Regarding notices from ATS via ATS' private messaging system...

Originally posted by InsideOfItAll

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

Originally posted by InsideOfItAll
I have not seen any of the people complaining about the spam messages get mad and angry.

Because such posts are often removed as off topic.

Then I would like to repeat my question: Why is it OK for some of the members in this thread, spesifically those who defend the spam messages, to resort to name calling and insult those members who do not like the constant spam about the ATS Recap videos?

I thought civility and decorum was expected of EVERY member here, and would like to see the T&C reinforced in a fair way. I do not appreciate being insulted simply because I state my opinion about something.

As for me I do not care one way or the other about the U2U messages but I would also like an answer to this question. It is like someone has something to gain from this somehow. What is up with that? I do not defend them and I do not assault them but like InsideOfItAll stated , what is going on here?

Originally posted by Destinyone
I consider myself as a visitor to the *home* of ATS. I certainly didn't build this home, but I do like to spend time here.

That being said, I've never been the type of guest to tell the home owner, how they should run their home.

The messages to me, are all part of being a visitor. ...I'm more than happy to play by their rules.

I will second and third that simple statement. Very well said. We are guests. I will bide by T&C, and respect the "Home" so many people work hard to provide for us. If not for their diligence, this would be just another GLP.

You have to give credit where credit is due.

reply to post by InsideOfItAll

it is a product which clearly targets a very young audience, and many of ATS' members fall outside of this targeted group.

Well, at 43, I think I fall outside your supposed target group. I still like the videos. I think Brian is a good representation of ATS in general, as a spokesman for a summary for what we talk about here on ATS. I have no complaints, in fact, I appreciate the deviation from a "sit at a desk" news feed. I like the format, it's refreshing. It's different. I like change. I like the stance that ATS has taken with this aspect of a video feed. I could voice an opinion about CONTENT, but I think that, in a nutshell, is what people are afraid of. The content scares most people. You are no longer just anonymous if you are mentioned in the recaps, you are splayed out in front of the rest of the ATS community.

Validation from yours peers can be very scary.

Suck it up, or quit posting.

In other words, grow a pair.

Namaste.

Originally posted by Druid42

Suck it up, or quit posting.

Thank you very much for the advice, which I am sure you are giving from the goodness of your heart. But I will leave it up to myself or the ATS staff do decide if I should stop posting, and if they do, they wil sureley ban me.

Until then, and as long as I have something to say, I will continue to state my opinions. The last time I looked, ATS was still a discusstion forum, and for discussion to take place, opinions are needed.

Thanks for you input.

As usual, ATSers will have differing opinions about just about everything, and this is no exception.

Also, as usual, it's important for us to express our opinions politely, and avoid tainting the discussion with personal commentary, insults or slights. Some of us seem to be sliding a bit too far into that territory.

Pro, con or indifferent, let's please respect the rights of our fellow members to hold whatever opinions they wish, and remember our manners when discussing site policy.

Thanks.

Originally posted by jerryznv
I don't know for sure...but it seems your with the majority here that could do without them!!

I would hardly use the word "majority". The mass U2Us are sent to 14,000+ members and I count only about a dozen or so that feel that the issue is important enough to complain about it... Majority? I strongly doubt it.

Really.........
Dont like,dont open it and just delete it.

Actually,I dont mind the recap. I have found threads,that I overlooked.


Helpful actually.

reply to post by Thurisaz


Maybe you should go back and re-read the post of the person i was replying to. Maybe even the first three posts on this thread would do. You have missed the mark completely.

Originally posted by Gemwolf

Originally posted by jerryznv
I don't know for sure...but it seems your with the majority here that could do without them!!

I would hardly use the word "majority". The mass U2Us are sent to 14,000+ members and I count only about a dozen or so that feel that the issue is important enough to complain about it... Majority? I strongly doubt it.

I meant the majority of people that have posted thus far in this thread...sorry to confuse you!

