Is ATS ALIVE??? Honestly? Are YOU out there???

I believe there's been a slight increase in interest from quality thread generators and posters, but some are waiting for a bit more clarity on where the site is going and for some of the problems we have to abate. There's still a significant contingent of people that simply refuse to let others have discussion if it's a topic they don't like. Too, there are those that make ATS their digital billboard for political agendas with no regard for how their constant obsession impacts the rest of the community. The great irony is that the people that dislike these topics spend the majority of their time bumping those threads and sending them to the top list, which means they're the most visible on the site. They have nothing to say really, but they promote the content.

I won't get into the brilliant tactic of posting extensively in threads where one is also accusing the OP of being paid. It's essentially like becoming an unpaid participant in the whole exercise. I don't know what the long game is, but their effort to ensure content they don't like is always among the most popular threads on the site has been an enormous success.

That's what much of this boils down to. There are people that exploit ATS for their personal gratification, to satiate dysfunctional psychological drives, or to plaster their pet topic with no regard for providing meaningful content. There are people that come to ATS to share information that get drawn into these games and they aren't wise to it. There are many many people that just read and don't care to see pages and pages of mindless parroting thrown back and forth between people that long ago abandoned objectivity and civility.

Your reply in the numbers thread is exactly the kind of content I personally want to see more of and the main reason I'm here. I'm not too picky about topics if it's a person that actually knows about it rather than parroting media they consume. I can read the news or social media feeds and hear what political hacks think. I don't need to read it here. People talking about things they actually know about and studied, things they have an interest in beyond their political marching orders, are far more interesting to everybody. People just parroting the exact same material they consume aren't interesting, but it takes a little effort and honesty to add some intelligent analysis to posts.

What's pretty clear to me is that most people see what's going on and, no matter if they're right or wrong, have their mind made up. That's fine, but if you have your mind made up with no changing it there is no discussion. If you are unwilling to admit mistakes and change perspectives you don't really belong on a discussion board, but a blog or site that is dedicated to that dogmatic belief.

The investigators are still out there, but you don't get to see as much of it on the forums. I'd say they're going as strong as ever, but many would prefer they don't have a place here and do their best to ensure it's not worth the effort. I hope more come back, but it's pretty clear that many people won't be around to participate because they're stuck in 2020 and what the site had become.

Onward and upward, hopefully. I'm excited about putting some things out there when the time is right and I have the time to steward the thread. I know a few others are too. I'm sure there are many more.

Good to see you around.