Whats happened to ATS?

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
reply to post by TechVampyre

 

I don't think its the staff,its the members.
The staff run the site very well and I have never had the problems you have.
Hmmmmm think about that.

I have seen a handful of these "staff" be as guilty as the basement dwellers that insist fairy tales are reality. Whether they contribute to the posts or initiate threads themselves.
Many a time, these same "staff" have made outlandish claims with absolutely no sources but "because I saw it". Try to post a comment calling their bluff and you get in trouble.

Originally posted by Allis1
- Everything changes over time, If things didn't change they would not be able to grow
- So why limit the subjects of discussion?
- Can you not just steer clear of the forum's that don't interest you?
- If you truly think ATS is bad why are you still here?
- Why not do something about it? (Be the change you seek) Show us a new conspiracy
- What if there isn't any new conspiracies or evidence to talk about?
- What about if the nature of how conspiracies are executed have changed?

The whole point is this:

If ATS is truly changed, then perhaps the slogan "Deny Ignorance" needs to change too. Because at least 60% of all new threads in the past 6 months, have been loaded with pure ignorance, fabrications, fairy tales, B Grade Fiction and just plain unsourced BS.

And Many Mod's actively participate in said threads, without enforcing the sites T&C's.

What ever happened to "If you make a claim, list credible sources"?? Those days have all but gone out the window.

Speaking as staff:

We are not here to editorialize, censor, decide which topics merit attention and which do not, or to drive content in any direction whatsoever. We have a very clear, plain, three-fold purpose. We enforce the Terms and Conditions, we facilitate courteous conversation and debate between members, and we try to keep spam / duplicate threads and the like off of the boards.

Speaking as a member:

I hate to be the one to say it, but ATS has always had bad threads. In the 7 or 8 years I've been around, there have always been way, way, way out there ideas here. But, having said that, my idea of "bad threads" may not at all, nor in any way, match up to your idea what constitutes a bad thread. And that is kind of the point. One mans "bad thread" is another mans "gold mine".

Not a day goes by that I don't find a thread that I find to be educational and informative. It is true that when I was new, and most of these topics were new... there was a pot of gold behind nearly every click. But ATS hasn't changed since then. I have. I am more learned now. I've been exposed to much of what ATS has to offer, already, several times over. There isn't as much "new" to find here for me.

In short, the honeymoon is over and I've moved onto marriage with ATS. And this happens to most, if not all of us. If you take the time and actually search out these threads you'll see a pattern... Most are authored by members who've been around for about three years. It's sociologically and behaviorally interesting and relevant to note this. As there is a pattern.

OP... is it possible that maybe you've just gotten to the honeymoon being over stage?

I will concede that there are more trollish and nonsense threads these days - but they are proportionate to the growth in membership and to the number of relevant and good threads.

Just some food for thought.

~Heff

Originally posted by MadDogtheHunter

And Many Mod's actively participate in said threads, without enforcing the sites T&C's.

Mods who participate in a thread cannot moderate that thread.

Originally posted by MadDogtheHunterAnd Many Mod's actively participate in said threads, without enforcing the sites T&C's.


Maybe they were posting as members and not as staff.
From what I understand (which isn't alot) staff can't moderate in threads they are contributing in.


Nevermind....thanks Heff.

edit on 18-3-2011 by DrumsRfun because: (no reason given)

reply to post by Hefficide

I totally agree that theres still many useful and informative threads on ATS. However, the pattern I see devolping the fastest, is the replies of malice and bully-ish in nature. For an example; a thread is started on a subject that is very important as a whole, to all ATSers....only to find that somewhere on page 2, some troller decides to post a very colorful insult only to entice off-topic arguments. I have lost count of how many times this happens and a Mod ends up posting an opinion without reprimanding that troller. No matter how off-color and hateful their reply was. This is the most noticeable pattern to me over the past 6+ months. For reasons like this, I have become hesitant to post as often as I used to. And I'm sure you'll find that many other "veteran" ATSers will say the same thing.

Originally posted by Hefficide

Originally posted by MadDogtheHunter

And Many Mod's actively participate in said threads, without enforcing the sites T&C's.

Mods who participate in a thread cannot moderate that thread.

Question begs to be asked:

What about all the bad replies that need moderated BEFORE the Mod decides to contribute? See my previous post.

I'm a pretty new member, in the sense that I just registered last July. But I lurked here off-and-on for years. In fact I was just lurking when I noticed this thread, and I want to add my .02.

At the time I joined, last July, things were still interesting but starting to go downhill. Then there was a "burst" of new members, a lot of crap topics, more and more old members started complaining, and then they started bailing. Who knows where they went--maybe they found another "Top-Secret" Abovetopsecret that we peons don't know about. I sure wish I knew where to find it....

reply to post by MadDogtheHunter


Moderators have assigned forums. Super moderators do not. IE there are forums I am not assigned to. I like discussing politics and sociology - so I post to those forums and am assigned to moderate others.