I mean this is where you get to speak your opinion...and at that point...most of the people had said the U2U's where bad (troublesome, bothersome, etc...however you want to view it)!

to be honest, its not really a big deal as previously said its easy enough to delete them, the only messages that have been iritating me is the recap ones almost every day, every time i see the little private message icon glow i actually groan coz i know what it is - as i said not a major issue but thought id stick ma big nose in any how

put the flamer away...yes u ...u in the back.........PUT IT DOWN!!! NOW!!! now back away from the flamer and go about ur merry business thank you very much

Originally posted by Gemwolf

Originally posted by jerryznv
I don't know for sure...but it seems your with the majority here that could do without them!!

I would hardly use the word "majority". The mass U2Us are sent to 14,000+ members and I count only about a dozen or so that feel that the issue is important enough to complain about it... Majority? I strongly doubt it.

Originally posted by Gemwolf

Originally posted by jerryznv
I don't know for sure...but it seems your with the majority here that could do without them!!

I would hardly use the word "majority". The mass U2Us are sent to 14,000+ members and I count only about a dozen or so that feel that the issue is important enough to complain about it... Majority? I strongly doubt it.

I think he's referring to the majority that are responding to this thread. I have been reading it and had no intention of responding until your post. Yes, the u2u's are a minor annoyance and I have been waiting patiently for them to go away. In order to get rid of the yellow message light one must read it or delete it and I seldom delete any u2u's I receive.

To read them (or delete them) it takes you away from the page you were on - perhaps better if going to the messages opened a new window. Besides reading or deleting one must backtrack to where they were before so they can continue on.

I have not gone to the Recaps, perhaps I will one day. ATS Live was on for a year or more before I started listening to the program and now do so regularly. I may do the same with Recaps but all in my own time of choosing.

It is mostly ATS staff on this thread defending the u2u practice, quite defensively, along with a few others - and I respect their opinions. I could be wrong but I don't believe that those folks who WANT a new u2u for each new show are the majority, I think the majority might be those like myself who were just going along with it but probably were not particularly interested and would really rather not receive them. I am, however, quite delighted to know they are there and that ATS has many quality features for its members and viewers.

If any here are actually interested in knowing what the various members think of it then my suggestion is that the Recap reminders be done in a different way, perhaps how ATS Live comes up in the temporary banner as a reminder. If the Recaps were less frequent then u2u's might be in order. I thank ATS for first letting us know about them by way of u2u but now I'm just waiting for the messages to stop in their own time as I expect they eventually will.

Originally posted by Gemwolf

Originally posted by jerryznv
I don't know for sure...but it seems your with the majority here that could do without them!!

I would hardly use the word "majority". The mass U2Us are sent to 14,000+ members and I count only about a dozen or so that feel that the issue is important enough to complain about it... Majority? I strongly doubt it.

If I was ATS, I would see how many of those 14,000 messages are deleted without being read, or are opened and there's no 'click through' to the Recap section.

That would give a better measure of marketing effectiveness and the 'mood' of the members.

I would like to add my "crass" voice to the "minority of members" who are tired of receiving the same message every few days about something I have no intention of ever looking at.

I understand you may have you're own reasons, but so do I, and so does everyone else.

You are not wrong for wanting to get the message out, and we are not wrong for choosing what messages we wish to receive.

You may see it as being a small annoyance that is easily solved by a delete button, but when someone has to hit that delete button every couple of days, the small annoyance starts to build upon itself into a major irritation. Keep in mind this is not a regular internet forum, this is ATS, these are not regular internet zombies, these are people with, shall we say, "heightened perceptions of reality" and are a bit "more sensitive to their surroundings"?


I see many people attempting in vain to help you solve this minor problem in a way to make everyone happy, and your refusal to listen to them or to take the concerns of a "minority" in your own community seriously, and the obvious contempt a few of you seem to display in their voicing their concerns, plus the fact that you allow those who agree with you to speak with derision towards those who dont, speaks volumes.

