Is The Way ATS is Setup A Conspiracy?

i mean first let me start off by saying i have used polls/voting on other forums so it is possible. and they are great. you just set it up and people click what they vote for and because of their ip address they can only vote once. accurate. why no voting here? we could squash dumb arguments and find out who the majority sides with instead of a lot of nonsense that's just jibber jabber. also this site could give A WHOLE LOT MORE INFORMATION about your posts like who posted last and what time they posted. what's with flags? why can't i use a avatar? well i guess i understand that one. there needs to be a consolidation of alot of nonsense links in my own personal opinion. and i would love to make polls. they are real answers. conspiracy hmmm i dunno?

*COUGH* The 2000 American Election *COUGH*

Voting does not necessarily provide the truth. Nor do avatars(although you can buy them in the "store" for X amount of points derived from the frequency of your posts).

Sometimes I DO wonder though...in fact, I KNOW that there are people hired by the "higher-ups" who read everything you say on this board. It'd almost be like herding cattle, and turning those who try to avoid being the misinformed sheep into, well, sheep with a monitored outside opinion. The idea of having an open forum couldn't be more democratic, though. Everybody has something to say.

[edit on 3-1-2008 by Sacreligion]

[edit on 3-1-2008 by Sacreligion]

reply to post by jboogienoj


Flagging and starring of posts and threads has no relation to the IP address. It is connected with your account. If you flag or star with your account, you can't flag that thread or star that post again by simply logging in on another computer with a different IP. I guess it's the same thing with voting. Account, not IP.

I don’t think it’s an all-out conspiracy, but I don’t like how I have to earn the priviledge of having an avatar. People tend to pay more attention and lend more credibility to posters with eye-catching avatars, so it’s one more thing for new users to overcome.

Originally posted by MurderSmurf
People tend to pay more attention and lend more credibility to posters with eye-catching avatars,

do they realy ??????????

if they do that is very shallow , and to be blunt - ignorant

i react to the CONTENT of each individual post i read - that way i have been compelled to star 2 posts by a member who i thought was a raving idiot due to an intractable argument on a different thread

this is ATS and in keping with the clarion call to ` deny ignorance ` please look hast the pretty picture and read the content / opinion

i have no avatar - despite the fact that i have enough points to change it every week for a year or two - and only have a back ground colour so that i can see my post in a thread

[edit on 3-1-2008 by ignorant_ape]

reply to post by MurderSmurf


I didn't have an avatar for a very long time, and it seemed to not hinder my being taken seriously. As a matter of fact, I had about 25,000 points and 150 flags and over 50 applauses when I had a dear friend help me with this avatar. And I likely would never have bothered at all, but many people were curious about NGC2736 itself.

People are judged on what they say, not how they look. And trying to make up a conspiracy where there is none, usually doesn't gain them too much respect from the more intellectual people here.

What purpose would a setup conspiracy serve?

Im pretty sure the reason there are no polls is because people misused the feature (made stupid polls and the likes) plus im sure its a strain on the database.

reply to post by jboogienoj


a majority concencus does not determine the veracity of a claim .

many ` commonly believed " facts " ` are in fact inaccurate

a topical example is belioef that the Tryptophan [ which acts a a sedative ] in turkey is the cause of peoples sleepiness after thanks giving and christmass feasts

while Tryptophan does indeed act as a sesdative - its concentration in turkey meat is too low to cause drowsiness , plus to be effective Tryptophan must be consumed with no other food

its actually the the effort of preparations , quantity of food , the excitement of the celebration and the alcahol consumed that leaves people tired and sleepy

still want to vote on the truth ?

i do not

reply to post by jboogienoj


Not a conspiracy. But organized by those who doesn't really participate in clear thinking and user-oriented site layout. It's likely a money thing. More click-throughs, more bucks. But yeah, everything "can" be logged and monitored. It's not a big deal. Really.

Mira

YAY!!

The first "ATS is the NWO" thread of 2008

I've lost count, are we on the 1,645,867,434,232,754,343 time this topic has been brought up

Originally posted by jboogienoj
why can't i use a avatar? well i guess i understand that one.

You can, you don't need points to have an avatar, they are free to use. Just click member center and put in the link to your image in where it says 'avatar url.'

AVATAR: The Ultimate Help

I'm pretty sure that the majority of members don't use an avatar as a reliable indicator of the worth of a particular members opinion.

I've changed mine a few times since I've been here, and I've finally settled on one I like, because I find it funny and relevant to the site.

I'm also not keen on polls - what used to happen when the star system was first brought in was that some members would give loads of stars to an opinion they agreed with rather than the content of the post - and I suppose this still happens to an extent, but you can now only give one star, which tends to lead to less skewed star ratings, and it's the same with flags.

As far as conspiracy goes, well, if the "higher ups" deem ATS so important that they feel the need to monitor usage/opinions/members I think that speaks volumes about the excellent content and input from members.

Originally posted by Sacreligion

Voting does not necessarily provide the truth. Nor do avatars(although you can buy them in the "store" for X amount of points derived from the frequency of your posts).

[edit on 3-1-2008 by Sacreligion]

My avatar cost me nothing in points nor money, possibly a bit of respect - but there again it also affords me anonymity...... also the lingering aroma of smoked mackerel (I grilled loads of stuff on that foil

Perhaps you are confusing custom backgrounds with avatars.

Custom backgrounds cost points. Avatars do not. They're not even in the ATS Store... You simply paste the link for the image into the appropriate spot in your settings.

I know, just think for one second we could vote on who, us as an ATS community would pick for president?? cool. or how many of us believes in aliens? or do you believe in the Reptilian thing? that's always fun. or how many readers have read the Urantia? or who is you favorite Thread starter, i dunno it could go on and on... it would be VERY enlightening. and for a website that's suppose to enlighten it would be great to say the least. don't ya think?

I love my avatar and I can spot it a mile away but noone takes me seriously. It only matters the quality of the content.

that is true but if they really wanted to up the ante on this site a voting system would be great. if they did that i can tell you it would make a huge difference... maybe one day.

Of course ATS is a conspiracy?

Someone somewhere conspired to make some money with this site.

Whether or not it is an evil conspiracy remains to be seen, but the love of mammon is the root of all evil.

reply to post by jboogienoj


IMO voting is not going to be available to us anytime soon. It would be a minimal amount of information taking up a good deal of space on the board. It actually could be considered against ATS policy, let's not forget this little reminder we all see everytime we reply to a thread.

AboveTopSecret.com takes pride in making every post count. Please do not create minimal posts or simple "I agree" posts when replying to threads.

Originally posted by AcesInTheHole
reply to post by jboogienoj

 

IMO voting is not going to be available to us anytime soon. It would be a minimal amount of information taking up a good deal of space on the board. It actually could be considered against ATS policy, let's not forget this little reminder we all see everytime we reply to a thread.

AboveTopSecret.com takes pride in making every post count. Please do not create minimal posts or simple "I agree" posts when replying to threads.

If you make your living selling ideas and theories you have to get them somewhere that is what this site is for.

It is the same with the radio call in shows they just use the people who call in to do their job for them it's the way the game is played.

Not that I think it is wrong we all use each other for something I like to get a kiss after a good using.

Its not like any of us slobs will make any money with our ideas and theories anyway, so at least some one out there might benefit from something I have to say.

So if this is a conspiracy then ok they let us use their ether to blow smoke up our egos and socialize for fun like in church that's something don't you think?