Can we have ATS back, please?

a reply to: c2oden

From a conspiracy point of view, yes, but that's not what we're seeing. As a matter of fact, conspiracy "theorists" are widely abhorred in the political forums. The political forums have turned into a "Rah-rah-rah" partisan pissing contest. There's not much discussion about conspiracy there. Let's be frankly honest, ok?

Totally with you, OP. I've been a lurker/member since 2011, and miss the pre-politically obsessed side of ATS!

From a fellow Fortean!

originally posted by: Lagomorphe
a reply to: ForteanOrg

Long live the good old days...

Hear hear...

Warmest

Lags

it hasn't been "the good old days" since 2005. Trust me.

a reply to: ForteanOrg
Get a grip, you can't be serious. This is a money makin operation and PC rules supreme. If they revert back to the old ATS you may be able to offend someone or say something nasty and mean. Hell, you may even spring the truth on some totally unprepared twit that has a meltdown and has to retreat into its safe space to wet its pants. What would the advertisers think.

I used to come here a lot years ago and I wouldn't be here now had I not stumbled onto the link in my password vault. There was a time when it was actually fun to come here and participate then the PC crept in to protect income streams and you see what's left. I figure they've lost income every time they ratcheted down on what you could and couldn't say but you have to give them credit. They never backed down a centimeter, in fact they doubled down on the PC. These days unless you're a SJW with a vocabulary of under 100 words and they're all nice this is no place for you. When the mods started to crack down on everything including bad attitudes it was time to leave. At this very moment I'm getting a gouge for running an ad blocker.

My suggestion was to charge everybody $10 bucks a month and leave us alone. I suspect that they figured that most members who spent time on ATS weren't wealthy enough to fork out that kind of bling every month. So, the advertisers appeared and the market place of ideas went...ur... I'm not sure where it went but it ain't here . When it hit and hit hard it got to be a real challenge reading through a thread with, what looked like, every other comment removed by the mods. I grant you that in the very early days when mods were few and far between there were some very nasty spats between a few members and then, of course, they began to troll each other in every thread the enemy posted in so it got really stupid. They got a handle on that then went overboard the other direction.

I'd close my account but I'd have to shut down my ad blocker so I'm counting on one of you mods to flag me for immediate account termination. There's bound to be something in the Terms Of Service that covers rancor and sarcasm. Thanks. I still say you'd have made more money and we'd have more fun if you'd just charge everybody $10 bucks a month. Or would that be too simple? Oh well, goodbye cruel world.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

It's probably disheartening to see a thread that isn't Trumpular in nature to go swirling down, then off the main page.
The political echo chamber here is becoming the norm, sadly.
Same members, same threads, no creativity, just posting for reaction rather than conversation.

That, and the death of the art of respectful disagreement.

i am curious - when were :

the " good old days " of ATS

we had to endure 8 years of :

" obummer is a kenyan muslim who is going to take your guns "

and before that the anti bush lunatics

i somehow missed these " good times "

originally posted by: spacedoubt
It's probably disheartening to see a thread that isn't Trumpular in nature to go swirling down, then off the main page.

I certainly understand that, but I would ask at that point if the person in question is participating in said thread trying to generate conversation and if not, why?

The political echo chamber here is becoming the norm, sadly.
Same members, same threads, no creativity, just posting for reaction rather than conversation.

I have seen the political aspect obviously become more pronounced over the past 10 years, I would be curious to know what you feel is a possible solution to the problem.

originally posted by: spacedoubt
It's probably disheartening to see a thread that isn't Trumpular in nature to go swirling down, then off the main page.
The political echo chamber here is becoming the norm, sadly.
Same members, same threads, no creativity, just posting for reaction rather than conversation.

yep. most likely too late for a third tab for politics/religion. would be cool to see though, 7 guys dribbling at eachother for a few weeks till the owners saw what was happening and shut it down. or maybe it would become a thriving hub of intellectual discourse, the likes of which have never been seen b4. guess we'll never know

Absolutely, we'll be working on that in the 101-200 day period.



Buck

Ok so I'm a conspiracy theorist, but here is a fact for someone to research. I have lurked for a few years before I became a member. I have noticed something on this site and the few other sites I frequent. Ever since a particular site went bankrupt, other sites like ATS, have been "infected" it seems, with less savory type of posters. I'm not saying they all come from the same place but if you look at the timing and the tone of posts they do seem to match up. But like I said, I'm a conspiracy theorist. There are powerfully monied people out there that would love to disrupt the "status quo" and make places such as this "less effective". it's white noise...

