How ATS has changed over 13+ years

I started to lurk around here in 2006, and registered in 2007. Don't write as much as I should though :p I like reading the threads more

reply to post by Losonczy


American foreign policy and Religious Extremism have divided and conquered us... Half the world thinks The US deserves a good bashing - and 1/2 of America know it does, deep down... Probably not quite the same for Islam, but getting there... Maybe when the majority of both 'sides' actually, genuinely feel GUILT (not likely in this divided world) things will get better... As an atheist I see pointless division everywhere, but as an atheist I find it hard not to put the boot into both 'sides' from time to time (not here much, but it's the same for many prolific ATS posters)...

BEING DIVISIVE GETS ATTENTION - which is 1/2 of what this site's about - in order to highlight topics... I'm not bothered about attention on most issues...

Its a case of popularity. It goes from the experts and the interested posting to everyone having a pop with their own theories!

reply to post by swan001


That's why one must post relevant information in a manner that will attract people willing to read and, more importantly, think about what you've said/written, rather than react in a manner that reflects poorly upon your point of view. No matter how correct your idea/thoughts may be, if they're presented in a manner that reflects poorly upon you, no one is going to listen, muchless think about it.

Which do you prefer? An idea presented in a calm forthright manner, or HYSTERICAL ALL CAPS **PROOF** that after the first sentence turns you away entirely? Those agents of darkness want exactly that. It's up to you to realize that, and think before you post, and be the change you want to see. I'm not saying don't be passionate, because that's part of the attraction of great posts, and threads...but present it in such a way that people want to read it, and say "hmmm...this person might be on to something...", rather than "I don't want to read this hysterical nonsense...".

It's tough sometimes, this I know... I've responded with anger all too many times, and been spanked for it.

Hope I've helped at least a little?

I used to love coming to this place and reading all the posts by people like mikesingh, johnlear, and Zorgon to name a few.

Now its just infested with political trolling.
Even if there are conspiracies in there somewhere, the people advocating them are so blinded by their political side that it's practically impossible to get to the root of anything.

If it were up to me I'd make a new site just for them.

I do feel that way, having been here nearly as long myself. Although I'm not a particularly active poster compared to most, especially in terms of topic creation, I do feel like there was more of a civil tone back in the day.

Unfortunately, I don't believe that this change in attitudes and dialogues is limited to ATS by any means, or even a consequence of anything specifically endemic to this site or its membership. It's something I see throughout the net these days, and even - more worryingly - in face to face interactions with people.

I have yet to come across a disagreement on ATS that couldn't be handled with decorum. But an effort has to be made toward that end, and many people throughout society today seem loath to make said effort. They feel that their position, affiliation, level of consternation, or desire to avoid being viewed as politically correct are adequate justification to attack rather than converse or debate civilly.

And there's the element of the digital ego as well. Everything is about the virtual "I" today. Even the devices many use to get online in the first place have "I" in their names. Perhaps this is why every little disagreement or difference of opinion is interpreted as an angry rallying cry to battle. Some are merely trolling. But many are legitimately hostile toward everything they don't agree with.

More and more I am inclined simply to avail myself of the resource ATS represents as opposed to actually participating, with increasingly few exceptions.

Peace.

Im a lone wolf though, should i not have come here?

Been a member for 7years. Had to create a new account due to me losing my login info, etc. I will always love this site, although I moved on to reddit for the simple fact that their APP is very easy to use on an Ipad.

I have asked for YEARS why there is no app for this website. There are much low end sites that have apps. MUCH lower end websites. I will NEVER understand why they insist on not pushing this website to the 2010's and add an app. Don't give me "well, there's ATS.mobile!" BS...loading web pages on a smartphone, or even tablet is a more of a pain than using an app. I mean, there isn't even a third party app for this site. It's just, well, bizarre.

i have been a lurker since early 2000's. When I first started reading the articles it seemed everyone was friendly, helpful, and if there was an argument it was civil. I have always loved this site. What took me so long to sign up as a member was that I just enjoyed reading. I signed up a few days ago to reply to a post, and now I am taking my time replying to posts in a thoughtful, intelligent manner (at least I hope) I am not worried about achieving 20 posts yet. But I have noticed that people are mean on here. And there are disinfo agents at work. I don't know what a troll is but I see that word daily. Especially if the post written is not liked. I want to contribute but I don't want to be called a troll, or whatever the word of the day is. I want to contribute meaningful dialog and if need be argue civilly. Like the old days.

I find that people have slowly gotten a lot better at basic logic and research, and as a result we're generally less likely to put up with a lot of crap that might have slid by in the past. We have gotten much better at spotting when somebody is unable to connect the dots, and fail in their attempts to put a conspiratorial spin on things. So we understand that there are lone crazy people out there bombing and mass shooting, and a UFO photo doesn't mean anything without additional backup, and that when jets fly high in the sky the produce essentially harmless vapor trails.

