What happened, what we know, what we don't know

originally posted by: argentus
You aren't always going to agree with our view, but it is mostly because we aren't personally engaged as you are. You are passionate about what you're thinking and writing, and that is a GOOD thing. Always a good thing. When we are in that passionate mode, however, we aren't always keeping the T&Cs in mind, are we?

I would like to add that this is one of the reasons why mods do not make moderator actions in threads in which they are participating as members, as their point of view may not as unbiased as it needs to be to help make a decision based on what is best for ATS.

a reply to: Sookiechacha

It means the name "abovetopsecret.com" must be renewed until 2024-05-18T23:00:00Z, otherwise it will become available for anyone to register.

PS: usually, there's a 30 days period in which the original registrant can still renew the registration, but not all do that.

a reply to: ObsBartim37
HILARIOUS, Thanks to how crappy the Amazon fire is I have roughly $300.00.
How much for Hotmail/msn?
Ooh I wonder if excite is worth anything, yahoo?
Wow I have been worrying bout money
Better read the article I am sure there is a catch.

Eta read the article. Where as I do have a lot email traffic, I do not have a purchase history, cards, or account #'s.

Some dumb cluck sent me a threatening email threatening to release my call history(not tied to any phone and send my history to all my contacts, I woñder if that's related.

Russian / Ukraine war

2022 Site goes down because the "owner's" credit card info is out of date. Sorta weird for someone that just made a huge investment. All accounts now show America / Chicago as registration?

2023 Hamas / Israeli war

All account databases info are scrambled. Some mystery person / ghost rides in to save the day!

I've been here since 1999. I've witnessed the weirdness from all angles and this is the weirdest.

I've watched it all and this is one of the starts......





~ETA~ I miss the Titor threada lol

originally posted by: argentus
a reply to: MoreCoyoteAngels

I am going to break a rule to disclose something from "the other side". We say, "time is on our side". We -- moderators -- say it because we take so dang long to talk about things. Almost all complaints are measured against the T&Cs and decided by consensus. We collectively err on the side of "no action", that is, to do nothing. As ArMap said, only obvious or horrific posts are actioned without consensus.

The entire point of moderators actioning posts is not to punish, but to augment discussion. When someone goes off the rails and causes a thread to go off topic, they aren't "OT"d" to punish them, but to help the thread get back on topic. We don't have personal skin in ANY of the complaints. I think that much of your misunderstanding is rooted in not reviewing the T&Cs. It's okay. Not a lot of people do. We have to. It's our ATS bible.

We're members also, just like you. We aren't this star chamber that sits in judgement. We're thrilled when there are no complaints, however we can't be everywhere. We are all volunteer, and unpaid. We do it because we love and respect ATS. It isn't "tattling", and when someone complains, we don't just look at that post, but the posts around it which caused it. We depend upon the members to let us know when things are wonky. You aren't always going to agree with our view, but it is mostly because we aren't personally engaged as you are. You are passionate about what you're thinking and writing, and that is a GOOD thing. Always a good thing. When we are in that passionate mode, however, we aren't always keeping the T&Cs in mind, are we?

Whenever members are actioned, they should respond to the moderator who did the action, if they have questions. We ALWAYS respond, and often copy the post. We will tell you why your post was actioned. We WANT you to know why it was actioned. It's not a secret. If you talk about that action on the open boards, that post will be removed, because the context is not also present.

We work really hard at all this, and we do it for you. All of you, and for ourselves, who are also ATS members. Always feel free to PM those of us that are active.

Really interesting post argentus, thanks for taking the time to lay that all out in such a positive frame.

I just have one small question regarding how that applies to quality.

I know that much has happened, the world has changed, we have changed but ATS used to define itself on being a "discussion" board. You could argue but you had better back that argument up. Yesterday, I saw someone simply reply "No" to someone who had done just that. Should we also complain about such posts that while they are not explicitly off-topic or blatantly offensive are totally detrimental to the quality of the discussion? This is not my actual question. Consider it rhetorical.

It appears to me, in the side lines, that the big-man mentality, the guy who just shows up, postures and flexes, ignores reason and simply declares himself "Right" has taken hold here and undermined whatever systems were intended to "Deny Ignorance". But then I don't think that that has been of importance to much of the "community" for a long time. I am not going to hark on about the old days, things change, they wither and die even in the virtual world but a great deal of what I read on ATS is just dripping with bitterness directed at anyone with the audacity to disagree with them.

