets you thinking. If that makes them my own little cool club, so be it.

The one thing I have noticed, that even if people do disagree in posting, you can pretty much guarantee that in the event of a member struggling or having a hard time of life, that others will be there to prop them up. Even if it is just words on a screen at the end of the day, it really means a great deal that we are like a family here in reality rather than just a bunch of cliques.

reply to post by Hefficide


I have only been a member for 3 months now, and have butted heads with some ( ok a few more than some, I did mention in my profile I'm a male sex organ, IRL, and you probably won't like me on the net either). Although, I never take any of it to heart, as I am a type-A personality, and many on here I assume, are as well. It is just par for the course if your oppinionated, and is par for the course.

My ATS points should be a clear sign of my.....vibrant use of less than socially acceptable verbal abominations, known as T&C violations. Yet I somehow have not yet managed to get driven off by the more than patient, and often overworked( in my case especially) Mods of ATS.

I haven't noticed the "cool kids club", I feel like I have been left out of the loop about this, I guess I was busy trying to sneak into the girls locker room of ATS central command. That or I was busy making my own "the coolest kids" table to notice as I strolled by. Which reminds me, I need to build an adition, so I have enough room for my ego.

I guess I am probably to busy being self righteous and self absorbed to notice, hhhmmmm somthing to think about there.

Note to self: there are other people with oppinions that they think matters to others in this world. Hhmmmm I will have to look into this "other peoples oppinions mattering" thing you mentioned just now. Seems like a funny concept to me, but perhaps the entire world isn't about me. Strike that, the world does revolve around me, others oppinions are irrelavent after all!

Good thread as per usual Heff, star and flag.

reply to post by Hefficide


We all can't be as cool as the Schnitzel hef, and you know it

Good thread too, you've been quite prolific in these threads as of late and I think it's a good thing, since a lot members who become mods almost cease to post once they cross over to the dark side, which is a travesty really, since those selected as mods are typically level headed and intelligent...present company excluded of course!

Thanks for the shout out to the Avatar thread!!!

I hear ya Heff. When I first joined, I got in a LOT of trouble!!!

I still do from time to time, but I'm getting better at it

I joined up and ended up in on of the controversial threads (don't even remember which one it was now, either abortion or politics or one of the hot issues) and I was almost done away with immediately... it was crazy!

People immediately thought I was a returning member (and I'm really not) and I was attacked from all sides. Now part of that was my own fault, but I didn't know it at the time. I jumped into a hot topic that had a lot of flaming going on and didn't know the community yet. It was a bit of a "trial by fire", but I survived.

From time to time I have "bad days" and get myself in trouble still, but it's tapering off quite a bit now that I've found my place a little better. If I stay with the issues that aren't hot-buttons I do pretty well. I can do ok with some brief visits to the more controversial areas, but if I stay for long, I get a lot of off-topic warnings and threats for post bans. Luckily I have some good friends that U2U me when I do that and tell me to chill out. I've learned to take their advice

I guess even the great and awesome folks like me can have difficult posting days and we, as a community need to take care of one another and keep our community going.
Yes, even the Great and Powerful Chiten can screw up, that means that ANYONE can


....ok, I'm not REALLY this arrogant and full of myself, but I like to play like I am on the interwebz
Those who know me know I'm actually a big mushy softhearted type who tries to help others.... really.... I am

Ya'll can sit at my cool table anytime ya want

Hey Heff, can you get a sex change so I can have a crush on you?

reply to post by PurpleChiten




My trial by fire moment came in 2010, I think... It was a thread couched as a "Fathers rights" thread. This attracted me because even though I had paid child support punctually and fully for nearly a decade after my divorce, my ex wife refused to allow me to see my son - at all - and I could not get a court to uphold my rights. And God knows I tried over and over and over... So I entered the thread thinking I would have something to contribute.

The problem was that the thread wasn't really about "fathers rights". It was actually a very stealthy pro life thread masquerading as a "fathers rights" thread.. Basically a bunch of guys screaming "If a woman can have an abortion, then no man should ever have to pay a penny towards a child - he should be allowed to have a "financial responsibility abortion", at will!! Fair is fair."

Even though my son was taken from me by my evil ex... I never had a single issue with providing for him. I love him, He's my son... The idea of deadbeat Dads just gets under my skin.

Needless to say my very first post in the thread was something like "You do have rights in this regard. You have the rights to keep your damn pants on and not create kids you are too sorry to support!"

And it went downhill from there.

