New To ATS? Your Opinion Matters Too! ( A Call To New Members)

Hello fellow ATS brethren!

As you all might have noticed, ATS membership is on the rise. We have dozens if not hundreds of new members signing up everyday yet I see little conversation being generated by them. I think this needs to be addressed.

To all you new members who perhaps feel a bit overwhelmed by the level of conversation or debate. Please do not feel that way.

As a good friend of mind, SpartanKingLeonidas has said time and time again,

Jump in with both feet. The worse that happens is you get a little wet.

That being said, a lot of you were previously lurkers, who came and went just reading what interested you and never getting a chance to voice your opinions or experiences regarding those issues.

This is an invite for all of you to post post post. It is imperative. ATS relies on the fresh blood to keep the ball moving. Without the membership ATS is nothing.

YOU are the ones who provide fresh insight, outlook and challenges in the Conspiracy World. You are the ones who have seen things from a different perspective, who have stories begging to be discussed and opinions that are begging to be debated.

Do not be afraid of those who challenge you, it means you are doing something right.

It has to be said there our tenured members ( I can't include myself as I've only been here a year and change) are wonderful contributors and our resident SME's are a wonderful resource for anybody doing research.

Please reach out to these people for help. Even if it's just creating a new thread on a topic that's been discussed before. These members can offer invaluable knowledge and guide you in the right direction.

The staff here is also quite amazing, and I have never encountered one who didn't have the time to help with my problems or my questions regarding anything ATS related. Remember, they were members first and do this for free on their time.

Another point I wanted to make.

YOUR OPINION IS NEVER STUPID OR INVALID

Our motto is Deny Ignorance. One form of Ignorance prevalent on the Internet is that if you aren't somebody with a PH.D. or years and years of technical or hands on expertise that you are a shill and don't deserve to be talking about the subject at hand.

There are SOME members who express this ignorance on ATS. These members are not to be entertained by your intelligent conversation. They must be ignored so that they move on to a place that actually cares about trolls and the like.

The ones who care about our community at ATS and want nothing more for it to grow and expand will never treat you like a second class citizen for being new or blissfully un-informed in any topic.

We will gladly educate you and not make you feel like a complete idiot in the process.

So please, start posting, get to it.

And if any of you need help from me, my U2U box is always open.

With Care,

~Keeper

Good points, I felt like I had to just sit back and sponge what others were saying but if the learn/teaching is interactive it helps both, some members can seem a bit egotistical when it comes to being right but one can very quikly ignore them and continue with constructive collaboration, the larger the team of minds the more mystery we can crunch through

I totally agree, and I'm glad that the ATS membership is rising. For too long "alternative" points of view have been vastly considered useless, and make you look like complete morons to the people around you who will not miss an opportunity to destroy your theory and consider Fox News a valid information network.

I joined a long time ago, and browsing through threads is one of my best pastimes, as I always find interesting debates to participate in.

Excuse my French. cause I'm one.

Don't be afraid to start your own threads !

long live ATS

I agree with you Power. As several other threads have addressed the rising number of members this is yet another one that I'm glad someone
has thought to address. Don't be shy, we want your input. That's what
helps this place thrive. YOU are as interesting as anyone else here.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I agree 100% with you, tothetenthpower, jump in with both feet.

The water is fine, the mud is murky, and the conspiracy theories run deep.

I'll add that people will see just how deep the proverbial feces is with Government, U.F.O.'s, politics, military, the War on Drugs, and many other controversial topics, in your threads, my threads, and many other people's threads.

This is where the big boys and girls go play when it comes to getting to the bottom of what exactly is going on out there in the whole wide world, through the World Wide Web.

Whether you want help, and a little push, or you're curious about how to make a quality thread, just ask any member, Administration, Super-Moderator, Moderator, or just regular members like tothetenthpower or myself.

Almost anyone will help you, some will redirect you, and some will give you links.

Making High-Quality Threads : Ask and I'll Point You In The Right Direction

Now, thanks to tothetenthpower putting my name out, I'll give my latest thread out.

Blackmail : Keep Your Friends Close, Keep Your Enemies Closer, The Threat of Subversion Through Fear

Welcome to ATS, Freshmen (and women), and do not fear what you can explain.

Knowledge equals power, power yourself to be equal, through experience.

Here's hoping you have a lengthy tenure like many of our senior members.

Definately.

'Jump in with both feet'.

ATS can be a bit too 'cliquey' at times and needs new blood to stimulate fresh discussions and give new viewpoints and perspectives.

And I ain't no ATS sycophant but to echo a recent thread I think it's worth re-iterating that maybe some of us older members should be a bit more tolerant at times.

[edit on 17/3/10 by Freeborn]

Hi friends,
I'm new. I'm not as ignorant as I was last year. I used to like going to myspace, and facebook. Those groups had so little going on from day to day. Ever since I heard of ATS I've been hooked, I lurked for about a week. Then became a member.

No matter how bad my skills of putting together a thread are, I still get some response. I've seen some threads here that are mind boggling. Highly intelligent, easy to read and understand. I mostly just read the posts by members to take in all the many different perspectives, I add my own when feel compelled. After I post, I get mostly honest feedback. Mostly, because some like to misbehave, play with my words and ignorance. Thank goodness that my only feelings are the ones in my teeth, so I spelled that word wrong!

