10-1 ratio of lurkers to members seems to usually hold steady

Just chiming in found the thread a bit of a different theme to it I must say I do enjoy seeing stories pop up on ats and then reading them a few days or weeks later on a main stream channel some where

originally posted by: ThePeaceMaker
Just chiming in found the thread a bit of a different theme to it

I must say I do enjoy seeing stories pop up on ats and then reading them a few days or weeks later on a main stream channel some where

Indeed, I especially notice conspiracy theories discussed on CNN news.

originally posted by: ThePeaceMaker
Just chiming in found the thread a bit of a different theme to it

I must say I do enjoy seeing stories pop up on ats and then reading them a few days or weeks later on a main stream channel some where

Indeed, I especially notice conspiracy theories discussed on CNN news.

a reply to: InTheLight

Maybe this thread will be discussed on CNN, or on Maddow. She'll discuss and present it using props.

Strangely enough, I heard about this site as a travel agent.

We had a client who has made a European river cruise booking and the river had been polluted by a manmade calamity. He came in ranting and raving saying he wanted to cancel his tour and to look up ATS as all the info was on there.

I duly popped in to lurk, had a poke around and thought 'this looks fun, I love a good debate' and joined that night at home. Strangely though, the forums that attracted me to join are the ones I participate te least in. Its easy to get drawn into areas yu never thought had much relevance to you, lol.

Oh and yeah, shameless gratification here, but the mods on this site are truly excellent in maintaining a fair place to make your thoughts known

originally posted by: ~Lucidity


Anyways...waves to lurkers (particularly those with the alphabet agencies

If we didn't educate them who would?

Oh for monkey's sake, even I didn't think the 10-1 ratio would often hold up perfectly. Here is the count for right now (from the Forum page):

2,229 guests visiting right now.
222 members logged in right now

a reply to: Aleister

It's a testament to the content here and it's always been like this. It's also what has distinguished and separated ATS from the myriad "CT/Alternative Topic" sites on the internet. You can bet thousands will read what you wrote if you wrote it on ATS.

I bet the security / intelligence services of some country somewhere are data mining this site. Possibly to find out what is in the public domain and possibly to spread dis-information when the need arises.
a reply to: Aleister

a reply to: decltype

Or possibly because they're too lazy to get a proper job.

Interesting that this situation has been brought up in an actual thread.

I have been a member on ATS since June 2008, and was "lurking" 2 years prior (on occasion). In other words I wasn't a legitimate lurker. My very first thread on ATS was admittedly so dumb, that I was partly looking to just troll and waste time.

It wasn't until I was actually engaging people directly that I realized ATS holds itself to a higher standard of user content and discussion, unlike some other sites which shall go unnamed.

I'm not really attempting to flatter ATS here in that statement, just stating some personal opinions that will undoubtedly fly in the face of all those people who bemoan ATS for not being as great as it used to be in thread quality.

As one poster already pointed out, not everyone has the gift of gab, and some people are natural orators, be it verbal or textual. Once these people get a reputation for what is essentially a craft, they pick up speed and become the back bone of quality that make up this site. I would just rather sit back and have a good read, and watch someone say what I would like to say, but they do it far better than I could.

Then you have the other aspect of it. Me personally I'm very introverted. I'm not really up for confrontation, though occasionally if its just really driving me crazy Ill say something, though its almost a drive by posting. But for the most part just dont want to waste my time, as I do feel trolls have increased over the years (internet wide) not just on ATS. Strangely enough reading the above few sentences would in essence unintentionally make me the very thing I hate. LOL

Sometimes, I dont even log in, I just read posts as a visitor, until obnoxious banners for the stay at home moms making 7,000 dollars a month and guys curing cancer with "one weird trick" force me back into the safety of being logged in. The one thing on ATS that I actually earned, the (No more banners) perk.

I will never be a Slayer69, a composer of very well put together threads. Or a Phage, the resident ATS Android who only thinks in terms of pure concentrated, painful logic and critical thinking. (love ya Phage) no hate.

Ill never be any of the many very decent posters, and thread creators on this site I have not mentioned. Fact is if you are posting, and thread making, you are really what this site is about, and I come here daily to see what every one has to say. I am, WE ARE out here in the shadows of great threads just taking it all in.

Keep up the good and interesting work guys.

Your friendly member lurker.

People are afraid they are going to put on some Government list.

The people that post don't care.

I don't know anywhere else on the net where you can have an intelligent discussion.

a reply to: whyamIhere

If you don't get put on the government lists how are you going to get the Christmas cards?

Seriously, the way things are going it's the list makers who need to be concerned. If you're lurking with intent then activate your intent. We need your input.

Checked the numbers a few seconds ago, four members will have to sign-off to keep the 10-1 ratio perfected:

2,785 guests visiting right now.
282 members

And yes, it seems lot of members sign in just to view and read, and not to post. There is another statistic listed on the "Forum" page, the number of members who signed in over the last 24 hours and the number that posted. Here are the current numbers:

3,135 members visited in the past 24 hours
856 members posted in the past 24 hours