For about four or five days I would log on, expecting fully to find myself banned. Get surprised that I wasn't banned... and then get drawn back to that thread - where I'd rage, post my rage, and log off again. Rinse and repeat.

I was absolutely an emotional wreck before it was all said and done. But I learned a few lessons from it.

1) Rarely, if ever, will we debate anyone else into changing an entrenched position.
2) By standing up, strongly and loudly, for what I thought was "right", all I actually accomplished, in the end, was putting my own account at risk. Which would have made the people I was debating happy - which would have sucked! All of my righteous anger did not change a single persons mind on the topic.
3) It really isn't hard to get sucked into the wrong things, even with the best of intentions. Everyone in a mud wrestling match ends up dirty - good guys and bad guys.
4) When ATS follows you into the real world, stress wise? Something needs to change! I love this place, but when I walk away from my computer? I leave ATS in its place.
5) Keyboards break easy

Originally posted by PurpleChiten
Hey Heff, can you get a sex change so I can have a crush on you?

I think it was either Shakespeare or Milton who said....

HELL to the NO!!!



~Heff

I have a quite different perspective of what I consider the "cool kids club". I have witnessed many times small groups of new members that join around the same time. Sometimes (not always) some of these groups go around the site "patting each other on the back"; starring and flagging each other for meaningless drivel, most often OPs of only a line or two with a page full of one liner replies and no source material (why would there be? It's meaningless drivel). They think if they accumulate bunches of stars and flags really fast somehow that will make them look cool.

I know that this particular breed of "cool kids" generally don't last very long, but they can be annoying. I think in some cases (if not most) they are indeed jealous of those long time members who have worked long and hard to contribute insightful content and earn respect. "Cool kids" don't understand hard work and time spent because they think they are entitled to be "cool" just for joining. They do not understand that they must work to gain popularity. If you consistently provide good work people will want to hear what you have to say.

I think a lot of it comes down to this age of instant gratification, but that's just the opinion of an old "nerd".

I must say ATS is a great escape.

Im familiar with most of the main players, and all the best characters.

I've noticed its only been the same group of members keeping the boards alive these days - Even if its just for our own general chit-chat. Tis great to think "Errrr BORED! What are the guys chattin about today?".

Garanteed, Ill soon find a thread with the gang involved having a good laugh aha.

Besides that I've recently discovered the research forum, and when I fancy diving into something more attention worthy, I can seek out the fellow researchers, and actually par-take in interesting subject matter.

The only things that gripe me are re-hashed waste o time threads, like the 2012 crap. Not that there's *nothing* to the 2012 hype - its a critical time in human history, but so many people want to discuss the same ridiculous theories... Does get tiresome.

In regards to the "cool club".. Shrug. The only thing I find annoying are some of the ridiculous fan clubs that'll star the hell out of something, even if its a weak one liner that offers little content.

All I can think is "Click little sheep! Click! BAAAA!" aha.

The star and flag system is pretty neat - as long as its not used for data mining o_O - but some people sure get carried away with it so we all look like excited kindergardeners!!

Okay that should throw most of them off. Good work Heff.

I'll see you later in the back-room with the others, didn't they say we get lobster and free massages today in the club ?

reply to post by Hefficide


(wrote, rewrote, rewrote post again)

Well said Heff! ATS is a round table, no-one sits at the head.

(The mods just walk behind us and hit us with sharp sticks on occasion)

1) Rarely, if ever, will we debate anyone else into changing an entrenched position.
2) By standing up, strongly and loudly, for what I thought was "right", all I actually accomplished, in the end, was putting my own account at risk. Which would have made the people I was debating happy - which would have sucked! All of my righteous anger did not change a single persons mind on the topic.
3) It really isn't hard to get sucked into the wrong things, even with the best of intentions. Everyone in a mud wrestling match ends up dirty - good guys and bad guys.
4) When ATS follows you into the real world, stress wise? Something needs to change! I love this place, but when I walk away from my computer? I leave ATS in its place.
5) Keyboards break easy

I wasn't going to post on this thread, as everybody else was doing a good job, but the points made in the quote above were very salient for me. Many times certain hot button issues are nothing more than a mud wrestling match, and everybody gets stinking filthy and very angry....but nothing changes.

Yes, there are times when what happened on ATS has followed me once I walked away from the computer, and never in a good way. If this occurs, it's time to step away from the keyboard and go do something else that doesn't cause stress.

