A Conspiracy Against ATS?

Originally posted by eyeforalie
I never said i didnt talk to him afterword...Yes I DO know what was said.

Ah, convenient.

Lemme ask you Kernel, are you on topic with the OP? Or are you just talking to talk? Looks to me like the latter. Eat your popcorn silently if you have nothing worthwile to say. This isnt a show.

Let me see, this is about groups attacking ATS. Read my posts, sure sounds like I'm on topic. You want the Kernel to be silent? No shock there. Pointing out the obvious only hurts your position.

Please refrain from commenting with the intention to get me banned.

My posts can do nothing to you, your own conduct can though.

I am the Vice Admin of a very large website that gets some great forum activity. We do not have this problem, for one simple reason. Debating the rules of my website is not allowed on the forum. The staffs decision is final. Dont like it? Leave. We have over 100,000 members so apparently the members like it, and this is at a speedtest/tech website. If you think something is not right or unfair you can PM the staff and ask questions or protest all you want. If you want to do it out in the gen pop you get banned after one warning.

It is ATS fault. Anything that happens here is ultimately the responsibility of the staff. If you cant control your own site, that is your problem.

Of course we also have a politeness rule that is strictly enforced. You can disagree all day but if you get rude your gone. Again, we have one of the largest forum memberships of any speedtest site so it is working and has been working out just fine for us. Most members dont like the drama, the problem here is the old members act like assholes ALOT. And the mods dont touch them because they are old members. Meh, who gives a #.

reply to post by shug7272


A sensible rule in my opinion.
It's the same way I operate my business.
Here are the rules.......blah blah...Not very many,not intrusive or restrictive but VERY rigid.

Stick by them and we can have a whale of the time and make some cash too.

If you don't like them,then I'm sure you can find someone else to work with..your choice,your prerogative..

A very wise man once explained why he didn't mix with his employees socially when I suggested he would do better if 'socialised with them a little..

"Familiarity breeds contempt".. Was his reply..

It turned out he was exactly right.
Give an inch and some people (not all) will take a mile.

...........

This discussion is only taking place because The Amigos obviously had the idea that this would be a very interactive site,with approachability second to none.

At no time,from the moment I joined up,did I have any reservations that I should conduct myself in a fashion that wasn't true to my own character.

I've unwittingly(and 'wittingly' too )broke site rules
had posts removed for being off topic/unsuitable..
Links removed for being unsuitable..
Threads I started I wish I hadn't etc...
posts made in haste/anger..

But I always knew where I stood with the rules,and UNDERSTOOD why they were there.

I had a friend who was banned too due to a misunderstanding/bit naivety..

Of course I gave my 'character reference' behind the scenes,but I knew it wouldn't be wise to badger the mods about it in public.
.......

Summarising it all,
ATS is a friendly,respectable site,without all the typical 'googletube' idiotic,annoyingly juvenile,nonsensical insults/comments section you see after most videos.

I enjoy it and would hate to see it changed for the worse,but having said that.
If it were to become somewhere I no longer enjoyed,I'd have no qualms about moving on..
I wouldn't demand that it changed to suit 'my' standards.

But I will feel free to say if it appears that some people are trying to bring it down.
I've seen the cycle happen before,fail and repeat a few months later.

Some of the longer standing members will have probably lost count of the amount of times they've seen it too,and this thread will be just another one they will happily skip over.

No one here really 'wants' to see members banned,hell if we were all on the same side it would make debates very boring and very short.

..
member a) "I think the government is trying to keep us down"

member b) "I think you're right..."

..
..
..
YAWN!!

I just think some are missing out on a HUGE amount of content by getting tied up with how they think it should be presented.

Check out the archives ...

reply to post by neformore


Very good thread, Nef. Please excuse me for not reading all 34 pages. It certainly seems there are people out to harm ATS. When you have entire websites comprised of people whose main objective is to criticize the workings of ATS and they have been caught red handed in attempts to cause disruptions, there really isn't anything else on which to theorize. It's all there to see for the vigilant observer.

Criticisms often not backed up by factual evidence, a lawsuit almost filed, some members being caught planning to interfere with the daily workings of ATS, etc.

The only thing I might disagree with you on in your OP are the examples surrounding the elections and the chaos caused by Stormfront and their ilk. I'm certainly not in the know to your extent and only see things from the view of a regular member but in my opinion, it appears they weren't acting in an effort to harm ATS but rather they used ATS as a medium to support their pre-existing political and racial agendas due to the wide audience ATS provides. As a result, ATS was the unfortunate medium they chose but it was nothing personal, in other words. Just another perspective, at least.

Anyways, good thread. Sorry if any of the above had already been mentioned.

The OP states you have a difficult job keeping up with the amount of posts on ATS, yet we see Mods who take the time to participate within a thread and then provide their own as in the OP. This doesn't lead me to believe your so over-worked that you can't keep up. If you have the time to respond to threads then why do you not have the time to properly Warn and then deal out account suspensions to those that clearly violate the T&C? The two chemtrails threads that were closed had the mod mentioning that members needed to stay on topic and then closed the topic without even removing the offenders from the thread. This is clearly against your own T&C and doesn't make sense to me.

I'm not saying that mods shouldn't be able to participate, but those that do should maybe have a second account that identifies the user as a mod on time off or something. Then I wouldn't have a problem with a mod telling me that he is closing the thread because members are not staying on topic yet in one of his own posts he strays and gets into the very 'derailing' talk.

I don't see a problem like that stated in your OP. I see a problem with the way the T&C is being used to close down certain discussions within ATS.

I for one enjoy the thousands of opposing views on any given subject and am not upset when someone has a differing opinion than myself. I do dislike having a persons view removed or called 'derailing' when it only fits the other sides agenda. That appears to happen more often here lately.

