How ATS has changed over 13+ years

I've been on ATS for about 13 years. In the early days, ATS posters and lurkers were interested in the most popular conspiracies. Folks enjoyed the early promise of the Internet...a deep resource for researching, providing links and doing more research, connecting dots and pointing out holes in initial/original stories. Most people studied hypotheses, contributed ideas, and enjoyed the devil's advocate back and forth. People questioned the MSM and committed themselves to serious detective work.

Thirteen years later, the site feels much more divisive and divided into countries or cultural positions. There is a lot more America bashing it seems. There is a lot more ANAL application of site rules and procedure and more personal attacks. The trolls don't seem to be put at bay as quickly and a crazy number of threads on the same topic seem to proliferate.

What once felt like a community, seems more like a collection of lone wolf skeptics taking jabs at one another. I miss the feeling of "we're in this together trying to find out the truth." The site is still amazing and often the first place I turn rather than MSM, but does anyone else feel that the site has lost a feeling of brotherhood or comeraderie? Does anyone care?

reply to post by Losonczy


I have lurked here since after 9-11. I think what you are experiencing is internet forum infiltration from a variety of sources. Sock puppets, disinfo agents, and the like. I have seen it on other forums as well. You have gatekeepers and others who try to mold or divert discussion of certain topics. Welcome to the surveillance state.

I care. Can't say much cause I joined 2 years ago and have no clue how ATS was 13 years ago. Even in between these 2 years that I have been here I noticed a MAJOR change as far as quality of threads and members. I think as of now, I'm the only one who hasn't made a Boston thread go fugure. Gee, stop feeding this horrible event. I'm not commenting anymore on any Boston threads.

Before all the mumbo jumbo and more internet atuff seemed to be alot more relaxed and helped ppl get out and live , now ppl dont set eletronic devices down and think hey maybe i should live my life

reply to post by Losonczy


13 years ago.... most everyone was trying to become a Mod...so they put on their best
" investigative reporter " jacket....
many worthwhile posters, thread creators have since left the ATS sphere


i used the name 'riffraffalunas' back before 2004 when i replaced the old broken down and infected IBM PC
'groingrinder' from apache junction got me to look into ATS, from another site/forum board back then (pre 2003)


today...i think ATS has gotten bitten by the tweet /social media bug....
It never was a scholastic or intellectual citadel... It was always a collective more than anything else... with only the 3 Amigos the only persons that held any aura of being Gurus,,,

but even with them it has always been a level-playing-field between everyone...a form of true democracy where all are equal





Before Its News, another forum has some of the developing kinds of threads that ATS had back then....

but you will find the same devoted 2 dozen people that are active... and very few threads that are weeks apart.... its like a western ghost town with tumble weeds & dusty floors

I think for me, too many of my friends who offered a truly prolific view of society and culture have been banned for whatever reasons. I see us all as members who will eventually get banned for honoring what we believe in and speaking our mind when it isn't currently popular with ATS administration.

Knowing this fact has left me empty for the ATS experience in the long run. I think things change as society does and what happens inside of ATS is really not that different from the rest of the world. Clicky, cliche type of friends and or groups that struggle with the slight ebb and flow of power and relevance.

Just know that one day subject matter you feel passionate about will come up and for whatever reason you may not be able to completely express yourself about it and you will have to either deal with that and move on or face the banhammer. Once you realize that simple fact, ATS is a great place to hang out.

I've been reading ATS for about 8-9 years.

Nowadays it's just more political arguing. A bunch of Fox news viewers came over here when the birther conspiracy was propagated. Now the site is spammed with right wing blogs that include no sources. Either that or blaze articles.

There needs to be more political diversity.

All the popular left winger seem to get banned for whatever reason,.

Originally posted by Losonczy
I've been on ATS for about 13 years. In the early days, ATS posters and lurkers were interested in the most popular conspiracies. Folks enjoyed the early promise of the Internet...a deep resource for researching, providing links and doing more research, connecting dots and pointing out holes in initial/original stories. Most people studied hypotheses, contributed ideas, and enjoyed the devil's advocate back and forth. People questioned the MSM and committed themselves to serious detective work.

Thirteen years later, the site feels much more divisive and divided into countries or cultural positions. There is a lot more America bashing it seems. There is a lot more ANAL application of site rules and procedure and more personal attacks. The trolls don't seem to be put at bay as quickly and a crazy number of threads on the same topic seem to proliferate.

What once felt like a community, seems more like a collection of lone wolf skeptics taking jabs at one another. I miss the feeling of "we're in this together trying to find out the truth." The site is still amazing and often the first place I turn rather than MSM, but does anyone else feel that the site has lost a feeling of brotherhood or comeraderie? Does anyone care?

edit on 19-4-2013 by Losonczy because: (no reason given)

Ya,..been here awhile too.

Things are definetly 'different'.

Better?.... no.

Worse?... no either.


But the time they are a changin'.

Originally posted by Losonczy
I miss the feeling of "we're in this together trying to find out the truth."

Aint that the truth.

