Over what's happening to ATS, might be time to leave.

I will tell you whats ruining ATS, it stopped been a cool web site when it became a buisness, I hate all the crapp ads that flas around the borders of my page, they advertise a lot of dumb # that most of the people on this site hate, I know there are a lot of dumb imature kids on this site, but maybe if people like you stick around on this site you can open their minds wake them up, if you leaveyou will lower the IQ if the site, I wish ATS was as much fun as it was when I first joind, but I have found the if you sift through all the rubbish you somtimes fing a gem of a topic that makes you glad to be a member ,

Hello Tayesin,
I can underatand your frustration. 8 years is a long time.
I have only been on ATS for three months and can see your point entirely.
I visited this sight for over a year before my friend encouraged me to register.
The point is this, it's my perspective that it is a generational thing. I am well
into my sixties and still working. This thing that is happening on ATS is just
a carryover from what society has degraded into over the past 50 years. From
a personal perspective,there is nothing new on this site that I havent known about
or researched many,many years ago.It's another generation discovering the same old anomilies.
I tried to post some good research material but it seems to go unnoticed. I havent done a thread
yet because I cannot devote the required ammount of time to the replies. As you indicated, when
you seperate the wheat from the chaft you get a few golden kernels and these are the ones you
want to impart your knowledge upon. Let them have there fun. If they are truley interested they will
gravitate to the more serious topics presented on ATS. After all,we where young once and researched and found and learned. Stay with ATS and teach those who want to learn

Originally posted by sugarcookie1
Tayesin, no one wants to see you leave including me i know this thread is about my zombie thread and i did it all in fun..I do some serious threads also if you would take the time to look..I'm also 38 years old far from being a kid but ATS is growing and the younger generation is comeing in and I'm glad for it they bring fresh new ideas..I look at some of the threads in ATS and roll my eyes also but if i don't like the thread i just move on to the next I'm not going to put down the young for what they think or say..I think maybe you need to be a bit more tolerant..You bring alot to ATS and it would be ashame for you to leave i even read your posts..But if you feel you cant deal with ATS maybe you should take a break~~peace..sugarcookie

Yes, my tolerance has been waning for some time. No surprise really since the worst of popular youth culture has become so all-pervasive almost everywhere I look today. Adults being disempowered and kids having all the power to make parent's lives a living hell.. it's the vast majority of what I see today. No one wants to stand up and take charge the way adults of the world should have... most are too busy trying to be friends to their kids when the kids need boundaries and parents first so that they can grow in a balanced way to become the adults they so desperately want to be.

Your thread was only a very small instigator toward the bigger picture of why I began this thread, so please don't take all the blame upon yourself. Some responders in that thread were much more ruthlessly orientated than what I had hoped for... and what you had hoped for too I would imagine.

reply to post by 43LEO729


Thank you for your response and balanced approach.

reply to post by Tayesin




It's not just the last 6 months... It's more like 18 months.
And no matter how many times you hear "ATS hasn't changed, It's you" or "Well if you don't like it then don't come here" it doesn't change the fact that ATS really has changed.


It's a shame because as you said in your OP... it really was a great place to come for a good few years.

Don't run away buddy.

Besides, we all know that no matter where you go, you are gonna find the same problems. Earth is Earth after all, small world.

And if you choose to stick around, than that means I get to read your notoriously excellent well thought-out posts in the future.

reply to post by Tayesin


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/2e96bfc59a8a.gif[/atsimg]

With your experience, you could be a leader of the change or whatever it is you perceive !

reply to post by Tayesin


Hi Tayesin - I've been around for a good bit myself and have noticed the change as well. I read this thread, thought about and this is what came to me. Please bear me out - my thoughts aren't as formed as I'd like - but I will go with them.

The world is changing fast and not always for the better. ATS is changing along with society and the world. I understand what you are saying. Sometimes I feel like I just don't fit in anymore and may not even want to fit in anymore...

But something came to me. Love him, or hate you have no doubt heard of Ted Nugent. I thought of an interview I heard with him where they asked him the following.

"Would you rather have live now or a 150 years ago?"

He thought and said, "I think now. Because back then there were lots of guys like me. Now there are just a few of us. Now may not like us very much. But, now needs guys like me."

Its a point to ponder.

The world is changing fast. ATS is changing fast. Does that mean us old-timers are needed less - or are we needed more?

i know what you mean but to be honest...leaving the ship is wrong!

we need forum elders to keep up the oldschool a lil bit..

Though I havent been on this site as long as you have, the constant inflow of un-important, meaningless threads that run contrary to our site's true purpose slowly degrades my trust in ATS.

