Signals' ATS Experiment!

About a month ago on a whim I put a link in my signature titled "It's Fun To Do Bad Things".

This link would carry whomever clicked on it to their own Profile Page. Yes, I have a weird sense of humor....

What happened next, was, a little surprising. I began to get some responses, via U2Us and messages on my Profile Page, both negative and positive.

Well, I thought I may be onto something here, so I changed the name of the link to "My Favourite ATS Member" just to stir the pot a little more.

What this became was my little experiment into Narcissism...with a little God Complex thrown in!
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6389a480fe2f.jpg[/atsimg]

What I am attempting to do with this Thread is allow us to take a poke at ourselves...Are we really as important as we THINK we are?

Next I'd like to share with you some of my responses, both good and bad.

~The names of ATS Members shall remain confidential so as to protect the Innocent~

(continued)

Here are some of the responses - (enjoy)

Whats the deal with linking people to my profile? I'm flattered.

(Me) How do you know you're not my Favourite ATS Member? Thank You & Happy Holidays! (Them) LOL! I don't know that I am not. I only assumed because I am so new here that it would be hard to imagine being anyone's favorite member. It's a nice thought though, it was nice meeting you.

Why do you have me linked in your profile? While it would be flattering if someone considered me their favorite ats member, I can't help but think you must be being sarcastic.

You cant answer a question with another question, unless you really dont have a legitimate answer.... Just not sure if you are a friend or foe. I see on your member page you have done the same to other members. Just wondering how I met your qualification is all. Its just kinda weird actually. You didnt add me as a friend, which I would obviously see and respond in kind. That to me tells me you are really not, and are putting me down, which I do not appreciate at all if thats the case. I would like to know the real reason. Maybe its because you think I am a "buzkill" as you put it, and are just not man enough to admit it.

Why the hell is your "it's fun to do bad things'"signature a link to my profile???

So.....Why is your signature "My favourite ATS Member" a link to me? Is it because I basically have nothing on there? I like to get on here and read....Whats the point in putting anything about me on here? I don't start arguments and I've never been rude when I've responded to threads.....just curious.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/37922adcaec1.jpg[/atsimg]

Great thread. That is hilarious!

I am just speechless really. Goes to show you how the smallest of tricks can mislead so many people. Now apply that to the so called real world and you will why everyone is so damn confused!

niice one! thanks for the laughs.
i too am a fan of little psychological experiments with people when it feels right. lol

thanks, have a good one.

(continued again)

So, what did my experiment prove?

Sometimes I think we should all take a step back and realize Earth still revolves around the Sun, not us! We includes ME, maybe there was some self-therapy going on here

Wiki Link I
Wiki Link II

CommonDreams.org Link

And, what did my experiment accomplish?

I made some new friends on ATS, which made it all worthwhile!

I just posted something completely off topic lol.

good thread, you got me once until i read the reply further down

[edit on 20-12-2009 by gandhi]

YOU ARE A GENIUS!!!!!! lmao.

how did you get the idea of doing this?

Nice job using a signature link to amuse yourself at other peoples' expense.

This was "therapeutic" for you?
Humans are upright monkeys; all of us.
Playing pranks is fun; but you've manipulated people and you're thinking that you've got some decent kind of psychological info out of it.
What are you, 5?
(And no I wasn't someone in the comments in case anyone who sees this wonders)

that was a pretty cool experiment! i must say, it didn't work on me after i saw in the URL that it was only /mem/ and nothing else, indicating that it would only link you to the current user's profile. but thank you, you gave me a moment of total amazement and humbleness.

APPLAUSE X 2

This is frickin hilarious, you will have to teach me how you did that

I thought it was hilarious. I realized what you had done, but my issue was I kept falling for it. (She's not too bright -- no, apparently not).

Sometimes I just forgot I had already clicked on it. And when you changed the signature note, I thought it might be something new, so I clicked, once again. So yeah, you got me several times!

Pretty funny. (Scoundrel!).

