ATS Has a Sycophant Problem

reply to post by Leonidas

I know that someone else being an jerk is not a pass for me to do the same because I didn't start it. There is no "Stand your ground" in ATS.

People standing their ground is one of the biggest problems here, when they are confronted and proved wrong instead of accepting their mistake most just double down and try to spin and rationalize their stance to just keep the "i am right" speech. For example OP complains about flattering, he flatter someone and when confronted he just spin saying i was just "diggin it" because other people use to flatter him the same way.

Anyways regarding if its full of Sycophants or not i think ATS handles highly polarizing topics that force a sort of gang mentality where middle grounded viewpoints are not valid and they tend to agglomerate to more extreme viewpoints (You are right or you are wrong), this is the real thing happening here, for me to be full of Sycophants would required the flattered person to change his viewpoints continuously and the followers to do the same on the same subject, in here there are just for example "that's a rock" groups that agglomerate towards their leaders and "its a fossil" that does the same towards their most notorious speakers, they don't change sizes so they are really not defending a leader or something they are just defending the person that stands by their side (same with any polarizing topic here).

that's what i see here, i could be wrong but on a personal note op i would just said to my comment hey you are right in some way i flattered him. To err is human, but only fools persist in error

"'Sycophant"

We don't need fancy words around here.

In my day we just called 'em Ass Kissers...

Peace

crazyewok
reply to post by daaskapital

 

Agree.

There are certain members. They can post complete crap or barely anything at all and they get 1 million+ stars.

I also see mod bias too. They can be rude and scathing but dare do anything back and you get T&C infraction. Not all mods mind you, but certain ones.

I would give you a 100 stars for this post alone.

You nailed it so well, that nothing else needs to be added.

To OP - You aren't the only one to see it as this thread shows. It is frustrating to watch at times and so sad it's funny at other times. I always imagine these same folks were teacher's pets as well. Some just never grew out of it.

reply to post by Indigent


I agree.

There is an active thread right now that is suffering from this very thing.

An active member made a claim and posted a link to support it but when the other people in the discussion read the link, it clearly supported the opposite position the poster claimed. Black and white.

Simply put, they were "busted in a lie".

Rather stand corrected by his own source, or find a different source to support his original point, he spent page after page defending why he didn't lie. Granted it took other people repeatedly pointing out to him that his link did not contain what he said it did.

The result was that most people left the discussion and it became an aggressive train-wreck until the mods had to shut it down.

It devolved into an ad hominen mess.

A situation that could have been instantly defused by "oops, my bad" instead was hijacked by one guys ego.

daaskapital

vkey08

daaskapital

JohnTheSmith
reply to post by daaskapital

 

Yes, there appears to be cronies. But I'll be honest, Sometimes I myself need to take a step back and realize that sometimes my replies are inherently biased.
And of course there are members I like more than others. But it's interesting, as the ones I argue with are the ones I respect the most, otherwise I'd ignore them.
I've read your comments for quite awhile, Daas, and I appreciate you. I may feel slightly more inclined to see things your way than someone I don't necessarily like. I think it boils down to simple human nature, honestly. Anyways, cheers.

I agree.

I agree that we all have inherently biased opinions, and what you say about getting along with some more than others is especially true. It is a social site after all.

I think it just gets to a point where people should stop and think what it is they are just about to do, before going along and acting in accordance with what they believe in/who they agree with.

Thanks for the kind words. I extend the same to you.

Daas.

YET ANOTHER good topic for debate Daas....... I think that you're two for two now..

Which brings up the question, where were all these great ideas a year or so ago

Thanks.

I would love to get back into the debating stuff again...would be great fun.

Maybe we could have a crack at it sometime? I just got increasingly busy, and well...less active, lol.

Still have some loose ends to tie up.

I would definitely debate this topic with you, just let me know when you're ready

A club-within-a-club is not a solution, but it is tempting to think of a "gated" part of the board where only people willing to genuinely debate and learn are allowed in.

Every opinion, the more opinions the better. All points of view. The one caveat is that you can't be a jack-ass....lol

Pardon me, thinking out loud.

beezzer
reply to post by daaskapital

 

There used to be a message on the reply portion of this site that used to say something along the lines of, "You are an experienced member, keep that in mind when posting."

I'm glad I never saw that. I like being a -little- irresponsible here. This is the only place I get to do it.

Sycophants disgust me!




Go against the majority!!!

Sublimecraft
reply to post by daaskapital

 

A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people

Interesting....engaging in online "designer" communications with the intention of gaining favouritism / friendship / sway /encourage particular opinion.

So, like a keyboard groupie..........or a presidential candidate.

or me attempting to talk my way out of a speeding fine.

Yes, very interesting, but I wonder which members deliberately 'design' their communications for favour and/or manipulation of others, and which others require favour from others, for whatever reasons, at the sacrifice of being true to themselves.

In any event, I have found that it depends on what type of discussion one enters, because religion, personal relationships, and politics seem to bring out the most positive and negative emotions in us all, because these have shaped our core values and beliefs and we do 'stand our ground' to protect those paradigms. Therefore, you will see highly emotional people gang together to attack the opposition, which more times that not, turns into name calling, belittling, and insults due to, in my opinion, lack of governance over their emotions/passions. I have now learned to back off when I believe the discussion is veering off in this direction, because as someone stated earlier, the debate is over.

reply to post by daaskapital


Don't worry, there are PLENTY of us contrarians to balance things out...
yin and yang...

yin. and. yang.









*notice I did NOT give a reason for my edit
OHHHHH SNAP!
What now?

reply to post by daaskapital



Totally agree... It's actually embarrassing and I'm glad people have noticed.
The ego of some members and the cult of celebrity we have on here is lame.
But yes you're right.... the 'yes men' and people who just post "yeah, right on" and "you're on a roll now man" is just stupid.
Either have your own opinion or shut up

crazyewok
reply to post by daaskapital

 

Agree.