My perspective has got me into conundrums. I learn something new, and grow from my ignorance. Even the one's I hit the ignore button one week will get my diplomacy the next. Even those people can add a new perspective in other, less emotional threads. Well, I'm expecting that day to come with an open heart! I realize that I too tend to judge the messengers, not the message. To those who would like me to apologize for anything I posted, here it is. I'm sorry to have offended you in any way.

I'm still wet behind the ears, but I'm no longer asleep. I appreciate all the ATSers, the site. Thanks for everything.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


" This is an invite for all of you to post post post. "

Indeed I will , Thank You ATS . This Site could Really use a Piece of my "Particular Mind " ..............

reply to post by Zanti Misfit


Any respectful opinion or mind frame, is MORE than welcome here my friend.

~Keeper

Hi, I am a new member and although i like ATS i feel that ATS has a lot of idiots that are just goofing off and not letting it reach it's full potential. for example, the mutter box can be used for people to better talk in real time, and link information to help get their threads commented on. yet all i see is people trying to act 'cool' online, god these people have no life.

also is the concern of thread hijacking, which as a new member i didn't really know what that was but then i learned. Here is a link of a fellow member that was having a problem.
(link)

I also worked very hard on my thread (link), yet all i got was,"it sucks" on the mutter box. I felt really bad inside. I literally wanted to beat the # out of that member, but i knew they were all just goofs.

members should realize that this site is not a joke, that life isn't a joke, they are just making it harder for the rest of us and that is why new members are leaving, or are not posting. who knows they may have something really interesting, yet they wont post it because some of the goofs on ATS have to ruin it for the rest of us.

[edit on 17-3-2010 by togetherwestand]

[edit on 17-3-2010 by togetherwestand]

reply to post by togetherwestand


Well that's unfortunate.

BTS is a bit more fun and games, I would not take anything seriously that somebody tells you in Mutter, it's a big joke to us down there.

But there is no reason for you to be treated that way. The alert button is your best friend in those situations.

We don't want members to feel this way, and we don't want members making other's feel that way.

So please file a complaint. You may think your being a tattle tail, but your really helping ATS weed out those who don't deserve to be here.

~Keeper

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
reply to post by togetherwestand

 

Well that's unfortunate.

BTS is a bit more fun and games, I would not take anything seriously that somebody tells you in Mutter, it's a big joke to us down there.

But there is no reason for you to be treated that way. The alert button is your best friend in those situations.

We don't want members to feel this way, and we don't want members making other's feel that way.

So please file a complaint. You may think your being a tattle tail, but your really helping ATS weed out those who don't deserve to be here.

~Keeper

Yeah I know that BTS is like that, but why is it that there is no mutter box in ATS? It can be very useful.

I think the biggest problem in creating a thread, is the fact that even if you search a topic, and maybe don't put in the right search keywords (where a difference in personal description lies) then proceed with your topic of choice.

Only to be brow beat because of 'search is your friend' comments, and other 'astute' (sarcasm) members policing the boards to only tell the author this has been covered before', or the famous 'search is your friend' comments by all the moderator wannabe's.

That is the biggest reason I have '0' interest in creating a thread, doing all that work, just to have it snuffed because of a wrong keyword search.

That is just my opinion on new membership not bringing new views to a topic. Find the proper thread,(which may be years old) just to have a valid comment or theory burried under 200 pages of bickering.

reply to post by hhcore


I agree with you, however there's an easy fix.

Just link those threads in the OP. The same topic is not the problem, it's the viewpoint being shown.

If you have one topic, say for instance bankers, and you have two different opinions being presented, I don't see why the other should be shunned.

Mind you this is member driven and I understand where you are coming from. But to not participate out of fear of failure isnt' really a good reason is it?

~Keeper

reply to post by hhcore


So , you are Aware of the Powers of Observation here then I see ? Good , and you know why we know why we Exactly just Know what you are talking about here , Yes ? ....................

[edit on 17-3-2010 by Zanti Misfit]

Very good advice! Thank you! Maybe some, myself included, are reluctant to get out there and post because a lot of us, well, at least myself, are/were outcasts and ridiculed for having differing views. I shall strive to overcome that fear though and post my heart out. haha.

reply to post by togetherwestand


My husband is a member here in ATS for a year and so. That's why I started to gain interested in ATS and the topics discussed in here.

Without being beaten (joking), I made fun of ATS because I didn't knew what it was about. But then he started to show me some pretty cool stuff that is posted here, and my interest started to appear.

Don't be offended or even let yourself be beaten down by people who are behind a computer.

I'm not very experienced in online communities, but at least in my work, there are times where people are a little rude and hard online, just to be the nicest persons when face-to-face.

That also happens here, from what I can tell. People loose their shame when online, because they are anonymous.

Just do your best, and forget about those who think that they are better than everybody else. If you do good, good will follow you. And if you respect, you will be respected.

Ya I can definitely resonate with the feelings everyone is expressing. When I first joined ATS in 06 I was full of enthusiasm and launched a couple of threads. Responses were limited and muted, no heavy criticism thank god but it put me off expressing myself and with reading other people's comments on other people's threads, some people can be very cutting.

This cultivated a little fear in me of posting, as well as it being difficult to start a thread with new and original material, I just resorted to reading threads only and stayed in the habit ever since. The one time I came up with something I genuinely wanted to post in a new thread I found I have to hit the 20 limit.

This is probably a good thing as I'm changing my habit now and realising there is no such thing as a stupid post, as long as your not being a jerk on purpose. It also makes me think maybe that limit should be raised to 50 to get noobies into the habit of feeling comfortable with it and not shy, or would that have the opposite effect?