I think the general materialistic, less creative, less spiritual, less scientific, less moral and ethical era were in is the reason for the ATS draw down in intelligence.


It will likely get worse

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: spacedoubt
It's probably disheartening to see a thread that isn't Trumpular in nature to go swirling down, then off the main page.

I certainly understand that, but I would ask at that point if the person in question is participating in said thread trying to generate conversation and if not, why?

The political echo chamber here is becoming the norm, sadly.
Same members, same threads, no creativity, just posting for reaction rather than conversation.

I have seen the political aspect obviously become more pronounced over the past 10 years, I would be curious to know what you feel is a possible solution to the problem.

Sorry for the late response!

On your first question, I think it's just a matter of diminishing returns. That people like to feel their voice is being heard, to the point where they don't need to give a thread multiple nudges to get a real discussion going. It can get to the point where you are bumping your own thread, just to get it seen for another few minutes.
All it takes is another thread of the kind that would ruin thanksgiving dinner. Another rubberneck train wreck of a thread.
The news companies know that those same kinds of stories go for the more primitive parts of our brains, we react.
Some of the thread titles are simply trollish, and the comments fly anyway.

On your second.
I could be just of matter of us not "digging in". Trying to think outside our own realm of experience, rather than typing out a parroting of whatever we saw on CNN, FOX, Facebook feeds, etc.. over the last hour. Some of it is news, Though some of it is ratcheted up simply to make it appear as news. We're not picky enough.

I'd love to see more members take on unfamiliar topics without fear of ridicule because they don't know everything yet.
To see other members help out in a learning process.

There's surely more....I'll revisit this topic later. I think it's important.

a reply to: ignorant_ape

I wonder that myself, at times.

Back in the day, the community was much, much smaller than it is now, and we all kinda knew what many of the others would post before they did sometimes... ...and we were much less, well, personal in our disagreements. Not always, but most times.

There's always been an undercurrent of politics here, how could there not be, we're, many of us, paranoid to a greater or lesser degree concerning govt behaviour/actions.

Good ol' days? Different days, maybe. I find I like this ATS better than the old one I joined. I don't know most of the posters opinions these days, that wasn't always the case in 2005-6 when I first joined and began actually posting.

a reply to: ForteanOrg

I was JUST saying this to myself while scrolling the main board. I don't get on here like I did when I joined but now that I can I don't want to. I am not into politics. I joined ATS for the reasons you said you were, Fortean? Well that I am one too! I use to spend all hours of the night deep in threads with links to things on aliens, ufos, underground bases, moon photos, mysterious structures, threads on ancient civilizations. I could go on! ATS use to allow you to HIDE forums on the recent posts page. I loved this feature because I hide all religion and political forums. I wanted to see the other stuff!! Now I feel like all I do is scroll and it's the same stuff. I don't recognize ATS anymore. I thought after the election it would stop, like many others, only it's not. It's far worse.

I have found ways to get around the politics by just going to the forums. I miss some of the older members who use to post but life happens and we all have other responsibilities. I know i haven't made a thread worthwhile in quite some time on here! I also feel that if I did it wouldn't even be noticed amongst all the political stuff on here.

I will say my latest find on here has given me hope for the old ATS! It is the thread on MKULTRA

I pretty much discovered MKULTRA via ATS. It was one of my favorite conspiracy discoveries!

a reply to: CmdrZero

Your first paragraph had me rolling

I have always said I would PAY to use ATS. I pay for another online forum and access to their Roku channel and it's totally worth. I'm poor as can but I allow myself a few things. I would add ATS to that if it were to go back to the old days. I've been here as a member since 2009 but was a lurker for years prior. Joining ATS changed my life in many ways and I made many long term amazing friends here. ATS even with how it is now will always hold a special place in my heart. It's where I fully woke up and learned a lot about myself.

I wanted to post my experience with the "skinwalker" and the secrets it told me but No one wants to hear that kind of stuff on ATS anymore.

It's all MAGA, MAGA, MAGA, believe me, There's also a negative side....

a reply to: olaru12

Dude i wanna read a thread about your skinwalker experience. Id rather enjoy it. Please share a lot of lurkers would welcome it.

a reply to: olaru12

Post your link at the Cafe! That's why it exists!!

ETA: Trump!!! Obama!!! Rand Paul!!! Wicked Witch of the White House!!! Acronym!! Left-Right-Alt-SJWANTStop!!!

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Weres the cafe?

a reply to: BASSPLYR

You know... Baddogma's thread? It hit maximum size so now there is another... slightly different name but same place.