Conspiracy is going mainstream. What will the ATS response be?

I think we are seeing a massive sea-change in perspective. The kinds of ideas, issues, and whatnot that ATSers have been familiar with for years or even decades are still mostly unknown to non-fringe-dwellers, but this is changing before our eyes.

One of the most obvious and powerful examples is the way the "goldbugs" and "economic doomers" have been repeatedly proven right again and again. From the financial woes and now the gulf crisis, people are waking up and groping for not only new answers, but entire new perspectives and worldviews.

We take for granted being treated as cranky outsiders and edge-thinkers out of step with the conventional view...but the unimaginable is happening: the world is coming to *us.* Somehow I thought being "proven right" would feel better after all these years of condescending smiles. Instead I find myself more disturbed than ever.

I predict that this trend will continue and accelerate as our world falls apart in the coming dark years. This, combined with the ever-increasing role of "non-mainstream-media," can only mean an expanded role for ATS. I am curious as to waht the management or other members feel about this change and what it means for ATS. How will ATS change along with this trend? What should it do? What should it not do? How can it make the most of what seems certain to be a massive shift in social perception? How can we help ever more people to Deny Ignorance?

They are already knocking at the door and I have a feeling that sooner rather than later the trickle will develop into a steady flood.

I for one will just keep talking about the crimes of the state against my life.

How they are using electronic mind control in schools in uk. Who the hell knows what these people are doing destroying lifes for no reason.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by LiveForever8


I hope when all these new members come in yours is not the first post they see...

ATS is here so people have a voice and can spread the truth...

If more are waking up, it is because of places like ATS...

The more the merrier I say, just hope its not too late...

reply to post by silent thunder


If I were a movie exec, I'd have a team of a thousand researchers scouring ATS daily, there is a wealth of movie ideas here!!

Imagine one day, if conspiracy becomes the norm and being a sheeple becomes the new "Crazy" thing to become!!

ATS will become the new BBC and ABC, and celebrity/gossip/mainstream news will be on the FBI's watchlist.

Oh dear, I took it too far

reply to post by silent thunder
Hello,

That's an intriguing question.

I was thinking that the conspiracy chicks and their production team can be taking on the role that JohnnyAnonymous and his production team did when I first found ATS.

Did JA run a newscast daily? I can't remember?

Daily newscasts, with beefed-up servers!

OH OH OH OH! Like The tool-man on TV.

More Power?

Originally posted by virgom129
reply to post by LiveForever8

 

ATS is here so people have a voice and can spread the truth...

If you knew why I did such a pathetic post you might change your mind. Spread the truth? Have a look through andy1033's posts and you will see why I reacted the way I did. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

As for the OP;

I believe that ATS should just carry on as normal. I would hate to see it become too much like the mainstream media but as more and more people take notice and join it is going to be hard to keep the tag of 'alternative news'. A lot of people already come here before anywhere else for their news.

It's all about keeping their integrity, I'm sure they will

I agree that conspiracy is going mainstream. I was just going to post a thread about putting news articles there that have the phrase, "according to conspiracy theorists, blah blah" in it. Lots of news seems to have to reference "our" point of view (which is laughable since even conspiracy theorists here seem to have vastly divergent POV's).

What should the response be? Uhmm... dunno.

[edit on 17-6-2010 by jcrash]

I dunno about all this mainstream acceptance. Is it really there? I am sure many have been pushed into looking at alternative theories as a result of the major meltdown of credibility in the main stream world -- the corporate corruption, the sellout of government to big business, the lack of accountability and on and on.

However, I don't see it as much more than a little ripple on the surface. Most people will be only too happy to get back into the comfort zone consumng all the fast food and major league sports they can should there be even a little uptick in the economy.

I don't think there has been nearly enough disaster happening to really cause a major shift in thinking in the American and European public.

reply to post by silent thunder


I agree with the OP totally, I have been on ATS as a member for 7 years and about 2 yrs before that as a vistitor and soooo much has changed since then.

BUT i don't agree with calling it Conspiracies any more...rather TRUTH Movement. What is out there now that was a conspiracy and is now Truth is awsome actually.

Example, 9/11: A Boeing 757 Struck the Pentagon by CatHerder managed to get so many people asking questions that it formed a part of the 911 Truth commission and some might even say it started the Commission...

Keep on trucking is all :-)

Valorian





[edit on 17-6-2010 by Valorian]

reply to post by silent thunder


Many conspirators do not follow main stream views, they rather go around looking for information researching the pros and cons learning in the process.

As people are becoming awake and using the net to open their horizons, question the status quo and learn that their lives are not as centralized as they thought, they become skeptics and start to see that is always another side of the story bury somewhere.

One's instinct is to argue that the mainstream has more important things to worry about than conspiracy theories or the views of those who believe in them. On reflection, however, it may be quite a good thing: more light focused on these theories will help establish the truth or falsity of them - at least for the nonparanoid majority - once and for all.

Of course there will be much heat generated along with the light. Elements of the mainstream with agendas of their own will climb onto various conspiracy bandwagons to pursue their own selfish ends, temporarily inflating the credibility of various crackpot theories through sheer hype. But I like to believe that truth will prevail in the end.

How should ATS respond? Obviously, by making hay while the sun shines.

Meanwhile, someone on ATS should ask why conspiracy is going mainstream. I bet that would be an interesting thread. Off to do that now.