There are certain members. They can post complete crap or barely anything at all and they get 1 million+ stars.

I also see mod bias too. They can be rude and scathing but dare do anything back and you get T&C infraction. Not all mods mind you, but certain ones.

The stars got screwed up when they changed the forum and they never fixed it. Because if you were to figure out the star to post ratio it just doesn't work out.

reply to post by buster2010

I think it may have something to do with how you wound up with five stars for your post ... and yet no one who applied those stars had anything else to say on the topic. The 'glitch' is painfully obvious (and getting worse every day) ... but it seems to be a deflection considering the topic of the thread. I admit I was disappointed to see you (and other respected members of this site) pushed right out of the top 500 ... when you've obviously earned a position there.

I guess there are some who are quite happy to let you do their talking for them. I've got nothing to say on the subject either way, except that you do present the opposing viewpoint very well. Having taken that stance myself , I have to say you fare much better in contrast.

Meh.. never have liked arse kissers whether real world or online .. never was a follower either.
Call things the way I see them not my concern if people like it .. and at 71 am not about to change just to humour the kiddies..

No matter where one goes there will always be arse kissers its human nature.

reply to post by Snarl


Cliff's Note's version: you're angry he got 5 stars for a post and that others didn't see your genius.

In some respects ATS is a fickle place. I, too, have noticed that sometimes people get a zillion stars for what I consider a minimal post, not even one that has a double entendre or joke attached, but on the other hand the star system is so screwed up here (technically, I mean) that it has lost most of its meaning anyway, so they're not a reliable indicator of anything. A gold border is usually a measure of longevity.

And I've also put my heart, soul, energy, and research into a post on subject X only to have to completely ignored. Sometimes a thread simply doesn't get on fire like you'd think it would. What REALLY sucks, though, is people who complain that a post is "too long." What is this, Sesame Street? People seem to want short, quick posts so they can move on to the next short, quick post. That's frustrating in the sense that people don't seem willing to really study an issue.

And you've got to accept the fact that ATS TENDS to be left of center, more socialist than capitalist, anti-corporate, anti-government, anti-American, credulous, more often than not believers of chemtrails and reptilians, believers in pretty much any crazy, hare-brained theory that comes along, and people who actually believe Jesse Ventura would make a good president. In other words, a place too often devoid of logic, common sense or facts. But it goes with the territory. If you don't like it, leave. You must be getting something out of it or you wouldn't stay here. Now we'll get some bright, perceptive soul to proclaim, "But YOU'RE here, too!" at which point I will say, "I rest my case."

But sycophants? Sounds like someone needs more attention than he's getting. IMO a well-written post backed by solid research will, on average over time, do well. I'm much more willing to listen to what Isaac Koi has to say about UFOs than Roxanne, who sees UFOs in car headlights on the hill opposite her apartment. So if Roxanne calls me a sycophant because I agree with Isaac, so be it. I'm not particularly interested in Roxanne's opinion of me anyway. Opinions like that are dismissible.

daaskapital

A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.

I'm not seeing it.
The only 'influential people' here would be the administration and moderators.
I don't see folks flattering them to 'win favor'. What kind of favors?
It's not like the moderators or administration hand out gov't contracts or something.
And the mods don't personally get involved in many discussions.
When they do, I see members tackling them or complimenting them just as much as each other.
I could be missing something but .. I"m not seeing it.


Oh .. and the star/karma system is hopelessly broken and useless.
If people getting stars annoys you .. ignore it. They mean nothing now.

reply to post by schuyler

People seem to want short, quick posts so they can move on to the next short, quick post. That's frustrating in the sense that people don't seem willing to really study an issue.

That is the new short attention spanned generation,

Its impossible to fix the instant gratification crowd.

And you've got to accept the fact that ATS TENDS to be left of center, more socialist than capitalist, anti-corporate, anti-government, anti-American, credulous, more often than not believers of chemtrails and reptilians,

I see ATS TENDS to the right of center. Pro-guns, Anti-Vaccine, Anti-Healthcare,..etc.. tho i agree that the lurkers might be a 50%/50% divide, the actual posters on ATS tend to be right side.

I will quit this website if i don't see at least 5 anti-left posts per day. Which is impossible.

But sycophants? Sounds like someone needs more attention than he's getting. IMO a well-written post backed by solid research will, on average over time, do well. I'm much more willing to listen to what Isaac Koi has to say about UFOs than Roxanne, who sees UFOs in car headlights on the hill opposite her apartment

This is not about starring a well thought out post or thread, its starring for the sake that the person is a influential member and made drive-by response.

eh, I see what I call "fanboyism" now and then with some posters on ATS. I perceive it differently and actually feel a little sorry for the recipient, depending on how it's doled out. If I had some stranger following me around on this board singing my praises, it'd creep me out completely. As far as those would-be sycophants go, I just ponder if they realize how dumb and kind of creepy they seem.

I tend to get the opposite. I've had a few posters let loose on me on threads as if I'm somehow their arch enemy, which is funny because it always catches me a little off guard. I don't mind rubbing people wrong though because, honestly, if they are getting upset when I'm just trying to present a logical argument without resorting to fallacies or outright ad hominems, then I'm doing a good job. If I had the opposite going on, I'd be scared, lol.

WhiteAlice
I tend to get the opposite. I've had a few posters let loose on me on threads as if I'm somehow their arch enemy, which is funny because it always catches me a little off guard.

I'm going to go ahead and call you a liar right now. I've seen you on the recent AGW threads. You're full of it.