Edit to add: Oh, the photo's of "it's all about me", and Narcissus gazing at himself in the reflection pond are completely hilarious.

But...it seems like some people who believed it was about them didn't take it as a good thing, and kinda got ticked off. Hm.

[edit on 12/21/0909 by ladyinwaiting]

reply to post by Signals

Signals' ATS Experiment!

You sir (or Ma'am) are a real work, lol!

Enjoyed this OP immensely, thanks

First comes self-importance and taking oneself seriously and then being offended by the rest of the world not taking you that seriously and from that a lot of suffering.

I love poking fun at Narcissism and I applaud you for doing it - but be warned, questioning peoples importance is the most dangerous thing you can do.

[edit on 21-12-2009 by Skyfloating]

I just don't understand going to such great lengths as all this, just to say
something I remind people of all the time. Especially myself first,
followed close behind by the very many who seem to be so stuck on themselves. That being," there really isn't one of us, that would make
so much as a pimple on a nats azz, in the grand scope of things".
Nobody of this world, past or present or future, and especially those that think otherwise.
Yes I agree your humor is wierd but at least it's humor so SnF.

you will have to teach me how you did that

You know I wasn't involved so how the hell did you pull that off?
Hmmmmmmmmm......
Whatever just you should change the avatar, if you want us to believe you don't think so highly of yourownself.

[edit on 21-12-2009 by randyvs]

reply to post by Signals


Brilliant ... this is one of the most original things I've ever seen on ATS.

Would have been even funnier if I'd clicked the link myself and thought I was your favourite member ... how deflated would my head have been to discover the truth.

Like your thinking.

Woody.

Hello fellow Rush fan!

I remember clicking on that not long ago and it went to my profile page. I felt like it must be a mistake so I checked my list of the people who picked me as a friend and noticed you weren't there. Then I thought it might really be a mistake since there's no reason within the social dynamic of ATS that that I should be that "the favorite". Looking at the link I wondered if you had copied the wrong URL my mistake or actually meant to point to your own profile but copied the generic /mem instead. It just seemed weird. I shrugged it off, never thinking about it again until seeing this thread with the explanation.

In summation: Wonderfully sneaky and brilliant tactic. I wish I had thought of it!

Edit:
A little more thought tells me about my psychology in my assumption that you were simply incompetent in creating a link which is consistent with my subconscious worldview. Yeah, just an idiotic superiority ego rearing its ugliness. I might as well just fess up.

[edit on 12/21/2009 by EnlightenUp]

reply to post by dragonsmusic


Do you feel uncomfortable being suckered, as if someone can actually pull the wool over your eyes and you won't see it until its too late? Your reaction appears to me to exude the fear of being a victim.

Originally posted by EnlightenUp
reply to post by dragonsmusic

 

Do you feel uncomfortable being suckered, as if someone can actually pull the wool over your eyes and you won't see it until its too late? Your reaction appears to me to exude the fear of being a victim.

It's not uncomfortable. It's having studied NLP and hypnosis and knowing how most people can be manipulated with incredible ease.
It comes from knowing that this is a microcosm of the s#$t that gets pulled over people by their governments everyday.
This is harmless compared to that.
It's like when people laugh at how commercials control their minds , but never stop and think about what that actually means.
It makes me think of laughing sheeple is all.
Laughing sheep who think it's funny that they can be controlled outside of their own awareness and not think about what it means.
Most people on the ATS come here complaining about when governments do that sort of thing; but they don't see it on a daily basis where it matters.

reply to post by dragonsmusic

Good point!

I am not sure which is worse, the apathy, the arrogance
or the enjoyment we feel of kicking someone when they are down.

I sure picked the right name!
We destroy ourselves, each other, and our only home,
all the while thoroughly enjoying our supremacy over it all.
Nice.

reply to post by dragonsmusic


baaarbaaar ... OMG they got me.

Relax ... life is already far too serious ... we need to be able to laugh at ourselves ... it's being such tight-asses that causes the problem.

Not a good advert for NLP imho !

Woody.