Does a slowly dawning truth about the real, mundane nature of an odd topic result in a greater feeling of community? No. People gather in churches because they draw comfort in shared ignorance. This ain't no church.

March 24 2003 was probably the best day ever for ATS.

Originally posted by Losonczy
I've been on ATS for about 13 years. In the early days, ATS posters and lurkers were interested in the most popular conspiracies. Folks enjoyed the early promise of the Internet...a deep resource for researching, providing links and doing more research, connecting dots and pointing out holes in initial/original stories. Most people studied hypotheses, contributed ideas, and enjoyed the devil's advocate back and forth. People questioned the MSM and committed themselves to serious detective work.

Thirteen years later, the site feels much more divisive and divided into countries or cultural positions. There is a lot more America bashing it seems. There is a lot more ANAL application of site rules and procedure and more personal attacks. The trolls don't seem to be put at bay as quickly and a crazy number of threads on the same topic seem to proliferate.

What once felt like a community, seems more like a collection of lone wolf skeptics taking jabs at one another. I miss the feeling of "we're in this together trying to find out the truth." The site is still amazing and often the first place I turn rather than MSM, but does anyone else feel that the site has lost a feeling of brotherhood or comeraderie? Does anyone care?

edit on 19-4-2013 by Losonczy because: (no reason given)

i've been here for nearly 10 years...

this place has most definitely changed. i remember when this place was THE place for intelligent discussion on not just conspiracy theories, but alternative and mainstream news items, as well as nearly all things scientific, natural, supernatural, esoteric, and alien..

Now, it is far more bitter, the people running this place are FAR more strict with the application of the rules, the site operators seem to have forgotten why this place exists, and, with a few exceptions, the mods and admins are really kinda...i dunno..mean?...like bullies with badges..i suppose that's the best analogy i can give...

ATS is lousy with disinfo agents, shills, and mindless true believers in whatever the government tells them....now, they're kinda necessary, because if everyone here agreed all the time, it would be dreadfully boring, but it seems a bit much lately. i took a few years off from coming here, because i didn't have time....i had a job that required ALL of my time, and i just couldn't keep up...i lost that job, and so i came back, and i gotta say, it is a lot less friendly and intelligent here than i remember...

..kinda shameful, really...i doubt anything good will come from this thread, but whatever...figured i'd say my bit..

Originally posted by Lysergic
March 24 2003 was probably the best day ever for ATS.

Ahh, the much maligned "day of infestation".

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


You know it

I lurked for years before posting and have noticed a huge difference in the last couple of years. Many of the best posters, the thought provoking posters with long, well thought out threads have either left or been banned. What is odd is how many of the top posters in ATS' history have been banned, yet posters who offer little to nothing are allowed to stick around.

The quality of posts and threads has declined, and declined rapidly. I think part has to do with technology and the younger texting generation. We now get numerous quick drive by style posts void of intellect, grammar or correct spelling, which often look like high school text messages between friends. There's much less respect for the presentation of thought and ideas.

I think part of it boils down to the education problem in this country. A growing number of teens and college age kids don't have the same writing skills as the previous generations, nor the same analytical ability. It's not surprising as even though not even 30 yet, I still grew up without internet and learned to do research by checking out books in the library, really having to put thought into research. When the younger generation just has to do a google search or quickly read through wikipedia, I think analytical ability suffers, and we're seeing that.

It's a catch-22 though. I'm glad younger generations are interested in the topics presented here and don't believe everything the MSM tells them. That's a huge positive. But it's also the same generation which appears for the most part that they can't be bothered to put more thought or punctuation into their posts. I skip over the many posts which look like they were quickly posted on a smart phone and haven't been proofread. If you can't present thought in a legible manner, the way it's been done for decades and don't have the respect for your fellow posters or the ATS community to the point you won't proofread your own posts, I simply won't read them.

Might sound harsh, but others feel the same way. All you have to consider is all the great posters who've left. And while asking ATS to read and moderate every single post is too much to ask, there could easily be higher standards for starting threads. How many threads now just have one or two sentences, little value and looked like they were put together in under two minutes? Many, and ATS can ban those posters or revoke their thread starting ability, yet that doesn't happen, and it's a great insult to all the well thought out threads which have come prior.

