Decline in ATS forum discipline.

Of late, I've noticed that certain members habitually show up in a serious thread and make a short and silly post that contributes nothing to the subject being discussed. Im not talking about the occasional joke or lighthearted comment that some users throw in to their otherwise intelligent and elaborately crafted post (regardless of what side of the argument they are on) or even a humorous post that actually contributes to the subject being discussed.... rather I am talking about the one-liners that have been appearing on the boards of late. ___________________________________________________ I've been lurking on ATS since 2008. I finally decided to join ATS, because it simply came across as a ''classy'' forum. Thread participation was generally disciplined and the posts contained substance. But lately, it appears ATS has become an extension of certain members personal twitter accounts which might explain the decline in overall thread quality and discipline. What happened to the rule against ''drive by'' posts that contributed nothing to the thread topic? Why is it that some users are using cuss words, albeit censored with asterisks? Why are one line posts being tolerated? I could go on. That said, I kindly request moderators to look into this issue.

a reply to: sk0rpi0n

I'm guilty of this sometimes, and you have a very valid point.
Why can't I star your post?? :-|

originally posted by: OpenEars123
Why can't I star your post?? :-|

No stars in the 'board business' forum. It's the way it's set up.

And yeah, it is kinda funny when someone comes on and claims that they have been long time lurkers and just now signed in to specifically post in a thread, but then all they do is make a snide comment. I've noticed that these folks usually either get banned quickly or bored quickly and leave.

a reply to: FlyersFan

FF,

Youve been here for quite some time, longer that I have at least, and I've noticed a decline in just my 4 years. There trolling type of new members will always be a problem, but usually pretty easy to sniff out.

The thing that i have noticed though, is an overall lack of thread participation. New threads used to pop up all day long and have 10+ comments in the first 10 minutes. Now it seems threads are slower to pop up and slower to develop. PLus the quality of said comments has had a sharp decline. I attribute this to alot of cell phone users, commenting on the fly instead of desk jockeys like myself. Perhaps you have noticed the same trend in your time.

Also Let's go Flyguys tomorrow!

I find it also makes it extremely difficult to follow any sort of discussion in a thread, because the signal to noise ratio is so unfavourable. But I don't suppose there is anything that can be done about that on a forum that attracts such a large userbase.

a reply to: sk0rpi0n

ATS has turned into a more social site. The conspiracy and alternative topics have already been discussed for years and years and seem to have been saturated. I know I´m over it for the most part.

I know what´s up by now and I guess most others do too.

a reply to: sk0rpi0n

Around this time last year, ATS decided to be more relaxed about what we can post and how we post it. For example, with the massive growth in smartphones, posts get shorter so we we're less likely to remove the legendary one-liner as long as it's on-topic. Without that small change, we'd get a lot more visitors than posters and contributors.

Regarding the rise in f*** (f and asterisk or f and symbols) we see around the boards? That's part of ATS accepting that such language has become a cultural norm on the internet. That isn't to say that we can drop F-bombs in all our posts - members who do will have posts edited/removed and too many can cause a suspension of posting privileges. We're still a site that hosts a wide range of age-groups and some are too young for us to expose to bad language. Others are part of the older generation that doesn't want to see swearing on ATS. Speaking as a member, I don't want to see a lot of cussing on here either.

We still hold a higher standard than most internet forums and still remove random, off-topic comments. Likewise, we still stick to attack the ball, not the player and won't accept personal name-calling or insults directed at fellow members. It's important that members alert staff when they see a drive-by random post. Bear in mind, sometimes we don't action a post because we're also a community and that's built on friendliness between members and an element of chit-chat.

These changes have been in effect for around a year so it's not like they've been too dramatic. That's coming from someone who takes days and weeks to settle in to change.

a reply to: Kandinsky

I think you guys did a great job with loosening up a bit whilst still maintaining the standard of civilty and decorum.

a reply to: sk0rpi0n

I have noticed similar behaviour on threads of late as well sk0rpi0n, and such lack of decorum as this is tragic to see in the intellectual environment that the owners, moderators and members have crafted here over the years.

