Does ATS's "front page algorithm" favor sensationalism? The End of ATS Is Nigh!!

For some time now ATS has become less and less attractive for me because the majority of topics on the front page have absolutely nothing to do with "Above Top Secret". Most of them deal with the most recent catastrophes and crimes or US domestic politics (typically narrow-minded Repugnants vs. Democrits hating). If I were interested in this stuff I could go to any mainstream news outlet.

Recently I made this thread:

New documentary coming for one of the best UFO cases: Zimbabwe Ariel School

Although nothing sensational, it surprisingly gathered 31 flags until today and some very interesting replies.

About the last thimg I am after in life is limelight and fame. But I found it strange that my thread did not appear on the "front page" while other threads with very mundane subjects and less flags did.

So I wrote a complaint to the moderators and got this reply:

"The Homepage shows the most flagged threads of the last 24 hours."

OK, that explains it. My thread is like a good wine that takes time to ripen and therefore it cannot compete with the fast hitting crack drugs on the ATS market :-)
But, seriously: Does it really make sense to favor threads that get many flags in a short time over those that have even more flags but take some time to gather them? This sounds like sensationalism to me. A subject that runs a bit deeper might take time for people to read, think and maybe even do some research.
And, thinking of it, knowing this algorithm also opens the door to manipulating ATS. All you need is about 20 members that make a coordinated "flagging effort" for a thread. (Hah, now I made this thread into a conspiracy thread!)

Or what do you think? Would you not prefer to see a thread about an interesting UFO case on the front page instead of beauties like these?

Hillary Clinton: I Wanted to Make Voodoo Dolls of Reporters, Lawmakers and Stick Them with Pins

ESPN host goes on wild racist twitter rant

(I apologize to the authors of these two threads, they are just random examples. There are forums for these kinds of subjects on this website, so of course it is fine to create these threads. But you have to understand that they are not very interesting for people who do not live in the USA and come to ATS because "Above Top Secret" implies mystery, conspiracy and the unknown.)

If you don't believe that ATS has become less attractive over time have a look at its Alexa ranking (a measure for website popularity). I am seeing a clear downtrend here: ATS Alexa ranking

originally posted by: SacredLore

If you don't believe that ATS has become less attractive over time have a look at its Alexa ranking (a measure for website popularity). I am seeing a clear downtrend here: ATS Alexa ranking

That's a bit misleading as it peaked at a very crucial point in the previous year, the election. Once that occurred traffic would expectedly slow down.

I do like the search phrases that sent people here: #5 '2 divided by 3'.

a reply to: SacredLore

You got an explanation why the front page has what threads it does. Most flagged threads in 24 hours.

As for traffic? It goes up and down depending on what's happening. Last year it went up because of the US election. If something major happened, it will shoot up again.

Hardly surprising.

Fortunately ATS doesn't take hostages and your free to leave at any time if not happy.

a reply to: SacredLore

Hey let's complain our threads don't make front page and blame the site for it!! "Welp the last thing I want is attention for my humble self."

Jesus son, your posting a thread ABOUT your thread ffs. It doesn't get more flag ho than this.

a reply to: SacredLore

Ats is more a news outlet these days with political posts taking front and centre stage. It is no longer the place it used to be, even searching for ats on google you can see it's popularity sliding, used to be visible from maybe the first three search results, now sometimes it's on page 2.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
That's a bit misleading as it peaked at a very crucial point in the previous year, the election. Once that occurred traffic would expectedly slow down.

Thanks for pointing this out. I was looking for a longer history but could not find one.

I do like the search phrases that sent people here: #5 '2 divided by 3'.

Sorry, I don't get this. Can you elaborate?

a reply to: SacredLore


Scroll down on the Alexa site.

a reply to: TDawg61

Indeed. I have stopped reading the ATS homepage regularly. These days I mostly just go to the UFO forum and select "new".

a reply to: SilverOwls

I am complaining about the algorithm that decides what goes on the front page. Fast flags vs. total amount of flags. Seems wrong to me, yes.

a reply to: SacredLore

If at first you don't succeed, try try again..

To be fair, there are a lot of other threads that took much more effort than yours that didn't make the front page.

Yeah, the election happened, which caused antifa and neo nazis to start fighting everywhere and everyone's watching wherever they can. It's not going to end soon. Personally, I miss threads like this one:

Control System

originally posted by: TheMadTitan
a reply to: SacredLore

Ats is more a news outlet these days with political posts taking front and centre stage. It is no longer the place it used to be, even searching for ats on google you can see it's popularity sliding, used to be visible from maybe the first three search results, now sometimes it's on page 2.

^^^^ THIS ^^^

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Sorry, still can't find the long-term Alexa statistics of ATS. Do I need to be registered on Alexa to see them?

Anyway, if ATS really shows an UP-trend over the past 10 years then they are on the right track, at least money-wise. Does not change the fact, however, that for me personally the website has become less attractive.

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

I absolutely agree that my thread about the upcoming Ariel school documentary is nothing special (the Ariel school case is interesting, though, and has been covered in other and better threads before). But this thread here is absolutely not about my specific thread. It is about why threads with less flags are rubbed into everybody's face.

And yes, I am upset. Because I keep imagining how many interesting threads I missed due to this inadequate algorithm.

originally posted by: 4003fireglo
Yeah, the election happened, which caused antifa and neo nazis to start fighting everywhere and everyone's watching wherever they can. It's not going to end soon. Personally, I miss threads like this one:

Control System

THAT's the ATS I love!!!

a reply to: SacredLore


I've been thinking the same myself. Unfortunately not just that but the ridiculous avatar rules and losing free speech because some people are offended by certain beliefs and words as well. . I'm not surprised we're going down in ratings. Been a member here since 2008 and it used to be an amazing site. Now it's more about p.c.ness and b.s.

originally posted by: SacredLore
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Sorry, still can't find the long-term Alexa statistics of ATS. Do I need to be registered on Alexa to see them?

You asked me about the search phrase that I quoted. It's further down the page.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: SacredLore
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Sorry, still can't find the long-term Alexa statistics of ATS. Do I need to be registered on Alexa to see them?

You asked me about the search phrase that I quoted. It's further down the page.

LOL, sorry, now I got it

"ford logo" as the prime reason to come to ATS is also interesting.
Maybe I should question Alexa's or Google's algorithms, too :-)

How about those threads you make that you regret, in retrospect?

By "you" I really mean me.

I think I have maybe three threads I don't think are #.

The rest are just stains on the board I suppose... Sorry folks.