The ATS Popularity Contest

I really am enjoying your threads, keep em coming!

I probably miss most of them as I tend to jump on and off the forum daily. Let me know when something new comes out and I will try to help you out.

Take care and know you are liked and appreciated.

Speaking of such, I was amazed to see a user who had hundreds of comments (maybe over a thousand) and only 2 stars. Amazed. I mean, how does that even happen?
I highly suspect that my own upswing in star collecting occurred after changing my avatar to a slice of cake.
My threads fare less spectacularly. Most of them fizzed out after just a few replies.

reply to post by TrueAmerican

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
No, it is not my "popularity" here. I am not any more popular than you, or anyone else. I's tellin ya, there is no such thing. People here respond to stuff for all kinds of different reasons. And frankly, I was extremely suspicious about all those flags and stars for that thread, and particularly how fast they started to climb all of a sudden. And actually I have just uncovered through a little research some very suspicious activity on this site, and that is a subject I am about to take up with SO.

You author some really good threads and I think you deserve to be known for it, you set a good example around here. Thats very humble as well I think for you to have noticed that and are taking it up with SO. I did also think as I was replying earlier.. that is mighty coincidental that there were almost the exact amount of stars as flags. Do let us know how that turns out. I'm very curious to know if there is indeed some sort of exploitation of the S&F system occuring. Thanks bro, your a true gentleman as well as a true American.

Clearly i am the most awesome member on ATS! Thinking anything else is futile.....

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


You're OK, we have different opinions but that's just life. I think if you want to get stars it helps to post on the first page because so many people don't read the threads and just jump to the last page.
I'm way too slow to test that theory out though.

I do wish people wouldn't just start a thread and leave it without responding to any of the posts in the thread they started, maybe that's just me expecting too much.
I bet I won't get any stars for this post. If I knew how to do a smiley face thing I would put one here.

reply to post by LEL01


You cannot get or give stars in this forum.

Originally posted by bourbon2nite
reply to post by LEL01

 

You cannot get or give stars in this forum.

I know that's why I said " If I knew how to do a smiley face thing I would put one here. "
I must learn how to do that so you know when I'm joking but thanks for trying to help me out.

reply to post by 1/2 Nephilim


Well thanks.

I just wish people would get it out of their heads that people get flags and stars due to being "popular". I really, really think that's not true. And I've been here quite a while, as you can see. If that were really true, most of my threads would get lots more, but they don't. It's just that once in a while, over time, you author something that resonates with a large crowd, and that's pretty much it.

As to the other issue with SO, I sent him a u2u earlier, so my part in that is done. Due to the nature of the information involved, however, I really could not discuss that further as that is an issue for admins. And believe you me, they won't discuss it much with me either- all I can do is just inform them of what I saw. The rest is up to them. If action is required I have no doubts they will take it.

reply to post by LEL01


Look to the upper-right of the reply box when posting a reply. There are various emoticons you can insert in a reply. There are also many more. A smiley face is colon close parentheses with no space.

reply to [url= by OtherSideOfTheCoin[/url]


this isATS...shouldnt it be an unpopularity contest? Or at least "the most ostracized" contest? You can tell I'm trying to start a contest I would win....

reply to post by IandEye


Sorry I have already got that title and I will fight you for it.

reply to post by JayinAR


Thank you for helping me with that, when I send this reply we will know if I got it right.
I would have given out some stars here if I could have.

reply to post by LEL01

Well I'm currently running as PM and exacerbating all of my legal means of operation in doing so

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


While it is true that certain Topics that are specific to VERY strong emotions and opinions seem to get a huge response and sometimes both topic and responses are specific to sensationalism which is the reason so many seem to chime in using relatively short and agressive posts...if a person is to look...there are topics and debates of such that have real merit.

I myself have noticed that there always seems to be a topic about abortion or a topic about whether GOD exists or topics that generate very strong and angry opinions about the Israel/Palestine issue. I have found myself even participating as sometimes it's the only game in town and other more complex isues that are worth of debate seem to go unnoticed.

Still this should only make those of us that desire debate and conversation of issues that need answers to be able to write even better topics and raise our level of debate.

There are people on this board who are interested in the unanswered questions of Science and Math and the Physical and not so physical Universe. People who like to ponder and talk about deep issues and tough questions if they can just find an active topic to do so.

Well...we will just have to write good ones and ones that might apply to a larger demographic so that more people might be interested in participating.

Split Infinity

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


I see you registered in 2011.
If you can spare the time, dig out any number of threads from four to six years back and examine them. Compare their overall quality to today's threads; compare the number of flags and stars in any given thread to those in today's threads. Then select the best - most articulate or thoughtful - posters and thread authors from that time and check their profiles to see if they are still active, and if not, when they stopped being active.
Draw your own conclusions.