However, as always when such matters are bought to the fore, I have to remind you that all we can do as members, is abide by the T&C of the site, and make our own contributions as diligently and spectacularly as we can. In short, the only things we as members have power over, are our own contributions, so that is where we must focus our efforts. This will constantly remind those who simply do it wrong, that there are standards to adhere to, and will ensure that members who do want to participate properly, have something to get stuck into, other than poor posts, lacking all value and merit.

It would be nice to see some more... active moderation in some respects though, I must agree with you there. There are some threads on this website which cater for a slightly more casual use of ones membership, and I partake in one of those, to take advantage of the community aspect of membership of this site.
Within those threads, a certain amount of Tom foolery is expected and even welcome, although not to the point of out and out rudeness of course. But in the more technical and serious arenas which this website is known, and well regarded for, it is unseemly to see such behaviour go unanswered.

a reply to: TrueBrit

i disagree, to a degree..

as far as i know, there are no "black tie" sections of the site....

say we're having a discussion in a thread, and you're being a tosser, and i tell you to "go f**k off", the world's not gonna end..it doesn't somehow poison the whole site...it's simply an expression of frustration at elements of your conversational skill that are lacking.

i dunno man, some of the posts here seem like they were sponsored by the "ATS purity brigade"

a reply to: Daedalus

say we're having a discussion in a thread, and you're being a tosser, and i tell you to "go f**k off", the world's not gonna end..it doesn't somehow poison the whole site...it's simply an expression of frustration at elements of your conversational skill that are lacking.

If you described another member as a 'tosser,' the post would be actioned because it's ill-mannered and it attacks the player instead of the ball. If you told that member to 'go f*** off,' you'd be actioned too.

Frustration is only natural sometimes! It's how we respond to the frustrating posts that sets ATS above some other forums or the comment sections of You Tube. We all fall short of the standard sometimes, but that standard remains regardless of whether a member manages to deny what's often the blindingly obvious.

I appreciate the more casual manner of communication the site has allowed over the past year, because it's more realistic. In face to face communicating, not too many people speak with a stick up their backside perpetually, they utilize phrases and slang/swears to best get their point across. I do respect the more educated manner of speaking, but it lacks the emotional oomph necessary to get a point across sometimes. That's where things like a turn of phrase or the asterisked swears come in handy.

a reply to: Daedalus


Hey, in my daily life I swear like a trooper. I have no problem with curse words in general. But I appreciate the forum that this website provides to sharpen the mind, exercise my intellect and use the fuller breadth of my vocabulary. I also swore an oath. Ok, I clicked agree when I signed up, but to me there is no difference. I take my oaths seriously, no matter how they are made, and so when I read the section of the T&C of the site, and understood that there was to be no usage of foul language, and no rudeness or casual slang bandied about, I have upheld that to the best of my ability.

Do not misunderstand me, I am more than capable of dropping the f-bomb, indeed, I like to deliver that word, and others like it, with Shakespearian intensity and drama, since they have much greater impact when delivered thus. However, I swore that I would not use them in my communications with this site and it's esteemed membership, and I do not intend to start doing so now.

The other issue I have with use of poor manners and decorum on the site, is that the issues discussed here can sometimes be very important, not to mention divisive. If everything descends into rudeness before the conversation can begin to evolve intellectually, that will damage the quality of threads, forums, and the site in and of itself. I love this website, and I do not want to see it erode in such a fashion. That would be quite literally heartbreaking.

I am not saying that there are black tie areas in the site in which extra care ought to be taken when conversing with other members on a given topic, but what I am saying is, that some topics are clearly more specifically and seriously focused than others. Those threads which have to do with science, politics, current affairs like war, famine, disasters, and the like, should be treated with the seriousness and respect that they deserve. Surely you can understand that, being as you are, a reasonable sort of a chap?

a reply to: sk0rpi0n

I love this site. Have for years before I joined. Will continue to do so fir years to come... hopefully...

