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

reply to post by Hefficide

I'm sorry i was home schooled....
Cool Kids Table?


I'm jk

Great thread Heff

reply to post by thov420


In all honesty, no one post was the genesis of this. To the contrary... this is more of a case of an idea germinating, in one form or another, for at least two or three years. Seeing long term members fall prey to ego, or trolling is part of it. Those folks who have 4,000 posts, and 3,999 of them are needlessly critical or abusive - they factor in. New members who happen to join on the same day as a "OHNOES ATS IS THE NSA!!! THEY STEELZ YER BRAINWAVES!!!" thread hits, and they either implode or spend the next year regurgitating that first impression... that is there too.

The reality is that the idea for this thread came to me while I was in the shower, thinking about another thread that I am putting a LOT of work into. I have had a reluctance to do this since the last thread I put a lot of work into ended up being such a nightmare magnet for negativity that the rest of the staff mercifully put it out of its misery by closing it forever. That thought mixed with all of the above thoughts and this thread was born. I got out of the shower, dried off, dressed, and then wrote this.

In essence, this thread is just a minor personal catharsis, put into a framework that I thought might help out some newer members as they learn the ropes and nuances of ATS. Hoping to share my past mistakes with others, that they might avoid making the same ones. An attempt to let the lurkers and the hesitant posters know that there's room for everyone here and that their opinions are every bit as valid as any others.

ATS thrives on interaction and participation. That requires diversity and a "safe" environment for the exchange of ideas.

That's really the summary of my intent here... to engage on that level.

~Heff

Originally posted by Hefficide
reply to post by thov420

 

In all honesty, no one post was the genesis of this. To the contrary... this is more of a case of an idea germinating, in one form or another, for at least two or three years.

That's impressive. I can see why you're threads seem so well researched then.

...the last thread I put a lot of work into ended up being such a nightmare magnet for negativity

Do you mind saying what the thread topic was? No need for links to a closed thread, just a short summary would work.

In essence, this thread is just a minor personal catharsis, put into a framework that I thought might help out some newer members as they learn the ropes and nuances of ATS. Hoping to share my past mistakes with others, that they might avoid making the same ones. An attempt to let the lurkers and the hesitant posters know that there's room for everyone here and that their opinions are every bit as valid as any others.

ATS thrives on interaction and participation. That requires diversity and a "safe" environment for the exchange of ideas.

That's really the summary of my intent here... to engage on that level.

~Heff

edit on 10/22/12 by Hefficide because: typo

Catharsis - the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, especially through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music.

Learn something new every day. The sharing of knowledge is always welcome and should be rewarded handsomely.

reply to post by thov420


I don't mind linking to that thread at all. I am proud of it, even if it did go horribly wrong.

Here it is. Warts and all!

~Heff

Originally posted by Hefficide

Be the change you want to see. ~Heff

Actually, in the realm of education, about ...oh...10 or 15 years ago, the big thing was "See the change before it happens". Mostly when dealing with students who weren't doing as well as we knew they could do. If you started treating them like what you KNEW they COULD be, they eventually become that.
It really does work...to an extent.

Off Topic kinda: I had one kid who literally slept most of his way through high school. One day in a geometry class I had the kids do a Mandalla to practice their constructions of concentric circles. Well, he saw it and decided he could do that, so he woke up and did it. I swear that kid made at least 50 of the darn things and he was excited about every single one. I bragged on each of them and looked at the details and we talked about tangents and the diameter and the radius and congruent angles formed in his design and he ate it up.
I'm very, very VERY proud to say that kid, who everyone thought would drop out, went to college, graduated and is now the manager at a major insurance company where he uses his math skills every single day.

He's on my facebook and made a HUGE post to me telling me what a difference I made to him and how I was the first to give him any attention and how it changed his life. I'm really glad it was on facebook and not in person because I cried like a big ole baby! Heck, I'm tearing up right now!

I've had a lot of kids come back and thank me and it's made more difference than anything in the world.

Teachers: we're not in it for the income, we're in it for the outcome

Sorry to go off topic, I just got carried away and had to do it

So what you're saying is... that... if we have a gold/silver border... were cool, and part of the elitist ATS gang?

sweeet!

/end sarcasm

on an on topic note... i've been here a while, and I was never invited into the ats cool kids club... I did however sneak in and no one noticed.

Heck, ya'll just need to be glad you even get to sit at a table. They put me and Beezzer in cages and feed us through the wire mesh!!

