reply to post by Evasius
True, but the majority of all those "top threads of the last 90 plus days" that have 2,3,4, or even 500 flags are EXACTLY the ones others and myself
feel NOT worthy of being a "hall of fame thread" as most (not all, but most) are just real provocative, speculative (very speculative), or
political.
To be frank, the best and most professional threads I have seen (and discussed with many others) fall within the 50-150 flag category. We must
remember that while flags are important and do give a
rough, but somewhat biased break down of important topics, members here, just like
anywhere else will tend to support the more entertaining, dooms saying, fear mongering, political, some "proof" of a UFO on video (when it is
NOT).
ATS members (like mainstream as a whole) tend to want the "blockbuster" type of threads, which almost always have no real substance to them and are
simply entertaining or a "phase". While the REAL and LEGIT threads with a lot of research and scientific data and lay out get over looked but by the
few (compared to the totality of ATS members) who really are here for more than "lunatic fringe" entertainment.
So NO, the "top threads of the past months" is NOT a good tool and is extremely flawed IMHO, and the book of threads has not been updated in ages
and still suffers somewhat the same issues seen with the aforementioned top threads. In my opinion a thread with 500 flags with nothing but a youtube
embed and one sentence about something provocative IS NOT CLOSE to being worthy of any hall of fame.
Any type of hall of fame (which for obvious reasons I doubt would ever be implemented) should be based upon a ratio of relevance, applause(which are
what REALLY dictate a "real thread" from a "counterfeit thread" [which I can not STABD by the way], presentation, research, it's actual effect on
the real world, and if it has a decent chance of being true, rather than lunatic speculation.) Replies mean NOTHING, and should not count, or if they
do not much. I have seen threads with over 70 flags, plus 50 stars but only 2 pages of replies, all of which being "thank yous". THOSE are the
perfect threads because all bases are covered, everything is in a neutral presentation, and not made in a troll-like manner or just to "start
a ATS uproar."
Basically many of the threads that some would consider "hall of fame" material because they have 500 flags, 1,000 replies and the topic matter is
VERY provocative ARE NOT the type of things a hall of fame is for. Those are for "Netflix" (using an analogy here
). The hall of fame threads
should be the real threads that really helped ATS become more legit, that took the author a while to make and is presented in a scientific manner.
Because many want
entertainment over quality there is no good way to judge the top threads over the last few years.
[color=lightblue]
Most top threads of the last months = Hollywood
All the top threads that are more important(as a whole to ATS and general USEFUL knowledge) but get overshadowed by the movie-like, entertainment
aspect= Documentary
-Now which one would most choose?
Maybe something can be worked out on day, as a type of
total ATS hall of fame directory. Because the threads I talk of, the ones that get way
overshadowed by the counterfeit or entertainment threads are the ones that need to be read, NOT the others IMHO.
My .2 cents...
[edit on 11/6/2009 by jkrog08]