Just look at the top topic for today: "Cat versus Dolphin"


70 FLAGS!!!


I keep asking myself, "How is this more important than the war in Libya, the horrible triple-crisis in Japan which killed thousands of people, and the bankers slowly disintegrating every human right we love and hold dear"?

Deny Ignorance is our prized motto. But people are ignoring even that.


Sickening.

Well from what I was reading it seems your main gripe is that there are a lot of young people coming on to ATS. And also are talking in a way you don;t like or don;t care to decipher. I think that is your main gripe. So you do not want to just filter through the lingo you don't like and just try to concentrate on the idea being presented in said thread or post.

And further more would if you had it your way want ATS to be a more adult older generation site??

I can;t believe how you are not taking the opposite approach to this and saying how great it is that the youth are waking up and showing crititcal thinking skills. If you even want to be invovloved in this site you have to have critical thinking.

Originally posted by American-philosopher
I can;t believe how you are not taking the opposite approach to this and saying how great it is that the youth are waking up and showing crititcal thinking skills. If you even want to be invovloved in this site you have to have critical thinking.

Well I think that was the point of the OP. A lot of youngsters are coming on, but not necessairily demonstrating critical thinking skills.

It's not all youngsters, but occasionally there are some inane threads being posted. Although, you can choose to ignore them.

The reason I think it feels like it is becoming mainstream is the fact that a lot more people are waking up. I have only been a registered member for a short while, but I have been a lurker for about 6 years. I have seen a change myself and think that is why I decided to eventually sign up.

I think ATS needs a cross section of members in order to create a balanced view on all things, but I did puzzle at the Cats versus Dolphin thread

Originally posted by TheTruthSeeker1996
Though I havent been on this site as long as you have, the constant inflow of un-important, meaningless threads that run contrary to our site's true purpose slowly degrades my trust in ATS.

Just look at the top topic for today: "Cat versus Dolphin"


70 FLAGS!!!


I keep asking myself, "How is this more important than the war in Libya, the horrible triple-crisis in Japan which killed thousands of people, and the bankers slowly disintegrating every human right we love and hold dear"?

Deny Ignorance is our prized motto. But people are ignoring even that.


Sickening.

edit on 10-4-2011 by TheTruthSeeker1996 because: (no reason given)

why you give such a stupid example? you hate animals?

many people like these kind of videos..its not allways UFO,Politics and war...

there are other things in th world..same important..sorry for the rant but i dont think thats what the OP was talking about..

I have always thought that there should be an age restriction for this site. I think 18 would be an appropriate age.
Thats just my 2 cents. It may cut down on the "Do vampires really exist" threads and threads of that nature.

I see where your coming from, there are many threads that aren't worth looking at, but what should we expect when this site has thousands of members on everyday? You could frame me as a "youngster",19, but some of these "youngsters" who use typical internet lingo and do not know a period from a coma are probably in their 20's and 30's as well. By the way they present themselves you may think their a 16 year old kid, when really they are 27 years old. Half the time you just don't know. Yet, even though some may seem immature im glad their's people my age and older/younger who are at least waking up and thinking about things that are important to our species existence, rather than watching MTV all day and listening to Lil Wayne.

I've only been on this site for around 5 months so I don't know what it was like 8 years ago, but I do what anyone else does when they see a thread that seems childish and doesn't interest them, go to the next one. Leave if you want, but I wouldn't. The main reason I wouldn't is because I do not get on ATS much. I get on about every other day to see if their's anything new that's breaking whether it's about world problems, anything to do with the universe, or anything else that just seems interesting. I think the more time you spend on this site, the more you feel you need a break, especially when your interacting with many of the members. That's why I just read the few topics that seem interesting to me, and get off for the day. I may post here and there, but I just come here for new and interesting concepts to read, and above all to gain knowledge.

So if you feel you want to leave, then leave. If I were you though, i'd just take a break from it, keep your account, and just come here every now and then to see if there is anything that seems interesting to you. After you find a few interesting topics and don't see anything else for the time being, log out for the day. Works for me. At the same time I haven't been here fore 8 years so.

Originally posted by kimish
I have always thought that there should be an age restriction for this site. I think 18 would be an appropriate age.

Age doesn't necessarily equate to Maturity and or Intelligence. Thinking It does is just nonsense.

Plenty of young members contribute a lot here. Plenty of them being under the age of 18.

Uhuh... Age does not get this site cleaned of religious dogma's either.

Religious zealots come in all size and ages.

Please now I do not regard every religious perso a zealot. Some are pretty cool Too.

What is ruining ATS, what is dumbing it down, what is making it more and more mainstream, and what is making it a kiddy playground?

