How Not To Be Banned From ATS...

Originally posted by Little One
...The 'losers' I am speaking of....

At ATS you can be You - no matter how abrasive You may be. Simply be nice and abrasive at the same time. Its a fine art in which I have learned well.

If you cant find it in you to do the above things then I suggest you shut up and simply use the site as a seach/learning tool. I could sure stand to see a few of us go and have a feeling I soon will after reading this!

Losers in your opinion.

I see your system may have failed as some your previous posts have been removed.

It is difficult, if at all possible, to created a couple of little boxes to sort all the members into. I suppose some members can't easily be placed in one of these boxes. They won't go into without a squawk.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord lately i've been seeing alot of bashing other members threads. maybe you should point out that idea you have in your rule book of signing off and taking a few deep breaths

Reading this thread is just like sitting in Church.

Every sermon is planned around me and is directed right at me, and yes, my ears burn red, my face flushes, and the guilt thing pops me right between the eyes.

So all you guys, I know who you're talking to. The chief sinner among sinners.

I confess.

But I swear, I'm trying!

Let me pose something to consider, as chief of sinners:

There are two topics that really get nasty fast. The first is anything to do with Israel, and the second being anything to do with Islam.

Folks can call you names, attribute to you complete fabrications, and when you respond, especially since you're invariably outnumbered, these guys seem to know exactly which Mods or Supermods to go to for the purpose of having you scorched.

So a thread will go on, you respond to the personal attacks just so everyone else doesn't think you really believe what you're accused of, and the next thing you know, you're in deep dookey.

Is it possible that there are specific groups who know exactly which mods or supermods to appeal to?

And there is no recourse!

Especially for the chief sinner.

Just something I'd like for you guys to think about. Who's doing the complaining, what is their position, and why is this so very bad?

I've even had these clowns mistakenly U2U me and mention that they should collude to shut me up!

Sorry for being so long.

And you guys do show a lot of tolerance.

And patience.

And forgiveness.

Thanks.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

1) False Information and/or Hoaxes
Purposely posting false information as an effort to promote a specific agenda or fool our members is the #1 way in which a member can be banned for what they post.

While I am aware of some members being banned for such activity, many are not. I've sent alerts to many posts that are obvious hoaxes and to this day, many of those threads and members remain.

Is there any interpretation as to what does or doesn't constitute a hoax? Is it standard procedure to implement a 'wait and see' policy first?

In a similar vein, how about the people who claim to be vampires? When I say vampire, I mean in the classic tradition. I feel there is something fundamentally wrong on many levels with this type of activity on the forum.

Why? Well.. vampires kill people! It's tantamount to saying "I'm a pathological murderer". While I don't believe a thing these people say and perceive it as a form of hoax, there is inherently something wrong with wanting/claiming to be a supernatural being that kills innocent victims. In this sense, the practice of vampirism is sick and IMHO should be banned from the ATS forums. It's nothing but an ignorant glorification of murder.

Phew... glad that one's off my chest!

IRM

reply to post by Lysergic

ever read the comments on youtube? man it's like ppl just make accounts to bag on others.

So true

YouTube is just absolutely the worst of the worst when it comes forum rules & regulations (or lack thereof).

What's also disconcerting about YouTube is the number of passionately racist, nationalistic, homophobic, politically partisan people just banding together to flag people's videos and get them taken down and leave nasty comments all over videos they don't particularly like.

"No one is ever banned from ATS for their opinions, ideas, connections, or theories. Everyone is always banned for simply not being able to politely function in the environment we've created. "

What about John Lear?

reply to post by petethepole


So far as I can tell JohnLear isn't banned from ATS.

[edit on 14 Apr 2009 by schrodingers dog]

Originally posted by petethepole
"No one is ever banned from ATS for their opinions, ideas, connections, or theories. Everyone is always banned for simply not being able to politely function in the environment we've created. "

What about John Lear?

That's covered here:

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
More often than not, in situations where that appears to be the case on the surface, much more has gone on behind the scenes to cause the banning. Since we very-rarely discuss individual bannings with members, the entire story behind our action is not always apparent.

Bold mine.

Originally posted by petethepole
What about John Lear?

Previously explained here, here, and possibility of return mentioned here. With more background on the fallout here.

