The ATS Popularity Contest

Originally posted by tothetenthpower

The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

Taking a look at the top members list, all of them are popular, and only popular because of the time and effort they spend creating content on these boards. That doesn't mean they are all liked however.

~Tenth

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.

I would say as much as 20 of the top 50 have a big share of people that dislike them more then like them....


I will not mention names, but you can be "popular" for how many people dislike you also..

I see some very good advice here on how to make your threads more popular (and some that I wouldn't suggest....).

But here are some other things to keep in mind:

Where you have started your thread:
If the forum you have started a topic for discussion is in a highly popular forum that has many threads being started in it, it's possible that your thread get's "pushed down" by newer threads. People logging on at certain times, may not have time to scroll down and may not just see your thread, so you may have to bump it.

When you post your thread:
This could be another key factor. While ATS is an international forum, there are times when there are more people on here than when there is not (and not just time zones, but time of day too, you may find more people logged on in the evening or during lunch hour).

Is it's a "Book" or a "Quip"? :
I don't like threads who's OP is very, very short. As you said, a posted video with the words "what do you guys thing?" drives me up the wall. I like to see what the OP thought about it also.
At the same time, if you write a "Book" (an OP that opens with 4 posts which are walls of text), you may find that a lot of people don't have time to read it all, or have too short an attention span, especially if it's a subject that they only have a passing interest in. While you may have a lot of info to put out, try to keep to the major points of your subject only.

Lurkers:
Keep in mind that while you may have threads that you thought were well wrote out, and should spark a lot of discussion, that it may have only gotten attention of Lurkers, who do not post, do not flag, and do not star. They may not even have an account but just read threads. What looks like 2 flags, a couple of stars, 4 replies and you guess you might of had 10 reads, might actually of been read by 40, 50 or more people who just don't post, but they did read your thread.

Keep Trying:
Just keep making threads on subjects that you like to discuss, or on things that you have found that you think are interesting, but do not seem to have threads on here about. Eventually you'll get enough people that will be interested in something and you could get a great thread going. You might even get a "following" after you've been here a while. Some members on here (not always mods) have a lot of threads that people read and discuss in, and when ever they create a thread, they get quite a bit of discussion going on it.
Slayer69 is a good example of someone like that on here who is not a mod. He mostly posts in the Ancient Civilizations forum, and he always seems to find very interesting topics that no one has heard of, or only very little on.
Of course that doesn't mean that members only interested in discussing Gun Rights, WW3, and UFOs are going to be interested in it, but ATS is huge and has a LOT of content. All of it posted by members like you and I.

So don't give up. Keep at it. Even the Trolls are important. They show people how one should not act on here!

reply to post by gangdumstyle


Popularity is by no means a measure of quality content.

Ever try reading Twilight?

Regardless of reputation, top members are top members because they contribute. You can of course decide that those contributions are meaningless, and thus pay no attention. Without their views and opinions however, there'd be a whole half of ATS with nobody to debate.

And vice Versa

Ideological divides are a necessity for any healthy society.

~Tenth

It seems like a crap shoot to me, although I can't say I have a huge number of authored threads. My top four threads I didn't really expect to get much of a response, they were just ideas or questions I had and threw them out there. Then threads that I thought were gonna get some good replies, seemed to fizzle away, or were deleted altogether. Even on the posts that didn't get much of a response, usually the few responses I did get were of good quality and made me think a bit, so that is a plus.

I have seen well written and detailed OPs that didnt get that much attention in the posting arena. That includes moderator OP threads. I see yoour point however and i think this phenomenon simply occurs because some members will naturally have a group of friends on Ats, and of course their friends will s/f no matter what they write. My suggestion is start building up your friends list.

reply to post by TKDRL

It seems like a crap shoot to me, although I can't say I have a huge number of authored threads. My top four threads I didn't really expect to get much of a response, they were just ideas or questions I had and threw them out there.

That’s been my experience….it’s hit or miss…..there are many variables involved as others have pointed out.

Heck, if you look at all of the threads I’ve authored, 50% of them have single digit flags! COMPLETE FLOPS!!

I don't take it personal. I enjoy participating regardless.

Originally posted by gangdumstyle
I would say as much as 20 of the top 50 have a big share of people that dislike them more then like them....


I will not mention names, but you can be "popular" for how many people dislike you also..

I'M A WINNER!!! Never thought of it that way.

I have also noticed this.

It seems most members are really pretty clueless about anything outside of the mainstream, especially in politics.

The membership has become extremely shallow and hardly anyone is willing to have their views challenged. Even against overwhelming evidence if they don't want to believe it they won't. It's like a ridiculous expression of their misconception of freedom, I can believe what I want it's a "free country" lol.

Originally posted by gangdumstyle

Originally posted by tothetenthpower

The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

Taking a look at the top members list, all of them are popular, and only popular because of the time and effort they spend creating content on these boards. That doesn't mean they are all liked however.

~Tenth

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.

I would say as much as 20 of the top 50 have a big share of people that dislike them more then like them....


I will not mention names, but you can be "popular" for how many people dislike you also..

edit on 17-1-2013 by gangdumstyle because: (no reason given)

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

reply to post by AthlonSavage


The thing is that a lot of news that we get here isn't "provocative." Sometimes an OP comes in and there's nothing left to say. It's pretty much said. Thanks. You want the stars and flags though, don't "Go West", post about guns. Abortion. Gay rights. Either side will pick up on these inconsequential issues. It's issues now that are a popularity contest. Group X, "Man their dude looked really stupid tonight." Group Y, "Man, we looked stupid tonight. How can we make the OTHER SIDE look even more stupid?"

In this atmosphere we all lose imo.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


It would seem to me that you are a bit biased when judging the quality of your own work.

