Invasion of the Twitter Mentality, is killing ATS

sure there are many threads started that lack substance.

i find it's a similar problem with posters on said thread, they don't read the info linked to and respond with opinions like 'this is what i think' or 'that is what i think' or the ever popular, and apropriate, 'i don't think'!

often times i will put the effort into posting some extra info or links that i find to be relavant, and more often than not, i get no response on them in that thread, and that usually ends my participation in it.

don't have a solution for it , it's really just a matter of all the members here working to add more to the site.

Originally posted by inj3ct0r
You are right. ATS is not limited to 140 character.

edit on 3-2-2013 by inj3ct0r because: (no reason given)

So it's not twitter...but apparently it is reddit.

yr so rt, 2 oftn idots pst nthg n xpect yr atenton, wait, I just got a tweet or a twit or something, be back soon.......

Originally posted by Aleister
yr so rt, 2 oftn idots pst nthg n xpect yr atenton, wait, I just got a tweet or a twit or something, be back soon.......

Ahhh yes. The classic text post.....

I see this more and more across many forums, not just here. I guess a lot of folk are posting from their phones, and hence, use the abbreviated text format. I can't help but wonder how many kids these days, actually think that is how some words are spelled.

If I had turned in a paper worded like that in school when I was a kid. I'd have a big fat red F scrawled across the top of the page, and some after school time for a make-up session. Now it seems like everyone is doing it, and it's the norm.

It reminds me of a movie, I watched again yesterday.....Idiocracy

Idiocracy is a 2006 American film, a satirical science fiction comedy, directed by Mike Judge and starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, and Terry Crews. The film tells the story of two ordinary people who take part in a top-secret military hibernation experiment, only to awaken 500 years in the future in a dystopian society full of extremely dumb people. Advertising, commercialism, and cultural anti-intellectualism have run rampant and dysgenic pressure has resulted in a uniformly stupid society devoid of intellectual curiosity, social responsibility, and coherent notions of justice and human rights.

Despite its lack of a major theatrical release, the film has achieved a cult following.
en.wikipedia.org...[1]

Des

Originally posted by lacrimaererum
reply to post by TheLieWeLive

 

There is rules for making threads.

Mods don't enforce them anymore.

This site is all about the visitor numbers and advertising. Money , money, money.

The rules have been thrown in the bin along with the quality.

Absolutely correct. Sad but true. To the tune of about $800 a day.

reply to post by lacrimaererum

Originally posted by lacrimaererum

the mods have been letting the 2line threads with a link go for months now.

its now the norm for most new threads.

alerts about them are ignored.

I'm not saying that every 'Alert' will bring about some sort of action, but some of them will. The chances of a complaint being taken seriously, are much better if you use the 'Alert', than if you try it this↓way.

Originally posted by lacrimaererum

i commented on a two line thread with a link some days ago. criticizing the content of the thread. no details , no opinion, no informaton, my comment was removed and the 2line thread with a link was left running with no action taken.

Just going off of what you said, it appears that the comment you're referring to was off-topic, and was rightfully removed.

It's basically the same as replying to an off-topic post: Replying to an off-topic post, saying that the post is off-topic, is in itself an off-topic post.

I've done it too, and I will do it again, but I do not expect it to be taken as a serious complaint.







reply to post by Destinyone

Originally posted by Destinyone


I can't blame it all on the Mods. Look how many of us there are, so few of them. It's not a paid position either.

Personally, I wouldn't go that far. click this→ www.abovetopsecret.com...
and scroll to the bottom.

There are about 70 Mods. Currently, there are 459 people online. 10 of them are Mods.

That should be enough. Not enough to read it all, but enough to act on it, if a proper 'Alert' has been made.







reply to post by tinhattribunal

Originally posted by tinhattribunal

i find it's a similar problem with posters on said thread, they don't read the info linked to..........