Social change. Social evolution. Popularity. Overpopulation.

ATS caters to society and, because our collective Western societies seem to have really, truly, "Dumbed Down", so too will the quality of social interactions we witness here, as everywhere else.
"Oh, well there has always been rebellious teens" - true, but at least they were intelligent to boot! Now, kids are assaulted with processed foods; exitotoxins in their diet regardless of choice and the general public schooling has sadly become a parody of its original intent.

Wherever one goes in this day and age, we are confronted by such things as 'txtspk' away from the context of a mobile phone and a significantly overtly arrogant attitude. Violence (be it verbal or physical) is on the up too; more likely due to a deepening and collective sense of frustration with how things are playing out.
Everyone seems far too afraid to admit they might just be mistaken about something. Everyone seems to have a point to prove, and damn you if you try to disagree!
This world has changed...quicker than seems usual, at that.

I've visited this site a several times in my many years of researching facts & fictions online and, although only joining recently, I too have noticed the change. But it's everywhere, even in Real Life.

Like Bob Dylan sang: "You'd better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone, oh the times, they are a-changin."

Sadly, I can only just about do the doggy-paddle in these metaphorical waters...but I'll be damned if I'll let myself sink without even an attempt at keeping afloat!

Threads with "OMG..." in them in order to bring in more viewers is surely something for the site owners/MODS to handle if we all make an effort in trying to get a control on that particular type of behaviour..

Putting something like that in a title doesn't make me want to look any more, or less.. I'm more interested in the actual topic than trying to be suckered into viewing.. Those that try this ploy will hopefully learn, one day, that we here on ATS much prefer a god bit of detail instead of shock tactics..

ATS already has certain restrictions on the use of these types of comments whithin threads..so why not on titles too? It only takes a new thread in here www.abovetopsecret.com...

We have to remember ATS is for EVERYONE.. from all corners of the globe, all ages and all walks of life.
It is about education, expanding horizons, waking up and denying ignorance.. .

EVERY thread, post, comment, word on this site is a part of history and is growing into a major source of data for many a future youngster to get their teeth into.

Maybe ATS is going "mainstream", but maybe it has to in order for it to achieve what many of us hope for and have written about and expressed our opinions of.
We are mostly all sick and tired of the dire state of affairs that the current world media offers us.

So what's wrong with ATS being the main place for EVERY bit of news going on in the world. More and more people come here for news that just does not get air time or gets swept under the carpet.

I post stuff that gets very little attention.. for many unknown and odd reasons that I cannot yet fathom, perhaps it's just my taste and how I see certain topics, yet I've also posted some stuff that has really rocked the boat.
As much as my 'lesser' stuff saddens me at times, I am still proud of all I have done here and will continue to do more as and when I can and have the time for.

I seriously hope you do too.

Recently I have noticed that i am able to remember an old thread I've read that has had some relation to new members threads and i have linked them to these old threads.. not that I've got much attention from that, but that's not the point.. the point was to ensure that old info does not simply go to waste..

This is where us 'old timers' may need to focus some of our energy on.. providing a way to ensure that new news is backed up with old news in order for new members to see a broader picture...if they are willing to read through the old stuff. This is where we will build up the knowledge of the new members so they in turn will knock out some of the outstanding and brilliant threads that ATS is so accustomed too.. in particular, those of jkrog08.

I am sure many of us would not like to see you go.. red pill/blue pill... the choice is yours in the end..
I, for one, don't want to see anybody leave, but the world wont stop turning or changing...but we could help to make a difference..

All the best,
EA

Um, if you want to leave, leave. Things never stay the same, no matter how much you may want it. You're one of the older, and wiser members here, and just from this topic alone it shows how many members here look up to you, dunno if that changes things for you.

Leaving for the reasons you provided alone would be dumb Imo.

Why don't you try to make this place what it was once like? Whatever that was.

Originally posted by Rising Against

Originally posted by kimish
I have always thought that there should be an age restriction for this site. I think 18 would be an appropriate age.

Age doesn't necessarily equate to Maturity and or Intelligence. Thinking It does is just nonsense.

Plenty of young members contribute a lot here. Plenty of them being under the age of 18.

edit on 10-4-2011 by Rising Against because: (no reason given)

This is true however making an age restriction would cut out on a lot of the nonsense threads. Why search through 10 of them when if an age restriction is put on that number would be reduced. Maybe an age restriction on starting a thread would be better? That way a youngsters input can still be heard.

I belong to another forum where texting "lingo" such as IMO and OMG and WTF are strictly prohibited due to the fact that it's an international site, such as this one.