I'm not even going to mention what happens around Easter when all the kids want to hold the adorable little bunny and cute little chicken...of course we usually poop on them...

Rabbits and chickens get no respect

reply to post by PurpleChiten


And until the Google can tell me what the HELL a "chiten" is... you're gonna stay in quarantine dude.

Originally posted by Hefficide
reply to post by PurpleChiten

 

And until the Google can tell me what the HELL a "chiten" is... you're gonna stay in quarantine dude.

well ya see... I have this voice translater thang that I post with since I have no fingers and can't type (I only hunt and peck). Now, since chickens have no lips (I'm hunting and pecking right now so I can type it correctly ), I have a terrible lisp. So, when I signed up for ATS, they wanted my name. Of course I said "Purple Chicken" but it came out as "Chiten"...due to the lisp.

I have a terrible time out in the world. First people look at me funny since I'm purple and covered in feathers, but then, when I try to voice my objection, it just gets worse due to the speech impediment

It's a hard, hard life dude....a hard, hard life





....on my facebook, I actually stay "in character" as a baby purple chicken with a speech impediment that rides the "skewlin bus" and "lernz weally kewl stuff eberday"
I have a ball on that thing!!!
Heck, I have more friends as the purple chiten then I do as myself!

Listen,

The honest truth is, yes there sure is a Cool Kid's Club within ATS.

Heff is just upset cause we won't let him into our treehouse.

After all, we did say ' no sissies'.



Just kidding.

I could not add anything of worth, so I decided in my jealousy that attacking his character was better than attacking his information.

Classic Adhominem.

A lesson here kids? They never work .

~Tenth

reply to post by tothetenthpower


SHHHHHHHH you weren't supposed to tell him the club was up and running again!!!

Dagnabbit, do we need to put you on suspension again?

:mumblin bout the dang tattle tales...:

reply to post by tothetenthpower


What sorcery is this... I keep clicking ban next to your name... day upon day... and you still can post.

Originally posted by ugie1028
on an on topic note... i've been here a while, and I was never invited into the ats cool kids club...

BS, you initiated one.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Still kicking your ass though.

Cool? Please don't need that outside of July and August. Then it's frickin essential.

reply to post by PurpleChiten


Oh..you mean that old club.

Nah, there's a WAY cooler one now...

reply to post by Hefficide



You know what the term "Honorary Mod" means right? I thought we'd made that clear?!

~Tenth

reply to post by tothetenthpower


OOOOOOO Tay!!

Oh... nb4 "Thread denying cool kids club turns into meeting of cool kids club"

reply to post by Hefficide


Dude, anytime I show up, it's bound to happen

Another hit Heff. I wanted to add that for those, as I know that new members will be coming by, you can go directly to the FORUM page, there are literally over 100 different forums.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I think its important not to worry about stars and flags, or getting attention, but when first starting out, try to find what really means something to you (in the forum index), and you can set yourself apart.

Its not always how many times you say it, but the way that you say it that matters.

Also a side tip try not making your name here "bkjdbsgkv asghvuihfbfklanidfh"

I never understood peoples screen name's, well maybe thats just my issue, but anyway.... good luck to all the new members that arrive, just bring your A game.

Peace, NRE.

Let's be honest, none of us are cool...



...and so there is no such thing as a 'cool club.'

At the end of the day it's all about change. The prolific posters today will have more important things to do tomorrow and there will always be someone new to step in. When I first arrived there were a good bunch of people who you could rely on to keep you up reading till 4am. Then, for one reason or another, they left/got banned and there was a period of people shrugging saying "what are we gonna do now!? "

It's usually at this point that people realise that they too have the ability to keep people up till 4am banging on about Baphomet or who really shot JFK, and normal service is resumed.

Of course, once you have a reputation you can pretty much post whatever you like and get a good response, but not forever. Shakespeare said something along the lines of "a reputation is often got without merit, and lost without deserving.” If you have a reputation on ATS, good or bad, you probably deserve it.

Only yesterday I was browsing through the top contributor list and couldn't believe how much it had changed since I last looked over a year ago. Which sort of makes my point.

When you are through changing, you are through.

Originally posted by ugie1028
So what you're saying is... that... if we have a gold/silver border... were cool, and part of the elitist ATS gang?

sweeet!

/end sarcasm

on an on topic note... i've been here a while, and I was never invited into the ats cool kids club... I did however sneak in and no one noticed.

Yeah Ugie, Id heard of the Great Panty Raid of '10

LTNS you booger.