I will say this: the number of stars - and I think you'll find star-giving has dropped sharply in the past few years - is relevant insofar it tends to reveal the basic intention of most of the posters or visitors to any given thread. An increasing number of people don't visit a thread to really interact with others, to discuss; they join it to state their opinion - usually pre-formed - which is why often they don't even read other people's posts, nor do they appreciate other people's contributions. (I have seen at least one case where the poster admitted to not having read even the ORIGINAL POST, if you can believe it.)
Is it surprising, then, that it is the best written or most insightful posts that often get the least attention?
Not with such readers/posters, it isn't.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin

I have not been here for long, but I can tell you that I have always enjoyed reading your posts that I have seen so far, my friend. I simply do not always think to star and flag as the content is what I am really focusing on. I also do not have the time to dig through these seemingly infinite number of threads as I am sure many can attest to.

Personally, I am here to simply share and contribute with you and everyone else and if you and others wish to share and contribute back then I certainly welcome that. My utmost intention however, is to have just one other person, at least one, read what I write and say, "I have gained something from this."

To be honest, I don't think stars and flags are a good indicator a lot of the time.

I don't think anyone in this thread is particularly wrong ... Persons like RisingAgainst really do get attention from research and good threads. Moderators really do get more attention (for better or worse) than ordinary members. Some posters really can get reactions and therefore stars and flags by posting mindless stuff on controversial issues (though I don't think that makes them inconsequential!). Some people (grrrr) certainly don't read or pay any attention to threads at all and treat it like a high score table (I wish we could do something about this!). Some people I think get a few stars when they say harsh / funny things and keep doing it. A person really only needs to have a handful of star happy fans to seem relevant, but it's limited how far one can get being a jerk.

On the past: The site has got pretty massive since it first started, and biggest thing I notice looking back 3 - 5 years ago is moderating is spread a bit thinner these days through no fault of ATS. People used to be a lot nicer I think! Good people have always being coming and (unfortunately) leaving though, and posts move much quicker. Simpler topics etc just bump up more.

To be honest I wouldn't mind stars + flags etc being public or revealed to the user receiving it, and attached to usernames if we want them to be. ATS discourages one-liner 'good post' style replies, and I don't really feel a star means that much sometimes. I do throw out the odd private message when someone says something awesome that makes me change how I think but I notice the U2U thing sometimes doesn't tell you when a message has actually been received.

I do have usernames I look out for, because they are often attached to interesting posts ... but I rarely have anything to add to the thread, so the person wouldn't even know. Good number of persons I know at ATS just don't star at all so there is that, too.

I think with stars + flags and popularity etc ... just don't let it change beyond improving your writing if it's a problem. Be yourself I reckon. It works.

Originally posted by Pinke

To be honest, I don't think stars and flags are a good indicator a lot of the time.

No, they are not, and they mean less and less with each passing year. I would be quite happy to see them disappear entirely.
Stars encourage competition, and that draws juvenile people to this site - but at the same time, and by the same token, it alienates posters who crave real discussion.

People used to be a lot nicer I think!

Yes! See above.

It's true that "good people have always being coming and (unfortunately) leaving though", but the difference between the state of this site 5-6 years ago and now really is drastic and cannot be attributed to normal fluctuations, I think. A good poster never has any real reason to leave, unless the level of discussion and the general "atmosphere" of a site deteriorate.

To be honest I wouldn't mind stars + flags etc being public or revealed to the user receiving it, and attached to usernames if we want them to be.

Good idea. Dispensing with them would be the best, I think, but if they remain, this would be a good idea.
Of course I have seen it proposed before and nothing happened.
Apparently juvenile people mean a lot of traffic, and that's all that matters.

I think with stars + flags and popularity etc ... just don't let it change beyond improving your writing if it's a problem. Be yourself I reckon. It works.

Yes, but see that's WHY so many good posters left. When you give it your best and there is no adequate reply, with so many people not even reading other people's posts, there's no incentive to stay and continue giving it your best. So you don't give it your best anymore (which is soul-killing) - or you leave.

I like the way you express yourself, BTW.

reply to post by AdAstra


I personally have never given anyone a Flag as I believe that everyone has a right to their thoughts and beliefs even if I might find them absurd or idiotic or even hostile.

I prefer to address directly people who I feel have sunk to a new low and tell them what i feel about it and how it makes them look to others who are jsut desiring a debate and not an arguement.

Still...it is difficult for some people to seperate their strong feelings about an issue from their ability to debate the issue as for them there cannot be any debate at all as in their mind it is IMPOSSIBLE that they could be wrong or perhaps that someone else may have a valid point.

Sometimes I find myself caught up in such stupidity of arguing and I find myself later being angry that I responded in a negative way or if I was rude. Worse is if someone does actually piss me off and being so I find a weakness in them and cut them to the quick. This just makes me just as bad as they are being.

Since we are Human...it is inevitable that anyone will eventually reply negatively if they are attacked in a Personal way...still doing so just perpetuates the stupidity that those of us who seek good intelligent debate that is open for all opinions are trying to avoid in the first place.

I think the one area we can all work on is for all of us to seperate the topic or issue from the person. I know this is sometimes difficult to do especially when the topic is by design antagonistic and narrow in veiw. Still if we can all just accept the right of a person to believe as they will and not get upset when another presents a differing veiw...I think this will help us all a lot.

Split Infinity