Anyways, long and the short of it, the moderation "back in the day" felt a little more balanced so my actual question is - How diverse are you as a bunch these days? Those of you who are relatively active that is.

Cheers

originally posted by: Connector
All accounts now show America / Chicago as registration?

The accounts have never shown a place of registration.

If you are talking about the text that appears close to the "edit on" then that bug has existed for a long time.

originally posted by: BrucellaOrchitis
How diverse are you as a bunch these days? Those of you who are relatively active that is.

I'm not active as a moderator for now, but I was up to October 20, so I would like to ask: diverse in what aspect(s)?

originally posted by: ArMaP2

originally posted by: BrucellaOrchitis
How diverse are you as a bunch these days? Those of you who are relatively active that is.

I'm not active as a moderator for now, but I was up to October 20, so I would like to ask: diverse in what aspect(s)?

In every respect I suppose. I'm not asking for you all to complete a questionnaire, just looking for a considered and honest self-appraisal.

Socio-economically?
Neurologically?
Ethnically?
Politically?
Gender?
Sexuality?
Etc...etc...

Diversity of any kind, or lack there of, is going to influence the fairness of decision making.

It's great that you all collaborate to make decisions, but it is easy to agree when you have similar ways of thinking.

a reply to: BrucellaOrchitis

From what I know, the ATS staff is very diverse in all those categories.

Personally, I don't have any problem telling anyone that I am:
- 60 years old;
- Portuguese, lived in Portugal all my life;
- A lower middle-class, white, heterosexual man;
- Politically, I'm left-leaning, but in the Portuguese (or even European) sense, not the US sense, as to me, what they call "left" in the US is closest to "centre" or even "centre-right".

a reply to: ArMaP2

You're a sweetheart ArMaP2. Love me some candour.

However the problem I have now is that I would require a similar level of candour from the other active moderators.

You may have set the sharing bar a little high.

Cheers though.

a reply to: ithappens

Your right, I've been retired 10 years and never did commercial web development, and last 26 of my years was on a great big private network.


My point is, the servers arent owned by ATS owner most likely.

I kept it simple for the lay people.

If you want to doubt my experience I will take it to DM and prove it.

a reply to: argentus

I have asked many times, when Ive been 'actioned'. I have yet to get an answer. I asked as recently as yesterday morning and was very polite. Still waiting to know what I posted that violated the ToS 'manners' or 'offtopic'.

And I've been actioned when it's been to fast for a group decision.

I do appreciate your answer. It's just not been my experience.

a reply to: ArMaP2

Ive seen a 'spammer' here just since Israel was attacked. Not gonna mention names, but the same provocative, incorrect post about war crimes has been posted, exact wording over and over again.

But I got whacked for not providing enough dialog on a thread that I included links and a couple of sentences. And was breaking news.

And like I said, I have asked many times about mod actions. Have yet to get an answer. Still waiting for my last.

I do appreciate the mods. We saw what happened last week. But the other side, too much mod action and not enough transparency can be just as damaging to the reputation of ATS. I believe this to be the case.

It would help if the notice contained the offending post. That much alone would both teach us what mods consider rude manners (which is differnent apparently in different cultures) in a vague ToS. I truly don't know why Ive been actioned when much much more obviously aggregious name calling has been left there, even after a complaint.

There is a comfortable medium.


How about we discuss the purge of many long time members after new owners?

My point is, if it's subjective, it's subject to abuse.

a reply to: argentus

I again want to stress that on the balance, I'd rather have the mods actions we have over what went on last week.

I do appreciate the dedication and committment to ATS that you all have.

Just looking to make ATS the best it can be as well, and 'free speech' has become an issue on social media due to other sites being directed by certain factions of US and other governments influence.

So it's more touchy now than when ATS was first designed to be a customized discussion board that encouages lively and well thought debate in a gentlemanly manner.

Thank you.

a reply to: MoreCoyoteAngels

Mod actions are not the topic of this thread.
And mod actions are not open for debate in public.

Any changes to the automatic messages would take an overhaul of the site....






MOS NOTE

Closed pending further updates from Djarums

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Im only making a suggestion that I think would be helpful, not discussion a specific mod action.

Copy and paste still works without a code change. Could the mod include the offending comment that way?

Just trying to make a case for a suggestion, and relaying my experiences against the ideal.

Sincere thanks for your consideration and the time you devote to our little family.

a reply to: MoreCoyoteAngels

No. There is no option to add anything.
We do not see the auto PM. It is system generated.

This is still not the focus of this thread.






MOD NOTE

Closed pending further updates from Djarums