posted on May, 9 2005 @ 10:51 PM
It’s true that I haven’t been an ATS member for very long, but in the short time I have been here I have seen many changes, had many exchanges,
learned much, and enjoyed the on line company of what I thought of as my fellow ATSers. Then I saw things beginning to get out of hand. I saw
spammers and trolls, got angry and got flamed a couple of times - but I endured and continued to learn.
Then came the black band days. I didn’t fully understand what SO was trying to say but I knew that things weren’t quite right. I seriously
examined that way I posted and vowed to make sure that anything I posted was relevant and as well written as I could manage. The result was that I
posted much less often, concerned that I might become part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
Some threads don’t actually talk about conspiracies - replying to them at all might be undoing what ATS is trying to accomplish.
Most conspiracies have already been covered here in one form or another. Shall I wait until I have discovered a brand new, never-before-thought-of
conspiracy before I start a thread?
Sure I could post my opinion on an established thread, but it would only be an opinion - not some new scientific research or some never before seen
document sneaked out of the White House. Is my own opinion good enough reason to post and not be compromising the integrity of ATS? I don’t know.
I began to come to ATS less often. When I did come back recently I saw people losing points for quoting others or making short responses. I could
now be breaking some rule and not even know it. The issue isn’t in the points themselves. The issue is that if I do something that concerns
someone enough for them to dock me, then I must be doing something wrong to ATS as a community. I am feeling so restricted that I don’t feel I
should post anymore. I can lurk and at least I can use the chat room to openly converse with others. Now I have lost the privilege of being able to
chat on ATS. Why am I here?
I have 156 or so posts and I know that I will eventually attain the required 200 if I do not simply give up all together. There are a great many
other places where I am allowed to chat about ATS type topics.
I do understand the need for rules and requirements in order to set ATS back to rights. I, however, I have never attacked anyone in a chat room,
never used profanity in a post or chat (not even the misspelled kind with dollar signs in place of an s), and I have never knowing broken any rule to
which I agreed when I joined this community, and therefore am feeling as though I must pay for someone else’s shortcomings.
I hope that ATS does attain it goals and the status it desires. Maybe when the dust settles I’ll come back and try to regain the privileges I used
to enjoy and think of myself as worthy in having.
Disoriented and dismayed,
WWN