How to fix ATS

Thought I'd share my thoughts on how to take ATS to the next level, as it has definitely gone downhill since the bans a while back, so here goes...

Get rid of the mods and don't censor anything; it really is as simple as that.

To justify this statement, i implore people to mooch through reddit. It's a free-for-all and is a very, very popular site, more so than Digg. They do this because it's user generated content and they do NOT moderate content (unless it's child porn or similar).

Here's the killer solution............LET USERS DECIDE WHAT POSTS ARE WORTHY.

If a post gets enough down votes, then it becomes disabled, so the community flushes the crap from the toilet, not some power-tripping, subjectively opinionated mod / staff.

Also from Reddit, notice how threads can go off-topic with child nodes and then people can bring the subject back for discussion by simply replying to the parent post. A nice hierarchical tree of eclectic opinion and diversity.

And yes, you can swear till the cows come home and discuss anything and everything. This does not dilute the 'high-brow' intellect that constitutes the reddit community.

Needless to say, i adore the UGC of reddit and feel that ATS and CT sites in general, need an overhaul if they are to survive the non-events of CT lately (swine flu, timewave zero thingy, fema camps et al).

Perhaps there will be a lull and things will pick-up again whenst 2012 beckons. The gravy train will then begin rolling again and ATS and other CT sites, will capitalise on the click-through ads as they perpetuate and instil fear, a fundamental pre-requisite for the CT demographic.

As you were...

[edit on 14-12-2009 by PrisonerOfSociety]

Again?

I would recommend for you to use the Complaint form within your account, but I think it wouldn't be fair for staff to have to read this. I think ATS is fine the way it is, but I'm obviously not speaking for everyone.

Have a nice day.

reply to post by PrisonerOfSociety


Are you an advertiser for Reddit or something ?? If you love it so much why don't you two declare a domestic partnership and have a surrogate baby.

ATS is fine the way it is, sometimes I wish there was more censorship, or at least an age limit to discourage all the Twilight Fan's who believe it was a documentary.

reply to post by serbsta

I would recommend for you to use the Complaint form within your account, but I think it wouldn't be fair for staff to have to read this. I think ATS is fine the way it is, but I'm obviously not speaking for everyone.

Yep this one would be better off hidden away in the suggestion box.
Where no one would ever know.

[edit on 14-12-2009 by randyvs]

Ats isn't broken.

ATS is fine the way it is I put you in the same category as the cry babies saying it should be more censored. If this thread shows anything it is that ATS is playing down the middle and that is a good place to be. to ATS and the mods from subjective truth

If a post gets enough down votes, then it becomes disabled

I think it's a half decent idea...but we need an option which would allow us to view those hidden posts because I don't want to risk missing out on very important information which some people just so happen to find offensive, useless or totally crazy...I believe the only posts which should actually be removed by mods are those which are EXTREMELY offensive and not just healthy criticism, those which are totally off topic and have no substance or valuable information...and those which include illegal content...

EDIT: But I guess ATS is pretty close to what I just described I suppose...or is it?!?

[edit on 14/12/09 by CHA0S]

[edit on 14/12/09 by CHA0S]

Personally I think this place without any censorship would crash in a few weeks

I like it as it is now...and the old adage...nothing is stopping you from leaving here and starting your own anarchistic forum

-Kyo

Maybe we could try paying less attention to the mirror and get back to the issues?

This is not to criticize anyone but, as a group... we sure have become a tad self-centric as of late.

Personally, I don't always agree with every ATS policy but I'd sure miss it if it weren't here. Besides that, there is collectively years and years of experience behind the controls.

It's your dime so... you talk about whatever you want to. I just think that we've become a little too focused on ourselves.

Cheers

Originally posted by redoubt
This is not to criticize anyone but, as a group... we sure have become a tad self-centric as of late.

YES!!! I agree completely

When I hear silly thread sthat ATS stopped a shuttle launch...I really don't think we are near as important as the masses may think

don't get me wrong...I love this site

Also maybe OP should go be on Reddit and not here

-Kyo

When you joined, you agreed to ATS terms and conditions.

If you can not or will not follow them, you are free to leave.

It seems to me, the way to fix ATS is get rid of whiners.

The mods are a necessary evil, end of story. The concept of a user moderated system never seems to work, because without the ability for human judgement to bring about instant results (banning, etc) you will find that spam bots and the malcontents of the internet will take over in no time and essentially have the place shut down for harboring unsavory material such as hate speech, child pornography or warez/pirated material.

The concept of user moderation is just as flawed, because I could get together with a group of prolific members and make a coordinated effort to downvote every single post by a person, a group or on a certain topic and bury it, thus leading to the same scenario of heavy-handedness that you claim is going on at ATS.

This is the system we have, and for the most part it works most of the time, we just have to get used to the quirks and deal with what we have.

This idea of "censorship" is pretty overblown. Mods are only tasked with helping members and enforcing the Terms & Conditions. If mods take actions outside of this, then they are accountable to other members of the staff (and yes, mods have been "de-modded" in the past for acting in such ways).

As for "fixing" ATS, that's really up to the members. Contribute more quality posts if you want to see more quality. Post on anything if you want more anarchy...there's a forum on ATS or BTS for just about anything.

Most members like the fact that the site has terms and conditions, but you can't please everyone all of the time.