In short, John took advantage of his handler's absence (Springer ) to make exceptionally exaggerated accusations of another ATS member (JRitzman) that included a few fabricated statements attributed to the member. Both members were temporarily post-banned while we worked things out... JRitzman apologized, John Lear did not, and still has not... then expressed his desire never to post on ATS again, so his account remains "post banned" and his Conspiracy Master status was removed.

i've been a member of ats for a while now and am addicted.
sometimes i get breaking news way before it comes out in the media.
i've gotten hollered at for being mean- which is rare- but have gotten a few applauses also.
this is the only conversation site i am a member of and i love it!
most people are very civil (and i agree with that rule) but it is great to hear other peoples opinions from around the world. remember opinions are like aholes- everyone has one!
just because you don't agree with someone is no reason to demean them and be uncivil. and that is how you should also be with people in public. if people were more civil to each other the world would be a better place but alas i am in fantasyland.
it is easy to be tough behind a puter but at least the ats mods are trying to teach people how to be civil. if you don't like an opinion POLITELY state your case for debate and put the gloves on!
BUT BE POLITE!!! belittling someone only gets you enemies

And, in the end, even if what you have to say is important but cannot tolerate being polite, we would rather sacrifice the information than our standards.

One of the reasons I enjoy ATS so much is the fine job Staff and Mod's do keeping the language cleaned up and the standards high.

Personally, I spend a lot of time here on ATS - if it wasn't for the T&C and censor use against ignorant language, I wouldn't spend time here at all. So thank you...

Ahhhhh what a fine line between being rude, and being polite - with a STING to it.

peace

If I may add my 2 pennies here.

You are always going to get the occasional trouble maker, but I suspect most of us are guilty of unknowingly breaching the odd term or two.

You could argue that ignorance is not an excuse (deny ignorance) but let’s not forget what’s good for the overall board. I don't want to see the baby thrown out with the bathwater!

Maybe one of the reasons people tend to fall foul of the Ts&Cs is because they read like a mortgage contract.

Surely there has to be a fun way to get the point across?? A way that actually makes users want to read the terms...

What about a Test where there are real prizes?

Peace out,

Korg.

OOPS! Wrong forum!

SORRY!

[edit on 15-6-2010 by silo13]

I don't get it, members want to be treated as intelligent adults regardless of how they act. T&C isn't rocket science and saying you don't understand the rules is a contradiction, what happened to being an adult and intelligent. Last time I looked this was a privately owned forum and you're an inivited guest and need to follow the rules of the house.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by Aquarius1


I'm not sure what this thread is about, but saw you mentioned tandC

so thought I would contribute

[edit on 15-6-2010 by cloudbreak]

Originally posted by Korg Trinity
Maybe one of the reasons people tend to fall foul of the Ts&Cs is because they read like a mortgage contract.

Surely there has to be a fun way to get the point across?? A way that actually makes users want to read the terms...

Actually they did that, I stumbled across it last week:

Simplified Terms and Conditions of Membership for the AboveTopSecret.com Message Board(s)

It's simplified and a lot easier to read.

About half the rules are translated to: "Don't be a jerk" and equally simple language.

But when someone says something stupid like "The sky is orange, not blue" I'm tempted to say "Don't be a jerk" but I guess that would violate the T&C even though it's written all over the simplified T&C.

So being polite can take some restraint. I think the anonymity of the internet makes it easier to hurl insults at others that we wouldn't say to someone's face, in person. So to combat that you can try to imagine you're sitting across from the others in the forum having a personal discussion, that may temper the instinct to be rude on the internet a bit.

Every time I have been on the "trouble end of the staff-stick", I have totally deserved it.

In fact, I should have been banned more then once.

Each time, a moderator or site-owner has personally worked with me to provide a very good understanding of what was wrong with my behavior, instead of just abusing their power and banning me without first communicating about the situation.

ATS has great staff and they all have been overly polite with me every time I slipped up.

I am thankful!

With that being said...I do not think it is that hard to remain on ATS.

I DO apologize for each time I have been head-to-head with the mods or staff. Ultimately, they have done nothing but help me see the error in my ways and help me become a better working part of ATS.

All hail ATS!

Well said guys

Although there are many who are kind and polite, there are those that are...well, "no comment."

I don't think without the staff and their hard work, ATS would be ATS. I'm sure that there is A LOT of hard work behind the scenes and I think people should actually appreciate it, for example the whole new layout and Chat.

Hats off to you guys

Obviously the staff can't disclose everything about previous bans, they're super ninja turtles...no wonder most of the stuff they do is secret!