As the boat rockes more and more, people start to think out of the box. They want better answers than "talking heads" provide.
If we get thousands more, ATS will just need BIGGER servers to handle it, and we will have more eyes to watch and ears to hear.
Better for them, better for us!

Our "brand" of thinking may rub off on some "Normal" people and that's a good thing. The negative side is as the ats population increases the quality of threads and post will decrease. In other words as we gain credibility we will lose credibility at the same time. What we need to remember is the truth will never be a sure thing there will always be liars. Our goal should be to change the processes people use to "create their realities".

The will just find a way to hijack it and make it lose its punch.

Mark my words. The words we use, terms like NWO, Bildeberg, etc., will just be applied to some distraction some group they dont like, while the real puppeteers reinvent themselves.

They hijack all the words and terms that can be used against what they do, what they stand for. Hence the "Patriot Act" which chips away at the Constitution, and other flag waving terms applied to treasonous policies.

Conspiracy going mainstream is heartening in the sense that we succeeded in getting people to question their assumptions, but I do not think the game is over by any stretch of the imagination.

How should ATS respond?

By giving me a raise, of course!

I agree with OP, I do think maybe more and more people are looking to seek the real truth from alternative news sources.
Just tonight I got a a text from this girl I know who said she was watching some Alex Jones and even letting her son watch it... I was shocked because I would have never though she was into any of this conspiracy stuff, let alone assume I am.

Originally posted by kiwifoot
ATS will become the new BBC and ABC, and celebrity/gossip/mainstream news will be on the FBI's watchlist.

Some of these questions are pretty good...Like, if MSM swerves over to be like ATS, then ATS would effectively become mainstream, wouldn't it? More people than ever would be clogging up the bandwidth, even though ATS has already expanded a looong way since I started here in 2002. I've commented here & there that I've been around ATS long enough to feel like part of the family; Certainly not in the immediate family, even though I've been twice asked & turned down the offer of becoming a Mod. No, I think I'm more like the uncle that visits a whole lot & watched how well the kid has grown up.

In contrast, I also sometimes feel like I'm the madman sitting in the corner babbling incoherently that everyone loves to try ignoring.

But if/when ATS really becomes "mainstream," then what? With hordes more members of the tinfoil brigand being considered "normal," ATS would have to keep growing & growing...Some years ago, I posted my wonderment at ATS' growth, in such that I sort of asked, rehtorically, if Simon Gray had any idea how much of a monster this little website would become when it first hit the Info Highway. Oh, ATS is a benevolent monster...Arguably even a neccesary monster in these "intersting times" we live in.

Increased membership & even casual browsers are bound to start picking stuff from the ATS Store (shamless plug intended) & then the website could really accelerate into the Big Time. Think of the companies that might start begging ATS for ad space...

So what now? TV Station? Let me point out that I don't watch much TV at all & haven't for years...For several years, about the only thing I watch with any regularity is WWE Wrestling & that's only for a couple of hours per week. At least I know what I'm getting into when I watch it; it's just pure entertainment (Heck, World Wrestling Entertainment outright tells you that it's for entertainment!). I like to think of it as a soap opera after a heavy hosing down with testosterone!

But if ATS ever gets on the tube on a regular & consistant basis, I think I'd even start justifying having a TV set for a change. But why stop there?

Why not syndicated radio shows nationwide? Equally widespread publications...Maybe even get the NY Times relegated to the "tabloid rack" in the supermarkets...(God, I'd love to see that!)

Okay, I think I've come down off my rainbow for the moment, so I'll close this post with the following:

ATS...The best invention since tinfoil. Thank you founders (including our dearly departed William One Sac. Rest in peace, bro...You've worked hard at this for a long time, passed on your legacy & you deserve your rest).

I honestly don’t know. Talk is so cheap, and so many people could be doing things everyday that would improve life for all of us like not shopping at Wal-Mart, and not buying foreign made goods, and walking or riding a bike on a lot of short trips that they would normally drive, and keeping their money out of the hands of the Bankers.

But for the most part people won’t do these things, as they feel the impact will be too small, and they will if everyone else goes first.

It’s great that some of us are not seen as nuts or loons anymore, but the truth is, that they can distract people so easily anytime they want, by either creating a crisis, that makes everyone forget everything they have been talking or thinking about, or simply kick starting the economy and turning on the credit tap.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That could change though, when people stop talking and start doing the things that they really could be doing, that really will all add up, when and if, people want to take real responsibility for the situation we are in.

In all sincerity I can't see much of a difference. The Lame Stream Media is perhaps a little more shrill than it used to be. Polite discourse has given over to yelling and screaming. It used to be that the media could get their points across with some irony, rarely asserting personal opinion. Now we have Chris Matthews with tingles running up his legs and he doesn't even know what an idiot he looks like. lame Stream Media doesn't appear to be concerned with the facts. Objective Journalism is an oxymoron. Bush did it.

Here on ATS every dithering conspiracy theory is welcomed with open arms and immediately tied into the CIA/New World Order Illuminati Alien Black Ops by people who REALLY know what's going on because they are, like, so much smarter than the sheeple they disdain. Yeah, that building 7 was blown up and the BP platform was attacked by a suicide crew of North Korean submariners and those planes were holographic images and it's not over about those caret drones, my friend. Bush did it.

LSM and ATS grounded in reality? -- Not.