Cool Kids Club a myth? I have to disagree with that in part. There is a trend on here, that people tend to make a fuss over certain members, and give them more attention than what their posts would dictate. It happens occasionally, and certain members name-drop other members, so it has the feel of a "club and you ain't in it". People wouldn't be continually bringing this up unless there was a kernel of truth in their complaining.

However, having said that, I tend to blow it off, because it's just pointless and usually not pertinent to the subject at hand.

How to win at the ATS game? Write how you feel, and what you know, in a succinct and respectful manner. If you get chock-blocked by somebody itching for a fight, stand your ground, but do it by citing facts, not by slinging mud. If you start to get too emotionally worked-up, time to get up and reconnect with real life again. Last but not least, this is just a web site to exchange ideas, nothing more, nothing less. Perspective is everything.

I really wish I had the time to sit down and actually be a contributing member.

Nice thread as usual Heff, I could have used your pointers about a year ago. Somehow I got into ATS through the back door because I never gave an introduction, I never saw the T&C's, I just started posting. ATS for me was trial by fire, learning things along the way. I laugh at myself now because when I first started posting I was getting a little aggressive with Phage, and I just didn't get where he was coming from. I thought if I could just get him to see the light, then we could have a different conversation. I now realize that it is not about changing how people think, but trying to integrate other poster's thoughts into my own awareness and seeing what feels right.

This is the first site that I have ever participated in, having this kind of info is invaluable to a new member, thank you!

I thought there was a group of folks who were pets of the moderators. One guy in particular really knew how to get under my skin; it seemed to me he made a point to belittle my posts if I ever dared trespass in his hallowed threads (yes, I'm still bitter).

So imagine my surprise a few months ago when I realized he'd been banned. I mean, this was one of the top members in regards to points, wats, and karma.

I guess the mods don't play favorites after all.

I must be a for real stone cold weirdo ( Shaddup) because I really dont care about the "popularity" issue.. who cares if someone is popular, Im certainly not going to hate them for that alone an whine if Im not as "popular" as them on a board. In RL, there is something to be said for popularity and public perceptions.. as it RL. Here.. what does it matter really. I will say that I HAVE seen cliques among the membership. Its there.. people are packish and you cant deny it. WIth the mods.. not so much. The owners/admin have made a shrewd decision by pinging the most wide variety of folks with different ideologies to serve as moderators. Its kind of a self correcting body of folks.Ive seen favoritism from mods.. but usually that is corrected one way or another. But these members sometimes... Its like a mirror of Jr High.. on steroids.

The other club that provides no end of amusement .. and sometimes has caused me to leave ATS for months at a time.. is the Debbie Downer Club. They should be by any minute now.

I'm going to assume this thread is in response to this thread or any number of other threads like it here but I would like to focus on that thread.

I would like to refer to my post where I said:

I've thought about this myself. The more "established" members tend to get more stars/flags and it kind of does seem unfair but at the same time they do earn respect for all their time and contribution here. There are also people here who just seem to be controversial just to earn stars/flags and I try to avoid/ignore them whenever possible. But at the same time, if I agree with what they say I will star them, even if I disagree with their stance in another thread/topic.

I don't make a lot of threads/posts because I try to read the whole thread to see both sides before commenting myself, unless I feel the need to address a certain issue. I don't know about anybody else, but I remember from Sunday school the teacher always said "God gave you 1 mouth and 2 ears so you can listen twice as much as you speak." I try to make every post count in some way/shape/or form.

I stand by my statements there. Nowhere did I condemn anybody for anything. Actually I like it better now where the gold/silver barrier is hard to see, before it was thicker and announced gold/silver status member. Granted I'm only responding after your first post and I realize there is more to read but I wanted to get my initial reaction out there before this thread gets too deep.

reply to post by Hefficide


I like seeing that members can admit when they are wrong about something. That says a lot in my opinion. It is easy to just abandon a debate on the internet or resort to name calling or whatever. I think it shows respect to the community and dedication to denying ignorance.

Especially since I find that I am wrong quite a bit.
Thanks for bringing up this topic in a reasonable manner.

reply to post by Hefficide


S+F

After reading your whole thread I agree 100%. We all start here neutral and we earn respect over time. I love all your threads Heff. You seem like a very balanced, seasoned individual. The biggest problem for me is starting threads. Almost everything is already covered here from every angle. It takes a lot of research and dedication to find new ways of looking at things, but that's what keeps me coming back to read, absorb, and eventually regurgitate lol. Good thread.