ATS is Dead.

ATS Is Dead.

I am sure by now everyone is aware of Bill’s (SkepticOverLords) announcement that ATS is facing some pretty tough times. I have seen lots of members coming forward with some pretty good and inventive ideas on how the site could survive but I personally think they’re all ultimately pointless.

ATS is dead.

It is very clear that Bill and the owners do not have the time nor the inclination to continue to invest time and money into a site that is losing money and needs a lot of work. I personally don’t blame them for this, they need to make money and you can’t do that if your spending time on a project that has not generated any income in about a year. So, with that said the first solution calling for the owners to simply invest in the site is a non-starter.

The next solution is the idea of members paying to keep the site running. Bill has given ballpark number of $25k per month to develop and run the site. According to the site ATS has about 3,500 members who have over 1000 posts. The idea that even half would pay $10 per month is completely unrealistic and even that wouldn’t be enough to keep the site running. Again, Bill has said that nobody currently has the time nor the inclination to set this up.

I have also seen some members talking about buying the site, again I fail to see how this would help. The current financial situation seems to suggest that this site is just not a profitable venture in its current form. As previously discussed, a subscription service isn’t going to work, and it’s been made very clear that advertisers are just not interested in the site. This will not change under new ownership; new ownership seems to just move the problem from one group of people to another group of people.

The stark reality that many of you need to come to terms with is that ATS is going to go dark, if Bills latest statements are to be believed then we have about a month. Personally, I think this site has had its run and its demise is overdue. ATS has went from being the top conspiracy web forum in the world with a weekly online radio show, various video projects and celebrity guests to a toxic far-right political cesspit.

I know that some of you don’t like that label but in the current climate that’s what ATS is, it’s a site that no business, celebrity or politician is going to want to be associated with. We are toxic, like it or not. The only way that would ever change would be if the membership where to change and that’s not about to happen.

Lots of people I would imagine over the next few weeks are going to analyse what went wrong and look to place blame. Truth is it’s not really anyone’s fault, ATS is just a dinosaur that has yet to move with the progressive times, it’s a site that isn’t just technologically behind the times but culturally.

What’s worse is many of you fail to recognise this, you hold this site up on some kind of pedestal. It’s a tiny, tiny spot on the internet, it’s not exposing the hidden truth, it’s not some ultra enlighted corner of the internet, and its definitely not worth getting upset over when it dies.

Find a new echo chamber.

It’s quite frankly sad to see how many of you seem to be reliant on this site for some kind of cyber self-esteem boost, it’s like a warm blanket for you that keeps you comfy with your 1960’s view of the world. Many of you honestly need to get off the ATS recent posts page and out into the world to enjoy it.

I a perverse way I am glad that ATS is going the way it’s going because I have long felt sadness at what this site has become over the last few years. In the spirit of being totally transparent my only niggling regret is that I won’t get to see everyone’s reaction November 4th.

I have watched this place turn into a warped political cess pool over the years but I have also developed a lot of friends here. I wish those that are my friends start u2u me with email addresses cause I'm going to miss a bunch of you guys.

Springer and Skeptic have done some amazing things here and your post is sobering but is the exact thing I wanted to see with the price point and the data easily and concisely presented thanks Coin much appreciated!

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

For some reason people don't seem to realize that the members of this website are a perfect reflection of what society has become.

Hell most can't even have a civil discussion.
Always black or white.


But to your point about the site itself.
Yeah, it's an outdated dinosaur that has been neglected by ownership for so long that that it's well past being resurrected.

a reply to: Brotherman

Thats the big point I want to get across, particularly to those who act like ATS is some kind of big important part of the net, its not.

But it used to be a big part of Conspiracy culture and had loads of amazing ideas, we had the radio, the Conspiracy chicks, BullSh!t media (granted I was not a fan), Jesse Ventura, Robbie Williams, we had the AMA threads, lots of really good conspiracy focused stuff.

Its not what it once was.

It's the red herrings and tangents doing the most damage.