Actually, ATS is looking more and more like twitter, now that I think of it.

reply to post by MysticPearl


i agree. the education system has been a joke since they stopped teaching to educate, and started teaching for tests. standardized testing, while well-intentioned, has done a lot to actually hurt the overall level of intelligence and education level of the nation's youth..

i might not have the best punctuation in the world, but i try to present my ideas in the most intellectual fashion i can. i actually learned MORE after i got out of school, than i did when i was in...i attribute that to my searching for knowledge, rather than answers for a test.

a lot of the really young people i encounter are really kinda dumb. they have issues with logic, and problem solving, and creativity....standardized testing has led to a minimum standard for education that is far behind that of other nations, so everyone gets the same bog standard crap, and they push them out of the system not knowing much....but goddamnit if they didn't pass that test..

of course, it's not ALL the educational system's fault...generally speaking, parents don't do right at home anymore either. they're too busy with work, and their own BS, to pay proper attention to their kids, so the kids are not properly motivated to achieve any more than they absolutely have to....then the parents let the schools, and the TV raise their kids, so they grow up believing that the government never lies, has their best interests in mind at all times, and the tv teaches them that all they need to be happy is lots of money, and fancy cars, and designer clothes, and that it's completely ok to be a self-absorbed douchbag, with no concern for his or her fellow man...

so now, 10+ years ago, this place was full of really smart people, who could DO research, and work things out in their head, and bring really intelligent, thought provoking things to the table, and now, there's still some of us(old timers) left, but the vast majority are these younger folk, who aren't none too bright...plus the infiltrators, shills, and blind ignoramuses i mentioned in my earlier post.

thinking about it, present-day ATS really is a pretty good demonstration of the deliberate dumbing down of america's youth through federal meddling in the educational system, and programming through reality television, and social media. ...and the death of the traditional family unit, and the moral and societal decay that comes with it.

that, and, this my opinion, it FEELS like the site owners and operators are less concerned with the original mission of this place, than they are with the money it generates for them. i understand it is their lifeline, their means of support, but things just ain't the same anymore..

Originally posted by seagull
reply to post by swan001

 

[...]but present it in such a way that people want to read it, and say "hmmm...this person might be on to something...", rather than "I don't want to read this hysterical nonsense...".

Hm, you're quite right.

Hope I've helped at least a little?

Yes, definitively. Thanks!!

reply to post by Losonczy


I have been a lurker since 9/11 just joined a little over a year ago. I too, have noticed a change, now I don't contribute as much as I did in the beginning of my joining. Sometimes though I'll do searches and don't always find a thread started, someone usually has beaten me to it.

Now that doesn't matter,maybe whoever finds the news first, might do a better job with getting the story noticed, so no hard feelings. but I just don't find the original thread, yet somewhere along the line its there. Still can't figure that out.

Originally posted by Losonczy
I've been on ATS for about 13 years. In the early days, ATS posters and lurkers were interested in the most popular conspiracies. Folks enjoyed the early promise of the Internet...a deep resource for researching, providing links and doing more research, connecting dots and pointing out holes in initial/original stories. Most people studied hypotheses, contributed ideas, and enjoyed the devil's advocate back and forth. People questioned the MSM and committed themselves to serious detective work.

Thirteen years later, the site feels much more divisive and divided into countries or cultural positions. There is a lot more America bashing it seems. There is a lot more ANAL application of site rules and procedure and more personal attacks. The trolls don't seem to be put at bay as quickly and a crazy number of threads on the same topic seem to proliferate.

What once felt like a community, seems more like a collection of lone wolf skeptics taking jabs at one another. I miss the feeling of "we're in this together trying to find out the truth." The site is still amazing and often the first place I turn rather than MSM, but does anyone else feel that the site has lost a feeling of brotherhood or comeraderie? Does anyone care?

edit on 19-4-2013 by Losonczy because: (no reason given)

Inno, in the last few years it seems like ATS has been hijacked by atheist's, homosexual's and leftist activists. Seems like most of the mods try to steer things into ways that are friendly towards those three groups. Combined with over bearing anti-americanism from non-americans.....

+ the typical ageist BS from older ATS members is pretty old. They repeat the same garbage that older generations since time began have made to make themselves feel better over their own personnel failure to salute in the morning.
Only difference is, in the older day's it would of been considered a) ignorant, b) rude and c) being a total jerk to say that to younger peoples face(plus most people are functional cowards). With the internet, all kinds of cowards get to act big as they denigrate America's youth to make themselves feel better. Coupled with political and social differences....

I think it is the nature of this age. I believe that the quote that fits this century is "The political is personnel and the personnel is political". What that means is, if someone is your political enemy they are also your personnel enemy; if someone is your personnel enemy, they are also your political enemy.

Originally posted by korathin
Inno, in the last few years it seems like ATS has been hijacked by atheist's, homosexual's and leftist activists. Seems like most of the mods try to steer things into ways that are friendly towards those three groups. Combined with over bearing anti-americanism from non-americans.....

You mean there are too many people with different opinions to you?

If you want only the neo-right wing view on things there are lot's of sites that cater to that. I heard storm front is a popular one.

From my perspective it's completely the opposite. This site has always had a majority right wing pro capitalist membership.