Chances are that the mods posting into these threads are not assigned to those particular forums. They are only authorized to deal with extreme T&C infractions within forums that are not theirs.

If I am in a forum that I am not assigned to, and I see baiting, trolling, insulting, etc. I do the same thing that any member does. I alert the post. Look at my thread count and then look at my actual threads. I've probably made about 30 threads, but my thread count is probably around 600 or 700... those are all complaints.

We do make a very, very strong effort to keep the boards clean. But a staff of 74 (give or take one or two) keeping up with about 10,000 posts per day (lately) is quite a challenge and we rely upon members to help point us in the right direction.

~Heff

reply to post by Hefficide

Totally understandable. But maybe ATS needs to have a small Staff recruitment to keep up with the influx of fantasy posts and hate speech thats been infecting as of late. Just a thought.

Afterall, when a machine starts squeaking, you need to add extra oil

Originally posted by MadDogtheHunter

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
reply to post by TechVampyre

 

I don't think its the staff,its the members.
The staff run the site very well and I have never had the problems you have.
Hmmmmm think about that.

I have seen a handful of these "staff" be as guilty as the basement dwellers that insist fairy tales are reality. Whether they contribute to the posts or initiate threads themselves.
Many a time, these same "staff" have made outlandish claims with absolutely no sources but "because I saw it". Try to post a comment calling their bluff and you get in trouble.

As much as I like this site, I feel the same as the OP.

I joind in 2009 and the site was much more interesting back then, I dont like the way ATS is going

reply to post by MadDogtheHunter


Well everyone comes here for different reasons, obviously the reason I'm here is not the same as yourself

May you also note there called Conspiracy Theory's not Conspiracy Facts, thus meaning one individual may place importance on different observations and emphasis on certain aspects that may not agree with your observation's

I'm sure the owners are very flattered by your impassioned comments about this website but at the end of the day, thats all it is, if you don't come to terms with the by-product's of it's popularity your going to become the troll that you so despise

Peace

reply to post by MadDogtheHunter


Seems more of a matter of which forums you are going into. I still regularly see plenty of well-supported theories in many forums (Aliens/UFOs, Ancient Civilizations, Science, Space Travel, 911, etc., etc.).

Nostalgia, its not like it used to be.
I bought a time machine next week, maybe you'd like to borrow it?

reply to post by MadDogtheHunter


may be it is the site owner who wants it this way. but I don't.

Vampires *are* real. Ever see those signs with the poor unhappy child saying, "Please give blood." Ever thought that blood banks are more like the McDonalds for the Vampire? Yep. Neither have I. Good post. S & F

reply to post by hmdphantom

I suppose what it comes down to is..to each his own.. True enough, some threads are descriptively weird and the imaginations of these are colorful and... Absolutely extraordinary to say the least. Still .. Even if we don't agree with what is being posted., Maybe just maybe... it sometimes gives us a good chance to try to find out why they view the world the way they do.
We all have our weird side...or maybe you don't. I know I have been labeled weird many times in my life. Not here on ATS, but it is not too late for that!!
I know it takes a lot of patience and perseverance sometimes to continue to read these threads, but you can always go to another more plausible thread that suits you, if it's not there, it will be soon.

Sorry hmdphantom..meant to just hit reply.. This post was just a reply in general and not aimed at you personally.
er..weird..

I think it has something to do with bringing in the BTS stuff. I liked it better when BTS was BTS. That way we only saw the ATS stuff. No zombie creppola.

reply to post by MadDogtheHunter
I miss the hell out of Cyber Space Orbit, everyday I could spend hours on there finding out about everything. I really miss Kent. Things change and not always for the better, but so is our perception of reality. I quite going to UFO Conferences years ago because someone went back home and wrote a mean articile about the things I said. Therefore for years I haven't talked about my experience but with a few friends and family. And am definitely afraid to talk about it even on ATS. I get called crazy for posting a thread that what is being seen in Japan are spirits. There is one video last video on there that shows a the samething that is in the other videos going into the Nuclear Plant explosion, now ET's would not even do that or helicopters. Now people are seeing lights without substance, spirals that governments say are missiles [that were never seen until 2005, when missile launches have been going on since the 50's. Sometimes I think there are more debunkers on ATS, than believers, everyone is an expert now. On Cyber Space Orbit I was the TIME TRAVELER. [excuse the caps but that is how I typed then, "dyslexia"] People can put ugly, laughting, demon, smiley faces on their comments but because I am dyslexic and have trouble typing or spelling right unless in all caps; I am being rude. The faces are childish,hurtful and rude.