You shouldn't need to read the info linked, in order to understand the topic. The important information should be given clearly in the OP. That is the point of it. If someone isn't going to explain what it is, then there is no reason at all to even post it.

reply to post by Destinyone


Yes, "Idiocracy" is a very good movie, and if anyone here hasn't seen it, drop what you are doing and find it, search until your hands and feet bleed, skip that Super Bowel dinner and find it!!!

I'd reckon watching that movie got your mind working to put out this thread. Nice work.

reply to post by Destinyone


I deeply apologize, I won't do it again...

Nice rant and I agree to a point. To me, it seems like they're in cycles, sometimes all is fine and every once in a while there's like an overload of twiiter opening posts. Personally, I never alerted one, I almost always avoided reading the thread where the op is a few words with a video or a link.

My solution: No S & F, no attention either, the no cookies for me, well, no cookies for you kinda deal...

That said, S & F on a well done rant !!

Originally posted by Destinyone
This is my first rant.

Is is just me. I find every other thread I click open, has an opening post shorter than most of the titles of the thread. Sometimes, not even a complete sentence, with a link to an article or most times, a youtube video.

No descriptions of what has been presented by the OP, nor personal opinion of what, and why they posted it.

I've been wondering what has caused such an influx of such threads. The only thing I can think of, it's because of social media patterns established by places like twitter and farcebook.

What I'm seeing more and more are crumbs tossed out in the forums, that only get a couple of replies. Usually those replies are people requesting more information. A lot of the time the OP doesn't even respond to those questions. So, the thread dies.

There, I feel slightly better.....

Des

---------------------


Star & Flag Destinyone. thank you for taking the time to point this problem out in your rant.

It is not just you who has been noticing this ongoing pattern on seems like 50% or more of new ATS threads!

I've also noticed that a whole lot of these new and very short 2 line threads and usually always with bad spelling in the Title are really like " Survey's " they are always asking a question of the ATS members, and wanting to get everyone's " Opinion " on whatever the Title Topic is.

That is the type of " Survey Research " that Advertising Companies use for whatever their purposes are. Of course the bottom line reason for them wanting to know Everyone's Opinion, is for the bottom line which is $$$

Also, many of the new Topic's posted can even be posted by a " bot ". A human is not even needed to post on forums, as there are advertising program bot's that can be programed to ( Yes ) log in and then ( Enter ) whatever subject matter, links and questions that are entered into the " bot's " format.

There is also another reason for Programming ( AI - Artificial Intelligence bot's ) to post various and sundry questions and subjects on Forums on the internet. Questions and Photo's have a Real Time effect on how and what people will think and talk about. In other words, if you can " Control " the topics and conversations, then " You " are " Controlling " what the people ( Think About and Talk About )

ATS member TheGUT - I think that's how he spells his Member Name authored a very interesting thread on " Memes " He got very deep into that world of how Powerful " Memes " are.

Also, another reason for " Those in Control " and / or the " TPTB " to want to ( Program ) non-stop endless random topics of nonsense, is because that is " Broadcasting Confusion " The TPTB don't want the General Populous to be able to " Actually Think a Coherent Thought ". This is also a very powerful " Military Tactic "
and that very effective tactic is to " Spread Confusion " and discord. What is the Reason for this you ask?

This type of a ( Clever Tactic ) of controlling the subject matter, and controlling the General Populations Thoughts and ambitions with any subject matter or photographs has worked very well ever since WW1 & 2 and even before then.

This is what is actually going on with all of the very short and random New Thread Topic's. They are Sowing Confusion, because they ( Do Not Want ) the General Population to be able to have " Rational or Coherent " thoughts on anything. Keep the people in a constant state of ( Confusion ) is their Main Tactic.

BTW - the following is a verse of scripture in the bible: " For God has not given us a spirit of fear and worry, but one of love and of power and of a sound mind."

My apologies for being so long winded in my reply. I think that the more people that are aware of this Tactic that is being used against them, the more of a chance for the General Population to ( Regain ) their sanity and rational decision making process.

