What makes you star and flag on ATS?

Arse kissing...

I always make sure I tell the member I'd given them a star or flag.

This is how I gain friends and influence people.

Flag for you m0r, you rock!

I only give out flags if:

1). The thread is of immense importance and I want to call other ATSer's attention to it. Like a news story that could impact us greatly.
2). The thread was a really great research piece the member put a lot of effort into but not necessarily life changing. Like a massive research expose on the Marilyn Monroe murder, famous hauntings, or what not. Or something that is just really interesting and I want to do my share to give attention to the thread.

That's about it for flags.

Stars:

1). They made a great point and made me think about things or had very unique insight into the topic that wasn't posted by anyone else.
2). They said exactly what I was thinking but they beat me to it so I don't want to leave a 'me too' post. So a star is my way of saying thank you and I agree.
3). It made me laugh. lol But this is pretty rare. It has to be very clever and in good nature- not a pot shot at an OP or fellow member. I DESPISE seeing one liner ridicule posts that have 50 stars while the OP who put in all the work and elbow grease is slapped in the face by it. I will never star those but I see it happen time and time again where a smart ass makes a rude post to the OP who did all the work and they are starred like crazy.
4). To say 'Thanks!' to someone who answers a question I asked in a thread, provided a link I was searching for, etc.

TBH, I'm not very liberal with handing out stars or flags. But the above is the reasons behind why I do it.

I star if a comment makes me laugh, or if I strongly feel the same way. So I go for similar points of view and humor.

At the same time, I'll also star for different beliefs than my own, as long as it is well thought out and makes sense to me.

I only flag threads I feel people should be reading.

* Good info
* Breaking news
* Witty responses
* Time and effort
* A good argument or counter
* Someone who bothers to be honest
* Respect

More or less my star / flag virtues.

Although I usually flag threads that I think are important or well written, I'm not above flagging threads I find to be inadvertently funny, you know: "NAZI dinosaurs vs. GOD!"

I have odd criteria for what gets a flag: Good subject (whether I agree or not), Well researched/written (agree or not), particularly humorous (especially if I needed a laugh), if I learned something new (whether I liked the subject or not), feel it needs to be read by others (especially if I became engrossed reading the thread) and if I have several replies in the thread itself (hey, I was compelled to reply, others might also). One other thing will usually get a flag...if I feel the thread is one of those "hidden gems".

Stars: Similar to the above but I am more apt to star than flag. Of course that has more to do with there being more replies than threads than anything else.

Applause: Yes, being a mod I can give those. The reasons can vary to the above, sometimes I will applaud if I see a person has learned something, admitted they were wrong about something, done something exceptional, because they mentioned something important that isn't mentioned often (again, one of those rare gems), because "I felt like it" (which can be for ambiguous reasons including a callback to the old WATS votes).

And the rarest thing of all...clicking on the friend button: Each has their own reasons, sometimes those are public and sometimes those are private. And yes, I consider myself as having more friends on ATS than those that listed (the rest of the staff, I consider to be all family of sorts)...just that the listed ones are special in their own right and they still appear in the order they were clicked. Some will notice that SkepticOverlord was first...and that was for considering allowing a topic to exist despite being very set against it. It takes a big person to publicly acknowledge that they might have been hasty in a steadfast position and the willingness to hear a core opposition was a bold and telling part of a person's character, especially when the listening was not done as lip service. Thus he earned my respect and the first person I clicked the friend button on.

As for the Foe button, never used it due to the negative way people have used it to mean that they dislike someone versus finding them to be a worthy intellectual adversary and/or counterpoint. Are there people I have disliked? Yes, but giving them the public acknowledgement with the foe button, is placing more value than they are worth in my opinion. And this coming from a guy that was so seething with rage over a betrayal that I came very close to actually killing (or kicking the ever-living crap as a bare minimum) a life-long friend over it. What saved him, frankly, was he was not home at the time I went there. So I wrote him off as dead for almost 2 years until I finally listened to his pleas for friendship through my cousin.

I always flag and star threads and post that have pretty girls in the avatars.

I always flag and star a thread or post if the phrase "people like you" is used.

Stars for clever censor circumvention.

I always flag a Mods thread because "they are human too" even if I disagree with the premise.

And I always flag and star clever sarcasm.

Just the other day, I read a post by a newish member that has changed my outlook on a couple of things. A half dozen sentences lifted me out of a bad mood that had stretched out for a few days. It was a good reason for starring and/or flagging their posts.

Sometimes the words we post on these forums can have a positive effect on the mood or outlook of people we'll never know about. They can make a difference. I bear that in mind by trying to be liberal with the stars and flags. The member mentioned above won't know that they made a big difference and none of us will...usually.

Other than that, it's sometimes a 'sympathy star/flag' when a member gets swarmed on by the ATS piranha fraternity. Likewise, some threads generate two pages of interesting discussion and none of the posters can be bothered (or don't think) to star or flag the thread. It seems unfair not to at least acknowledge their efforts. Stars and flags cost nothing.

In a word. Content. I frequently find myself flagging and/or starring posts and threads I don't even agree with, because the content is well thought out, and presented in a way that is conducive to the thread. It can be a short or long post, as long as it has a beginning, middle, and end that work together.

Sometimes, I may be a bit liberal I guess. But I value the opinions of others, even if I don't like what they're saying. So presentation of good content goes a long way with me. Probably because I need to work on both areas myself.

reply to post by m0r1arty


i'm pretty liberal with Star awards...
a post that gives new info or a different slant or perspective, whatever...

the post does not need to be academic or use 50¢ words... the message or meaning is clear to a average mind not filled with dazzeling BS


Flags are a real rarity from me... i think i placed 6 so far out of the 30k visits of threads i've read or looked at...

a lot of time I wish there were "Flogs" to counter the Flags...
it really sickens me to see something like 59 flags and 100 Stars for a lot of the fluff on these pages...


but hey, thats life