A new Idea for a New ATS.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


You may be trying to reinvent the wheel on this one.



But that's not a bad thing. It only means you're think'in.

reply to post by randyvs


I love that song!

you get a star just for posting it (or you would if i could)

I might be trying to round the wheel a little more rather than be totally reinventing it though

It would be nice to see this idea come be incorporated into every day ATS though.

who knows if enough members agree with me on it, it might just happen, if not well, i can live with that.

I completely understand why you think this might be a grand idea, in theory it is.
But from my stand point, it wouldn't fly.
First off, IMHO, ATS has become more like Facebook simply because SOCIETY has become more like Facebook, sadly. We respond with one liners because Twitter has taught us to do so.
We have become too busy texting multiple online/offline friends and keeping up our social lives Kardashian style that who has time to research anything conspiracy related? Not to mention, here's the kicker, finding a topic that hasn't already been researched and revisted to death. Not all of us have the time nor energy to look for that, although I wish it was true. There was a time when the boards were flooded with new topics, now not so much.
My other issue with your idea, is the grouping of all those "Mega-Threads" into one forum. I don't like aliens mixed with Illuminatti,and served up with Ancient Cultures.
If anything, I would love to see some of the bigger threads with a special sticky icon bumped to the top of each forum they represent for say...30 days or so. That's about as long as that topic would generate discussion anyways. I have no idea how much of a pain it would be for SO to achieve that but it could be a compromising idea.
Kudos to you though for looking for ways to improve the site though and our experience here.

littled16
reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin

 

.....or they can just go back to the way they used to do things, meaning when someone makes an OP that is 2 lines with a Youtube video and that is all IT GETS REMOVED for lack of content!

Agree, no need to change anything I think the mods just need more help. I also think you discount the fact that ATS has changed. There is a place for everyone. To exclude defeats the whole purpose does it not.

I think the mods do good work, and maybe it is time to promote some users and give them little more help is all, I think there should be room for all. I have seen some threads more thought provoking in one sentence than ones as you describe. It is all a matter of prospective.

I say trust the mods and owner and open your mind, there is room for all, otherwise we would all just be republicans lol.

The Bot

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


Well I do like what you got go'in on here, so I agree with you.
Given a little more time for ATS to fit the new skin.
Timing is everything.

Second
Third
The Motion.

Totally agree with this great idea.

Let It Be!

reply to post by edmc^2


Thanks for the support dude!

At the moment ATS is like every single newspaper column bundled together randomly. Flags will give a "democratic" indication of the popularity of a thread and you can filter threads this way. But this is still a bit unsatisfactory as you rightly point out. Sometimes giving too much information inhibits further debate Good threads simply slip away under the avalanche of other threads that polarise opinion and yet get lots of posts because they are controversial.

So I am totally behind your motivations for this. Long before I joined ATS I used to really enjoy the well written, illustrated threads with references to jump off for further information if needed. It is noticeable that these threads are now few and far between. In fact it is one of the reasons I joined ATS. I thought I could make a tiny bit of difference by having a go myself at writing a decent thread or two and perhaps others would follow doing so. Maybe I succeeded to some extent? I dare say most of us only read a small amount of threads and remain oblivious to most of what is posted. That's the main reason why some way of highlighting these threads would be a good idea.

However there are a myriad of problems to overcome. Firstly what makes up a "mega-post" is entirely subjective. It's a bit like trying to highlight the best music out there. It's highly doubtful you could find two people on ATS who could agree on their top 20 posts never mind 50 or more. So how do we decide what becomes a "mega-thread"?

As AccessDenied points out, with so many members and a decade worth of input there aren't too many topics that haven't already been done. Perhaps this fuels a perception that standards are slipping. 10 years ago when the site was in it's infancy it was a fertile ground for new threads because there was plenty of past topics to put out there from the past as well as the present. Now it's a lot harder to find something unique and interesting to post about.

Alongside that is reluctance to post in older threads alongside those who are only too eager to kill a thread on a topic that's been done before because "...there's already a thread on it". Even if the topic is an interesting one threads tend to be most active in the first few days after their conception. So trying to kick start an old debate often fails (there are of course exceptions). As ATS matures as a site then this will probably continue and the wheat will become harder to find amongst the growing chaff.