I couldn't agree with you more! What really irks me is the "race to be first" where you have one person that posts a one liner and a link, "Shooting in school" or whatever the flavor du jour is. They happen to be "the first", and though someone posts a good, informative thread with quotes from the link, commentary, and has generated 2 or 3 pages of replies, the thread gets shut down, re-directing people to the one liner post with 4 replies, most begging for more information. All because they were "first". Common sense is out the door.

I followed one of those redirected threads just to see what happened, and some ELSE just started the "new thread is allowed in another forum rule" that was still not as good as the closed thread, and they garnered the 10 pages, non op participation thread.

Basically, an abandoned post.

Where you see people that genuinely participate being kicked in the shins for hit and run posters, it really can suck. It is also discouraging, and has stopped me from both posting and participating in threads more than once.

Oh, and ALERT is a joke. I alerted on someone discussing a green banned topic in my thread because I was concerned about the thread being closed. Ironically, the banned topic post was allowed to stand. If I posted it? Probably not so much. I don't get it.

Originally posted by lacrimaererum
reply to post by TheLieWeLive

 

There is rules for making threads.

Mods don't enforce them anymore.

This site is all about the visitor numbers and advertising. Money , money, money.

The rules have been thrown in the bin along with the quality.

Well that's just flat out wrong and not appreciated.

We do the best job we can here, period. We enforce all rules and nothing is ever left because of a reason like you just suggested at there. Speaking as a moderator at this time I think that's actually incredibly rude and insulting in all honesty. Fact is though we don't, and cannot, see everything. I wish we could, but we don't. To expect that, as some out there seemingly do, is silly. What we do see we alert, discuss and then take action. That's how it goes.

All we ask from the rest of the membership is they help us out by also alerting. We'll then take the next 2 steps I just highlighted. It's not difficult to do and it takes less than 10 seconds, and at the same time you're helping us tackle these thing's. That, or we can complain and let it all go on of course..

Edit: Also it has be said - Imagine how many alerts we receive as well. We do the best job we can with everything here. Nothing is ever willingly left on the boards and to suggest so is pretty insulting to say the least. To everyone - Put yourselves in our shoes for a second and have some empathy.

reply to post by Rising Against


I think, and this is just my opinion, some mods might not care as much, or perhaps don't put forth the effort. Some mods are amazing. The bad part is, the ones that are amazing and care a lot, don't seem to be the ones around as much. Or, perhaps at the most opportune times.

Some mods deserve to have their feet bathed with scented oils. Some, not so much. I understand you volunteer your time and all, and for that we are all grateful, but when you see a flood of a certain type of new threads, and they are supposedly against T and C, then I think it is understandable that people question how so many are allowed to stand.

I think many would agree, it is over what would seem "we just can't see everything" at this point.

ETA: incoming, or new threads seem to be the most watched by mods. Is that a misperception?

reply to post by Rising Against


RA, Thanks for chiming in on this thread. I appreciate you are wearing your MOD hat while doing so. Some of us do forget the monumental task it is, to moderate such a vast site like ATS.

I don't bother to alert the threads I ranted about, I just figure you Folk are busy enough with other maybe more important issues. My bad. I don't participate in them, they roll off the front page with few replies, settle down at the bottom of nowhere land, I guess.

It's the trending of so many of them, as of late, that drove me to post this rant.

Do the MODS really want to be bothered with the one line/link threads?

TIA...Des

reply to post by Destinyone

Good rant Des, and on point. There's this little comment in yellow I'm sure you've noticed every time you write a post...

You are an experienced contributor to ATS. Please be an example for our newer members and make every post matter.

I thought this was a good idea. Now if SO could come up with something like this for new members before they post a thread, it might be helpful.

At ATS, quality content is encouraged and expected from our members.
Please refrain from short, one or two line Opening Posts.
Give the membership a reason to read and comment on your topic.
Expound on your ideas, and why this topic interests you enough to discuss it with other members
Give a description of videos and photos, and what their relevance is to the topic.

Just some quick thoughts off the top of my head. Something like this could at least nudge in the right direction.