I have to wonder how long this site will manage to maintain its diversity of opinion when those who are in control decide what opinions hold worth. Probably not for very much longer, with 2013 coming up soon, you may find yourselves scrambling to please in order to validate your own existence.

it seems almost every time i log in, i see a new message in the ribbon and i get excited that one of my fellow ATS'ers has privately messaged me. I check the message and it is 95% a message from the staff which i plan on NEVER looking at. It wasn't that bad a few months ago, now it's every other day i get a message.

Since January, 9 messages from admins. I can't stand it. It's making me not want to use this site.

reply to post by BeastMaster2012


So...you are *threatening* to leave ATS, if the *owners*, who provide you a free, valuable, content rich site, don't agree to acquiesce to your, quite frankly, unreasonable demands?

I would hazard a guess, the *owners* of this site have invested well over a million dollars over the years, to provide this forum for you to gripe about how they, the *owners* choose to run *their* site.

I find that slightly humorous...at best....

I receive U2U's every time I log on from various sources so...

This is no big deal for me. I read the ones I want to and [Click/Tick delete] the ones I don't


Easy peazy, Nice and Easy.


PEACE

P.S.
I always follow the link on the Recap posts but don't always get involved in the discussion.

Originally posted by Destinyone
reply to post by BeastMaster2012

 

So...you are *threatening* to leave ATS, if the *owners*, who provide you a free, valuable, content rich site, don't agree to acquiesce to your, quite frankly, unreasonable demands?

I would hazard a guess, the *owners* of this site have invested well over a million dollars over the years, to provide this forum for you to gripe about how they, the *owners* choose to run *their* site.

I find that slightly humorous...at best....

I don't know why you can't understand this, but i will try to explain. I had been using this site happily for years, and they just started to mass contact every other day. I like this site, but why bring up the cost of the site? Would you pay to be a member of a site to discuss something? I would hope not.

It's nice that the site owners are trying to make their own content and get their content seen, but i honestly have no interest in seeing that content. I am only interested in the ancient history and religion section, which is rarely ever discussed in mass mails.

I just wish there was a way to opt out of it, or a way to not have the ribbon pop up.

reply to post by BeastMaster2012


I understand what you are saying. But, I still find it unreasonable.

I bring up the cost of the site, because it's reality. ATS didn't just happen on fairy dust and rainbows. A site of this magnitude does cost money to grow and maintain. That's fact, not something that can just be shoved under the rug and treated like...out of sight out of mind.

The fact that we are *guests* here on ATS can't be shoved under that same rug. You have a free buffet 24/7 with ATS...you are complaining about a dish you don't like being served. It's not that big a deal to use the delete function in your messages. If you don't like it....ignore it.

Be a gracious guest.

reply to post by Destinyone


I appreciate what you are saying and appreciate what the owners are doing, i am just voicing my opinion, as you are. I can easily hold my tongue and just stop using the site in anger, but i chose to voice my opinion, i'm sure there are a few others that feel this way. I don't mind getting important messages, or maybe a message a week, but every other day and sometimes every day is very very annoying to me. Maybe not to you, but to me it's spam. It is mainly the ATS recap. #7 #8 & #9 were messaged out January 3rd, 5th & 6th.

Originally posted by FortAnthem

Originally posted by neformore
So why shouldn't ATS advertise its own content within its own forums? Strikes me as a bit crass for people to complain about it.

Also, we may overlook the really important announcememts if we become accustomed to deleting mass U2Us. There is such a thing as overusing the system. Its the "boy who called wolf"; after a while, nobody listens anymore and when you have something REALLY important that needs to be put out, people are likely to ignore it.

Save the mass U2Us for important messages.

This, is the most important thing. I do not want to see anything from ATS in my messages now that they have sent so many in the last 2 months. If this were my email, i would have unsubscribed to their email and stopped visiting their business.

Also his point about people on slow connections, that would be very annoying to wait for the message page to load up. Sometimes it can take someone 30 seconds to a minute to connect. All of your points are so valid.