Maybe its just me but I really don't think so. From the comments and threads that have formed my opinion, I believe they have formed others opinion also. I see the OP as a way for ATS to lay the blame on others and not accept that which is obvious.

As I've said in 'The ATS Issues Thread', I feel the clamping down of free speech was happening before the 'Drug' crackdown and that this is a sign of things to come. I really hope I'm wrong but I don't think so. I mentioned this would happen during the 'drug' discussions before the new policy.

Look down the pipe... when you see something rushing towards you, you may get wet...

IMHO of course
Rgds

reply to post by AllTiedTogether


First, the Mods are members before all else. They don't get paid to moderate the site. They do it because they appreciate the site and want to help out all they can.

Second, if you have a problem with threads or posts, that is what the "alert" button is for. It appears at the bottom of every post on this site, and if you see problems that aren't getting addressed, hit the "alert" button and let the Mods know. They can't be everywhere at once, and at times, things are going to get past them.

Third, this is a private website. We have no free speech here. We have free speech up to a point. If that point is pushed, Admin has every right to shut things down to keep communication flowing and to keep things on topic.

Lastly, we are all responsible for our actions on this site. If we have problems, all we can do is alert the staff and let them handle it from there. Complaining on various threads about things not being run the way we want them run doesn't help anything. It just makes us look like whiney little kids who aren't getting our way.

If we find problems, we need to alert the staff to them. They can't catch everything and they need our help. This is our site, too, so if we find obvious problems, it is up to us to pass them along to those that can fix them......not just complain about them in various threads without doing all we can to help out.

JMO....

reply to post by skeptic1

If we find problems, we need to alert the staff to them. They can't catch everything and they need our help. This is our site, too, so if we find obvious problems, it is up to us to pass them along to those that can fix them......not just complain about them in various threads without doing all we can to help out.

... I have alerted the staff and this was done within threads that also alert the members to what is happening. As far as looking like a whiny little kid, I guess that's me in your eyes. But I know that others realize that sometimes things need to be addressed in the open for anything to actually happen.

This being 'Our site too' has lead me to make my opinion known as have others on this subject. My posts within various threads may to you be complaining but I've made several suggestions also and that is what I've done to 'help out' ATS. I've made it known that I have various ideas that could prevent ATS from going down the wrong road. My posts are not complaints but are 'Critiques'. Using the Critique method allows those to adjust so that the masses are not feeling that they are being ignored.

IMHO of course
Rgds


[edit on 27-3-2009 by AllTiedTogether]

Originally posted by AllTiedTogether
The OP states you have a difficult job keeping up with the amount of posts on ATS, yet we see Mods who take the time to participate within a thread and then provide their own as in the OP. This doesn't lead me to believe your so over-worked that you can't keep up.

You're being petty and absurdly ridiculous.

Our staff are volunteers who also enjoy the topics on ATS. Simple.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


If they are so overly busy with the dealings of ATS then they should use the valuable time to do that job.

Then, like I mentioned in this thread they should use an account that does not lead regular members to feel that an ATS Moderator will abuse his power.

Like I said.... If you check those threads you linked to about this very subject you will find that the general population of ATS believes that Mods are abusing or have the ability to abuse their power as a moderator of the ATS forums. This fact alone should be enough to want to create a second account for these members so that their opinions are not again taken as fact like the one that was stated by the Mod which was clearly against the T&C, which he stated in his post prior to closing down the thread for that very reason.

Rgds

Hmm.

Bumping this thread again because it appears to be particularly relevant again now

In the words of Twin Peaks - "Its happening again"

reply to post by neformore


I'm glad I'm not a mod.
BTW, are the recent malfunctions of the board also related to this?

reply to post by Regenstorm


Nope.

As I understand it there were database errors due to a faulty server, and they're purely technical.

Originally posted by shug7272
I am the Vice Admin of a very large website that gets some great forum activity. We do not have this problem, for one simple reason. Debating the rules of my website is not allowed on the forum. The staffs decision is final. Dont like it? Leave. We have over 100,000 members so apparently the members like it, and this is at a speedtest/tech website.

Wow, control freak much?

No but srsly, a speedtest/tech website? You gonna compare that to the intricate and detailed work of conspiracy research? Let me explain: Your site is like a fork, a simple tool. Conspiracy forums, are like telescopes into the past, and there's people trying to steer the thing, from both sides, to frame what the eyepieces sees, and at what focal depth it sees. Conspiracy is a secret plan by those in power, it takes massive organization to pull off any good conspiracy research (see the work of Anthony Sutton, Ahmed Osman, etc). You need focus, and you need to be able to defend your viewpoints against shills.

A tech website? What kind of shills and paid tards you get there? People trying to come in and post lies like "Hey all! Format c: has been found to be the new fix-all!" ...Uh, no. I am guessing you don't have to fight off morans like these conspiracy domains and their admins do. I mean did you read all that SERPO crap? It takes several domains to find truth with all the disinfo floating out there.

So anyway, I appreciate what you are saying: Domain nazis get a more obedient sort of click-slave aka "member", but to compare a speed test/tech site to any conspiracy research forum, is ludicrous. One is attacked by framers of ideologies, and one is not.

Common sense should rule people's behavior here, on both ends.

btw- many forums I go to, I'm there to teach. On ATS I'm here to learn, even though I have a pretty juicy background myself. The most I can offer is some analytical skills, and a fresh outside-the-box perspective.

It goes to the point that some groups or individuals will wrongly use ATS' broad audience for their own agenda. That's ok when their agenda is a benign specialty, like UFOs ....race war, hmm, not so much.

I suppose the topics themselves aren't the problem, but the dark cloud that follows (or leads) them around.

I do commend the owners and admins on a good outcome from their difficult efforts.