My main gripe, however, isn't with the shortwinded, one-liner replies or general off-topic tomfoolery at all but rather the grating fact that some topics simply cannot be discussed by educated adults without the thread being removed. I understand the reasoning, not the logic.

Kallisti

a reply to: sk0rpi0n

I have been experimenting with posting for a while on ATS. Now normally i like to post in the philosophical forums because thats the subject matter my mind is drawn too.

I wont write the full report for you but i will tell you that most of the membership here responds to emotional content vs the value of the subject matter with objectivity.

What the result of this means is people star and flag things that they are emotionally attached too which a lot of the time is quick witted small post that elicit a response while the valuable content often falls to the wayside.

This is a microcosm of what were dealing with in society.

There are thousands of new posts on ATS every day, and not so many mods. We can't action the posts we don't see, and we obviously don't read thousands of posts every day. More mods is not the solution, as there are other factors to consider, a balance to maintain, and security matters and so on. The solution is that you alert such posts, and then give us time to review and take action if necessary. If you see a certain bad post or posts, it doesn't mean that we allow it. Alert it! ;)

Most threads I have visited recently turned into sycophantic ego platforms for mods or 'popular' posters and members sucking up to them. Which is rather sickening to watch, added to that the further machismo misogyny of the creep guy leering from the side of the screen and ATS seems to have lost it's way recently.

I joined because of the apparent 'principles' of seeking the truth and threads being monitored ethically, which is far from the recent picture. A public forum for intelligent discussion about conspiracies and the like shouldn't be ran as an all too obvious power structure where people aren't allowed to talk about certain well known conspiracies, however ethical they are or having the right to criticise things they feel are against the general ethos of a site purporting to be something but that appears to be constructed more on a capitalist / nationalistic / 'my way or no way' style.

It appeared that it was mould breaking, forward thinking, progressive. I have found the rudeness especially from certain moderators (some are great) and certain egotistical 'popular' members disgraceful and a let down for the site. I guess once genuine members criticise certain 'popular' members or mods they are hounded on threads. Such egotism is the ruin of humanity.

The only way forward is the truth about everything and whilst those of an ego serving nature are playing pied piper to the sheeple they are being denied real knowledge, which is anathema to humanities development.

I think humanity has stooped to a new low when I read many threads on the site recently, whilst there are many nations that are forward thinking, there are those of such low brow egotistical natures still showing a backwards mentality.

The internet should be used for good, the whole 'lord of the flies' thing should be avoided.

I hope ATS becomes good again.

There's no decline. There have always been people like this and always will be. Their purpose in life is to set a bad example, so that you can learn from that and set a good one.

I'm always amazed that the same people who complain about ATS, are some of the most active members.

I'm even more puzzled by the fact that people think that the internet is some static place. That internet forums in general, or websites in general don't evolve over time.

Remember facebook 5 years ago? Same concept is true with ATS. We are an evolving online space. Constantly changing in order to maintain this place. Which does not come cheap mind you.

As or the decrease in moderation..

There's also been a decrease in ALERTS filed by members for T&C infractions. We are only as effective as you are vigilant in maintaining the standards that the community has set for itself.

ATS is not a strict as it once was. We cannot be, or else we would not survive. It's unfortunate, but in order to maintain ourselves within the online space, ATS has to evolve it's standards and sometimes that means tolerating things like one line responses.

You can thank Twitter for that one.

The T&C is enforced just as it always has, it has not been modified or made less important in the eyes of any staffer. Our 'House Rules' may have changed, depending on what was necessary.

You want more moderation? You feel that there are things that aren't being done proper?

File an alert. I can't promise we will agree, but I can promise we will investigate and come to a consensus. Considering we are all VERY different people, with VERY DIFFERENT beliefs ( ask any staffer and they'll you the same thing) it never hurts for us to investigate and discuss.

The Political Mudd Pitt was to throw all the partisan nonsense to one place, and so far, it's been so damn tame we wonder what's going on. Give them a place to throw mud and everything is there cleaning each other's shoes off.

~Tenth

a reply to: sk0rpi0n

Whew, Glad I don't have a twitter account !