Maybe it's just not as good as you think it is.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin
Honestly I think a lot of it has to do with WHEN the thread is started. As ATS is worldwide something that is of interest to you or a favorable opinion of a particular subject in your country may not be of interest to folks from other countries if you post during a time of the day when they are the majority online. Also I think a lot of it has to do with WHICH forum you are starting your thread in, as some are more popular than others.

Personally I post what I feel like when I feel like it, and don't really care about flags. If what I post interests a few others or they see something of themselves in a situation I post about and relate to it that is good enough for me. If I read a post I like I star it; if I read an OP I like I flag it- it doesn't matter whose name is on it. Heck, I flagged your OP yesterday and starred several of your replies in the thread and I don't know you from Adam.

Sometimes really good, well researched threads fall by the wayside while two liners with a video soar to the top. It's not fair but it's just the way the cookie crumbles. Don't worry about the numbers man, just do what you enjoy and be happy- and keep on posting of course!

reply to post by littled16


Personally I TRY not to care about stars and flags but honestly, I do. It is kind of discouraging to put an effort into a post and not get a good conversation going. I've even found myself from time to time checking in every few minutes just to see if anyone's replied!

The way I feel (and this might seem weird) is that I post to share ideas and when no-one replies, it kind of feels like I'm not accepted. I know that's just the self-pity trip kicking in, but it happens. I can't speak for everyone, but I'd assume that deep inside all of us, some similar emotional response occurs.

Heck, I even took a 2 year hiatus between 2009 and 2011 just because I felt like I wasn't "accepted." I know its silly, but hey, I am what I am!

reply to post by PollyPeptide
Well if i could give you a star I would, but unfortunately this is posted in one of the few forums that you can't give stars in. I'm sure everyone feels unaccepted at some point in their life, and it surely sucks! When I quit caring about the number of stars I was getting and started just saying what I felt no matter what the stars started to come. As far as flags, meh- I just don't start too many threads. I think if I averaged it out it wouldn't even average two flags per thread. I don't care anymore. Success is not rated by quantity but by quality! Those who have taken the time to give one of my OPs a flag have either enjoyed it or agreed with it, and that quality is what gives me a feeling of it having been successful. Even if one gets no flags (and that HAS happened) at least I know that somebody, somewhere has read it and thought about it. Learn to take pleasure in that and you will be okay. Just don't give up.

It is a popularity contest to an extent. Certain people, a few, post long-winded OP's and I truly believe just because of namesake they get stars from people who don't even read it all just because of who they are.

I've noticed my 1 line off the top of my head replies tend to get more stars than posts I make that are well thought out and exceed 1 paragraph. That however, I don't think has anything to do with popularity.. it's more of a tl;dr syndrome.

Just my opinion, and all but.

I don't like the idea, we had issues in the past years.
All it does is cause a high school drama scene, and popularity, should not be important here.

Unless some one is popular for denying ignorance exceptionally well.


Oh, and 1/2 Nephilim;

Unless your a few thousand years old, you can only be 1/32 nephilim....

There is a sweet spot for threads that get a lot of attention on ATS.

- Can't be too long*
- Can't be too short
- Can't be a wall of text
- Can't be all pictures
- Can't be too crazy**
- Can't be too sane

* There is an exception for threads that are EXTREMELY long and well researched, no one reads them, but they get tons of stars and flags, and lots of replies of "Well done, S&F"
** There is an exception for threads that are 100% completely bat *&$% crazy, these get a lot of attention, but for all the wrong, but entertaining, reasons

All rules are out the window in the political forums.

For right wing leaning threads they have to be conspiratorial in nature to get attention, no one really pays attention to well made threads about conservative fiscal policy...but throw out a Birther thread and you got something.

For left wing leaning threads, they tend to have to demolish a right wing conspiratorial idea, but again, no one really wants to read a thread about well thought out policy thread about logical tax reform.

In BTS, Bacon.

I remember authoring a thread almost exactly like this years back. Haha. Then I realized that my contribution to this site wasn't near as good as I thought it was.

Sometimes I stand in awe at some of the more prolific thread creators here. Slayer comes to mind. The amount of time that guy spends writing for ATS is just insane. And it reflects in his stats. There was another guy back in the day...Neo-something-or-other. Anyone remember him? Where's he go? Last I remember looking he had roughly 27,000,000 flags (slight exaggeration).

Anymore I don't care about stats one bit. I've read lots of great threads where I was literally the only person to flag it. Also, I have written threads that I spent considerable time on and got almost no recognition for. As someone else said, it's a crapshoot. My highest flagged thread was completely speculative, way off base, and had pictures. Haha. Those are the breaks.

I would also reiterate what another poster said about paying attention to the time of day you post.

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin

 

you want a popular thread , you need several key ingrediends

1 - the title should be dishonest , or innacurate

2 lies - you need at least one claim that is a bare faced lie in the first paragraph

3 sources - NEVER use credible sources - use know loons , hoaxers or just dont give any

4 logic should be avoided at all costs -

5 follow up posts should contradict your OP

You forgot to mention

6 disagree with all other posters, even if they agree with you

7 never read any posts in the thread before replying, not even your own

8 post an inflammatory statement, violating t & c, therefore receiving a warning message, the earlier in the thread the better

9 try to insult any and all racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation groups that you can

There was a brilliant thread from BTS from years ago that really broke this down....wish I could find it.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


I always try (emphasis on 'TRY) to keep my threads short and to the point. I work all day. I just don't have the energy or the mental ability to absorb a lot in one sitting, so I think of others in this way also when I create a thread. It has nothing to do with you personally, OtherSide. We're just - yawnnnn - tired.