If You Question an ATS Mod's Motive, Does Your Post Get Removed in ATS?

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Understanding that there are paid internet trolls in forums, I had a post today that was relevant to the thread and at the same time questioning one of the member's (let's call him "Mr.X" who happened to be a Mod too) what his motives were in defending a government system that was overreaching especially in the case discussed in the thread (and if he was paid). I had good reasons to be suspicious. One can't be too careful these days. It was a frank, honest question that would have given me a chance to evaluate how I should respond to Mr.X. A simple answer would have sufficed in order to set the premise for the discussion to continue.

That post was removed soon after for being "off topic", when it really wasn't. My spidey sense was probably right on target and he had to do something to maintain his "standing" in the forum ...perhaps by getting his Mod friend to remove my post (he had no access to remove posts in which he was also active). Has anyone experienced this? Is ATS not as free as we think it is? Is there any way ATS could prevent infiltration of questionable characters through the backdoor? Sometimes it is difficult to judge through past posts as we don't know if the member has been bought by and joined the dark side. Sad as it may be.

Gosh, let's hope this thread will stay. (fingers crossed)

Accusing anyone, especially a Mod of being a troll or paid is a no no. It doesn't belong here and mods are well vetted. The mods do the best they can at removing trolls or people suspected of being here to rabble rouse. Almost every time I've seen a member accused of being a shill, troll or what have you it's been someone that holds an unpopular opinion and it seems the accuser is incapable of accepting that someone disagrees with them.

Yes you were off topic. Yes your post should have been removed. Yes this thread will most likely be removed.

a reply to: Domo1

So they have been "vetted". How can anyone be so sure that they remain clean? We see how it happens in the real world.

removing this is imitating what the government is doing...with peaceful protesters. LOL
But of course, we can always complain elsewhere....

PS. it was not an accusation but a question in order for me to know how to respond to him in the future. And how can you be so sure it was off topic without even knowing what the post was????

a reply to: Kurius

Mods aren't just made mods willy nilly. They're observed as reasonable and solid contributors for a long time. I think that's better evidence than simply asking one point blank if they're a paid poster.

I have my suspicions about a few posters here, but none of the mods. Either way asking that question is sort of unreasonable and disrupts the conversation flow. No paid poster is going to admit to it, so it's essentially just being rude.

I just used willy nilly in a sentence. Feeling old.

a reply to: Domo1

Do you guys have a routine vetting of existing mods or do they get the title for life without further examinations?

Although I hope it doesn't happen, but what if someone pays a mod $1 million for his mod status? He could sell out, can't he?

originally posted by: Kurius
a reply to: Domo1

Do you guys have a routine vetting of existing mods or do they get the title for life without further examinations?

They're running a forum not providing childcare.

I mean really ?

a reply to: Domo1
I've had a few posts pulled. Only one that made me go, "Huh?" ... and that one was just a bunch of pics in the photo thread. I will say that the posts that got yanked were pulled by mods I have a great deal of respect for (which is tacit agreement that the mods are well vetted).

I was disappointed that the baiting going on in-thread was left to stand. If there's anything I have to say about the moderating done on this site ... a mod should Very strongly consider pulling any preceding snarky posts at the same time. When that doesn't happen ... it feels like sides are being taken ... and one might begin to consider the value of their membership on this site.

I've been here for years and years (almost from the beginning). I've seen some really good members 'disappear', seen some booted when they got too worked up to 'just let it go', seen some flat run off. Point being ... they were good members IMO, but we all are guests. I've let friends IRL slip away because it was the right thing to do.

Just sayin' ...

a reply to: Snarl

I'm not saying I am a valued member here, but yes, I will not hesitate to move elsewhere too if I know ATS has been compromised. To hear some mods being defensive and aggressive for being questioned is a good reason to be suspicious, I think.

a reply to: Kurius

Although I hope it doesn't happen, but what if someone pays a mod $1 million for his mod status? He could sell out, can't he?

Well yeah. But what would the point be in having a pocket mod? The only time I see posts yanked are when they violate the rules. You can have whatever opinion you want here.

It's not like other sites where a post will be banned if it doesn't use a certain source (and that source pays the mods to insure site traffic which translates into ad revenue). There are like 3 sites we can't post to because they are horrible and lack credibility. You can post the same story from any other site, doesn't matter if it's high profile or barely known as long as it cites sources.

a reply to: Kurius
As far as I know a mod participating in a thread can't mod that same thread. If your post was removed it had to have been done by another mod.