New handheld technology has also had an impact as already said. People are moving away from a desktop or even laptop PC and smartphones and pads are designed for consuming media rather than creating it.

That's where the issues lie with quality threads as I see it.

But what the hell is the answer?

Do we have an ATS awards for top writing? A lost gems section? A "super flag" that you are allowed to use once per month for your favourite thread?

Or perhaps there should simply be a Favourite Threads forum where anyone can post a link and their thoughts on why they enjoyed a thread (the only rule would be you can't add your own threads).

I'm not sure. Because at the end of the day this all comes down to personal opinions. And as we know they are like a**holes, everyone has one, some people's stink.

MM

reply to post by mirageman

However there are a myriad of problems to overcome. Firstly what makes up a "mega-post" is entirely subjective. It's a bit like trying to highlight the best music out there. It's highly doubtful you could find two people on ATS who could agree on their top 20 posts never mind 50 or more. So how do we decide what becomes a "mega-thread"?

A "mega-thread" is a thread that keeps going and going, on the strength of the posters who posted in it.

For example, you could start on page anywhere of this thread Young Aussie genius whipping NASA in Moon Hoax Debate! with 672 pages in that thread, and I truly believe that you could learn something new and interesting if you simply read 50-100 pages of it. The competing, vigorous discussions, amongst a dozen or more ATS members, is the nuts & bolts of a "mega-thread".

I don't believe that a "mega-thread" needs to have a final conclusion of "WHO WINS?" that's not the idea. The idea is to keep good posters interested in the game called "Deny Ignorance".

Here, start at page 300 and read about 25 pages. I know you won't be disappointed.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Well, those are just my thought after having been a participant in a "mega-thread' thread I can honestly say that I learned more in that thread about Apollo and NASA and space history than I would have if I had attended the most expensive universities in the world.

reply to post by SayonaraJupiter


I think you may have misinterpreted what I was saying.

I am referring to "mega-threads/posts" in the sense of the original post by OtherSideoftheCoin.....

These are threads high on content but mainly ignored for various reasons.

By quality I mean those “Mega-Threads” the ones were a member has spent months researching the topic, where the reader is met with multiple sources, pictures, videos and solid analysis from a author who knows his stuff to present a original and in depth thread. These kind of threads are becoming rarer to find and I think I know the root of the problem and how to fix it

Whilst the thread you highlight was indeed "mega" , we are debating how quality posts with little interaction can be given more exposure.

mirageman
reply to post by SayonaraJupiter

 

I think you may have misinterpreted what I was saying.

Firstly what makes up a "mega-post" is entirely subjective.

I am trying to agree with you!

Going back to the OP:

OP: All three of these mean that combined the “Mega-Thread” will just become relegated to the deep dark hole that is “page three, recent posts” with about 15 flags and a handful of “wow grate thread dude” replies.

Well. Is this thread an attempt to make a "Mega-thread" out of a mole-hill?

Research threads suffer when we sit here and discuss ourselves discussing about ourselves?

we are debating how quality posts with little interaction can be given more exposure.

Well, again, why discuss it when you can start your own subjective version of a "Mega-Thread"?

The Skunk Works and Research Forums are there... any one can do it.

reply to post by SayonaraJupiter


In that case I guess it was me misinterpreting what you were saying.

*Bump* for more thread attention on this.

It would be good to get a final determination on this request from the owners/admins.

There are some really great mega-threads out there and without trawling every forum some are for all practical purposes impossible to find. We can use the search but if we don't know what the topic is or that we are even interested in it we'll never find it.

As example and this isn't a "deep subject" thread by any means the new mega thread on "T&C pictures" is quite hilarious. I always go to it when it pops up on the recent page but honestly don't even remember what forum it's in.

If there was a location for these type threads it would allow everyone to simply look to one particular forum. Especially when they want to try to learn something new. Looking through a single location containing completely diverse threads that have only one thing in common, they're mega, might also get folks interested in other areas of ATS.

reply to post by mirageman


Thank you so much for posting you are a member who i have a lot of respect for and you write many of these "Mega-Threads" that I am talking about

you are correct about the problems that we face, I think we need a solution, what i have proposed is just one such solution, perhaps like you suggested a "super-flag" could be a alternative idea.