Originally posted by lacrimaererum
reply to post by TheLieWeLive

 

There is rules for making threads.

Mods don't enforce them anymore.

This site is all about the visitor numbers and advertising. Money , money, money.

The rules have been thrown in the bin along with the quality.

These rules ARE enforced.
Well they are enforced selectively.
Just make sure they agree with your angle if you expect to be able to make a simpleminded comment.
It is their chalkboard though, we are free to use our chalk anywhere else.
I do!

Originally posted by TheLieWeLive
reply to post by lacrimaererum

 

That's why I think they should encode it in. If you couldn't submit your post or reply until you had enough words or characters then it would take some of the weight off of the Mods.

There are a lot of us on here at any given time of the day.
We can't expect the Mods to catch everything.

It's up to the poster to read and follow the rules so you can't blame the Mods for that.

They don't care. The site owners that is....

They want that MONEY.

A 2 word right wing propaganda thread with some fanatic youtube video attached to it is going to get them a lot of ad clicks.

reply to post by Destinyone
Well said, Destiny. Very well said. I couldn't agree more on your points and overall sentiments to what we're seeing in very real changes. Everything changes of course....but that is hardly a good thing in all cases. You don't start threads often but you never disappoint by making those you do start really count!

@ Thread in general

Give the mods a break already. I don't say that to kiss ass or curry favor. FAR too much water, both good and bad, has flowed under this Rabbit's bridge in the time I've been here as a member to think one little post would make any difference to either those I consider friends among staff here and those ..Well, I'm pretty sure I have a kind of anti-rabbit fan club back there too sometimes. The mods seem to cover just about all ideologies and walks of life. It's bound to happen and some are also more skilled than others.

However, I say this as a Moderator myself on a bit different site with far less traffic than this one. They walk a FINE FINE line and are undoubtedly aware of that at all times. I know I am where I work.

If they ignore TOO much and are TOO lenient, they lose good members for the place going to hell in a hand basket.

If they enforce TOO MUCH, then they lose members by the place going to hell in a hand basket.

All that changes is which side is saying it and leaving. To say that being a mod on a site with any real level of controversy in topic is a thankless job makes light of the term thankless. You know the really screwy part?? The SAME threads can have people sincerely and honestly (from their perspective) saying BOTH of the above things, on the same DAY. I guess that means the staff are doing a pretty decent job of not falling off the tight rope. When both sides are annoyed, I call it fair treatment. It's when one sides gets real happy, a problem exists to really look at, IMO.

Just my two cents as someone whose had the same baseless stuff thrown at him while knowing the actual facts of how something happened in a mod position. I don't have to work here to have plenty of sympathy for what the job must be like in what I can only imagine is like herding cats around the most sensitive cat lovers in the world.

I agree. I'm not "old" on here, and I notice the content changing. I say changing, because when I lurked and then signed up, I noticed that there were always the, "what happened to you ATS?" threads. It will never be as it was. If the owners are fine with it and their numbers keep going up, both membership and dollars, this will not change. I am choosing to be okay with this, although I don't like it.

Originally posted by Destinyone
Is is just me. I find every other thread I click open, has an opening post shorter than most of the titles of the thread. Sometimes, not even a complete sentence,

It's just you, and War & Peace is that-a-way >>===>

'Brevity is the soul of whit ' -Willy Shake

I think one way to promote better postings would be as follows:

For Originator, if the post is too short, ambiguous, or lacking in some way, perhaps the moderators can configure a TLI (Too Little Information) Banner and flag it, also, if they can program a mode, have a mode that only allows the thread starter to edit the content, blocking all others from adding further similar to a 'closed" thread. Give them either the duration of the 4-hour edit window or maybe a little longer depending on the Mods mood or thread load. If they don't resubmit a better edited version in the respected time period, the thread gets removed.
Further, keep count of how many times a particular subscriber has done this and after the 2nd time, direct them to a warning screen upon next logon/session access. After a third time, block theor ability to create/post for (N) days. Then for each further infraction of this type, double their blocking times.