I also remember reading about group discussions taking place but don't know if that is for more severe things like erasing a thread and banning someone.

a reply to: Snarl

I was disappointed that the baiting going on in-thread was left to stand. If there's anything I have to say about the moderating done on this site ... a mod should Very strongly consider pulling any preceding snarky posts at the same time. When that doesn't happen ... it feels like sides are being taken ... and one might begin to consider the value of their membership on this site.

I don't know the exact situation you are referring to, but I've seen this happen a number of times and I think I know why it does. The mods don't just sit in one thread waiting to police it. So if they pull one snarky post, then go to another thread and don't come back it's easy for it to look like the mod was taking sides when in reality they just haven't been alerted that the actionable behavior has continued.

a reply to: Kurius

I think you've got the right mindset. Trying to estimate your own value is a huge personal mistake. Other people are going to do that, and you and I just don't have a say-so in the matter.

OTOH, I am in 100% agreement with Domo. The mods are good peeps. Are we going to give them the benefit of the doubt ... that maybe they had a bad day ... or maybe their judgement on an issue was a little less than sound on one occasion?

We're anonymous on a conspiracy website. How serious do we need to make it?

I kind of thought a Mod's motive was to enforce the rules of the site. Sometimes that requires an interpretation of what is being implied in a thread.

originally posted by: Kurius
is their any way ATS could prevent infiltration of questionable characters through the backdoor

One way they do it is remove and tag posts as "off topic"!

a reply to: Snarl

We're anonymous on a conspiracy website. How serious do we need to make it?

Exactly. People take posting way too seriously sometimes. Having a post actioned isn't personal.

One sure fire way of finding out if someone is being paid ( is a viral marketer of ideas ). Is read all their posts.

Marketers and paid trolls change their mind like their underpants. They have zero conviction and never keep it up.


True passion is OCD persistent.

Since it is really not a question you will receive an "honest" answer too especially if (and its a big if) someone is a paid troll, it is an off topic post and should be removed. Moderators are here as volunteers and attempt to keep threads from going down hill fast which many do because people make accusations simply based on the fact that someone Else's opinion is different from your own. Not everyone agrees with us and it is something we all need to learn and remember, even when it is as clear as blue to us we are right.

originally posted by: thedeadtruth
One sure fire way of finding out if someone is being paid ( is a viral marketer of ideas ). Is read all their posts.

It is exactly the reason I had my suspicion. Mr.X gave me a link to one of his old threads (I was never interested to check anyone's background and history; what the individual posts now is more important IMO). Frankly, I couldn't see how they can be written by one person with the same value. I can understand people change position all the time, but really (it's almost polar opposite)? He was rather defensive when his position was questioned to the extent of thinking that it was personal (an attack).

No, I'm not taking this personally at all. Too old. Of course, I should be extra careful if I have good reasons/suspicion to believe the backdoor (through Mod status) has been jimmied in. Really, what preventative measures are in place in ATS as far as checking that the same mod appointed is the same one now or he is not bought out? Not suggesting a child care operation or anything, but the credibility of the entire site on the line. Surely some internal evaluation/auditing system should be in place, if not already?

I'm sure the Mods have been doing a good job, but think what one (or few) bad apples could do to the credibility of the entire site. Anyway, good luck. Again, I'm only asking questions. Please feel free to delete the entire post if any Mod takes this personally and feels threatened in any way. LOL. They shouldn't.

a reply to: Kurius

Piece of advice dont ever accuse people of being paid the reality is probably no one would ever get paid to post on ATS. Now they can have motives everyone does they may work for a healthcare company and your discussing that issue. That could make them seem incredibly passionate about it. The thing is the minute accusations start flying well for me any way i delete that thread i dont want to read two people bickering back and forth. Im interested in what people think and in certain cases maybe with some luck get them to understand my view.

Now one of the big problems ive noticed in the past year is ATS pops up alot on google searches so realize you willhave people pop inwho are passionate about that one thing. And they dont realize this is a conspiracy sight and everone here is paranoid about one thing or another lol.

a reply to: DJMSN

It wasn't off topic, because it was a follow up to the topic, but I did ask if he would tell me if he was paid, so I would know how to continue the discussion if that was indeed the case. I also did highlight I wouldn't probe further on this. I wasn't being rude, but I thought I should see how MrX would respond to draw my own conclusion (of course, I wouldn't expect an honest response from him). Having the entire post removed raised a red flag, of course.