Especially when feelings get hurt and make people get ad blockers !! 🚬😎

we all know the usual suspects whom contributed nothing but click bait the last 4 years.

ats became a 4chan-lite....

surprise! not many special guests want to be seen on ats anymore...

we can thank the top 5 spammers who drove good contributors out in trove.

and whoever dared make a thread asking for civility was met with, you guessed it, hostility.

this site does nothing but sew division... Dems v repubs;. Left vs Right.

the moment anyone even try to have a discussion bordering on the academic, you're automatically against "them"

....

here comes the memes**

this was the only outcome.

originally posted by: xuenchen
It's the red herrings and tangents doing the most damage.

Especially when feelings get hurt and make people get ad blockers !! 🚬😎

you're at the top of the reasons why ats has degraded

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

There's life in the old dog yet & the condemned live longer...etc

You underestimate how many people found guidance and comfort here in a time of personal woo.
That's why ATS is important, because it's not deepening the so called "kundalini psychosis" but has offered a lot of people a way to handle it.
The Mud Pit is just a front for what's really going on in the bushes it's kind of your own fault that it's all you can see.

Cool Story Captn Obvious.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

I used to tell them all "THIS IS NOT FACEBOOK" but the internet is the wild west and unfortunately you can't keep the wolves away from the door.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

Really a shame that most of those old aliens and bigfoot and chemtrails conspiracies got debunked and proven fake !

They all ran out of material and people got sick and tired of all the fake drama !!

🤬

Guess nobody read the writing on the walls for the past 10 yrs? eh?

HD camera was the start of the end.

Remember all those threads about rods?

They were bugs.

You could see the golden age of conspiracy ending.

Should blame twats like corey goode, wilcock, greer, that one lady the stupid ass ceetah logo? project avalon? countless other hacks.


lol all their bs talks just to milk an audience

originally posted by: xuenchen
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

Really a shame that most of those old aliens and bigfoot and chemtrails conspiracies got debunked and proven fake !

They all ran out of material and people got sick and tired of all the fake drama !!

🤬

That was part of its appeal though to me personally.

remember we went though that phase where a few folk was posting pictures of rocks claiming they had just found evidence of life on mars.

I used to love debate 9/11 conspiracies it was fun.

a reply to: Lysergic

Hard to maintain a conspiracy site when so many conspiracies are laughable.

Still waiting for those freemasons to take over the world..

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Lysergic

Hard to maintain a conspiracy site when so many conspiracies are laughable.

Still waiting for those freemasons to take over the world..

There are still some really good ones out there.

They have just been gone over and over. I also think part of the problem is that in general the membership seems to be supportive of various world governments. For example there is a really good conspiracy around how Brexit came to pass that's pretty wild but most on ATS support Brexit so it just doesn't gain traction and the discussion is based on politics not the merit of the conspiracy.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

A big problem is the readily available access to information.
So many conspiracies can be blown out of the water with a ten second search.

Same could be said for other sites. It's not just ATS. My local community forum, Sports teams...all filled with political topics..meh. Those sites are still up so it had nothing to do with the politics. It's generating Ad revenue.

Hard to generate Ad revenue with a conspiracy site. Not enough people interested in the topic. Look at conspiracy videos on Amazon, Netflix. Hardly any reviews and most of them have poor ratings.

One of the heavy hitter sites that starts with an R is loaded with toxic political comments. Ads are on there from every major company. They do however have something for every single topic so easy to steer away from the politics. ATS doesn't have that flexibility. Companies don't really want to be associated with conspiracies. They want a massive body of people into a lot of stuff so they can shotgun them all with ads.

Politics has nothing to do with it. The politics on ATS to me are very civil, one of the most civil as opposed to other sites I visit. Nobody is being bashed with profanity like other sites. Some very rational conversations.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

A big problem is the readily available access to information.
So many conspiracies can be blown out of the water with a ten second search.

Thats also very true, I myself spent a lot of time debunking them.

But I do maintain that part of the problem is that it's more difficult to separate the politics form it all.

There are some members who are really quite "pro-Putin" for example, so discussing him assassinating political rivals isn't possible without getting drawn into the politics of it. Where as before it would be much more of a factual discussion with points for and against, now those factual points have been replaced by political ones.