ATS is, was, and has been since it's creation, a honeypot.

reply to post by Losonczy


LOL WUT? I don't remember anyone holding hands and singing "Kumbaya".

And what is your definition of "America bashing"?

I've been coming on this site since about 2007/2008 to just read and finally joined this year. What I see now that I don't recall seeing so much of back when I found it is defensiveness more than truth seeking (which mods and members intervene on when distracting), and perhaps the expansion of this new language aka (pun intended) of acronyms and abbreviations that are not always clear. For example, I know what the main ones are such as FBI, IRS, DHS, NRA, NWO, FDA, CIA, FDA, USDA, UFO, MIA, MIB, and even ATS (and other obvious ones), but over a single visit I saw things in forums that include but are not limited to NDE (this means near death experience in my professional world but my acronym didn't fit the topic), KW's, BTS, SH & BM (referring to shooters), BT's, IED's, NARCAP, and AFP.

I feel I'm an intelligent person but not as keen on all agencies and acronyms as most so always appreciate seeing people spell out their abbreviation after its first use if not a well known one. If I chose to keep reading I can usually figure things out but find it a pain if I have to leave the site only to look up the acronym and be given a few choices and still not have it make sense (or feel like I lost some IQ points for not realizing it without looking it up).

Overall I get the sense that the changes are due to more people and perhaps a greater diversity. It's a twitter and instant messaging world and everything is moving so fast (I have noticed a marked increase in anxiety, an inability to stay focused, and overall inability or unwillingness to slow down and think in my work with people over the last couple of years). I stumble through the site myself as its a safe place to come out of this severe writing block I have but I certainly like to be challenged to do more research, and have intelligent, constructive, forward moving debates. At this time in my life its not even about a certain topic but about anything that gets the mind moving. I see lots of posts on the same subject that reiterate what breaking news, twitter, or reuters tells us, and thats all good as it gets the conversation going but I'm always the most stimulated when I see people post links to new information after some digging or when exploring something more deeply where I leave feeling a better grip on the subject. I also like it when people tell us "why, what, and how" in addition to the where and when. I've actually gotten quite the education in politics thanks to good posters who include those three things and don't just feed opinions or theories without the meat and potatoes brought to the table.

Originally posted by Losonczy
What once felt like a community, seems more like a collection of lone wolf skeptics taking jabs at one another.

It comes and goes. I made a thread along these lines not long before taking a year or two hiatus from the site due to all the trolling, bickering, and general nastiness. This is actually my first post in a year or two (maybe longer?) and I've returned to find that many of the people I enjoyed discussing things with have either been banned or left of their own volition, and apparently the same things are occurring now that were occurring when I left. It's comforting in a way to know everyone is as crazy as they were two years ago.

Point being, I can't speak as to atmosphere around here recently but can tell you that the rest of it cycles from what I've seen.

ATS could have once been a community of likeminded genuine individuals, but it's alot different. The culture of America has changed too so maybe that's a cause. Many more members as well. Disinformation agents, if they exist - this is exactly the place you'll find them. Generally 'insane' or otherwise, 'troll' people.. exist too - as they do everywhere.

This can be a good perception builder. To be able to decipher a multitude of thoughts like that, to be able to perceive what could a hidden truth in it all is a developed skill - not a learned skill, and definitely does not come naturally.

If you can recognize a person blatantly spouting out a baseless claim.. Even if it's impossible to say they are intentionally spreading disinformation, it's good to recognize such a thing.

Our collective is a force, a tidal wave, that most a drowned in.. But the strong learn to swim.

ATS is a tool that I use for whatever purpose suits me at that time.

Right around 99 I found ATS while doing MSN searches for stuff that interested me. I registered with Atlantis Rising and was a very active member there through 2004 ATS was too large/expansive for me back then. Once AR soured I came here around 2007.

Now a days there is very rarely anything new coming across the wires. It is like all the leaks of information have been plugged up. They learened from their mistakes. And now we just see continuous rehashes. So I stick around and do the art thing, and read the occasional interesting thread. This site has the largest avatar space on the web i think, and gives me a nice canvas to work with.

I find it interesting how many times today members of ATS have insulted ATS as a whole
and so they insult themselves too

none of us are exactly sane
none of us are completely crazy
and I mean here on Planet earth not just ATS

Originally posted by Helious
Just know that one day subject matter you feel passionate about will come up and for whatever reason you may not be able to completely express yourself about it and you will have to either deal with that and move on or face the banhammer.

Any thread that is against gay marriage almost invariably get closed for staff review these days.

reply to post by Losonczy


In the good ol' days, and I was here for most of those, the site was much, much smaller than it is now. The ratio of staff to members was much smaller than it is now. We all knew each other, and behaved accordingly...

...with the increase in size, comes an increase in the behaviors you dislike so. Be the change you want. Set the example. Instead of complaining about it, try to set a good example.

Originally posted by ollncasino
Any thread that is against gay marriage almost invariably get closed for staff review these days.

I'd say that threads about gay marriage tend to go more off topic than PETA at an grey hound track, and some certainly go on forever and then get close ....

But what you're saying simply isn't true, and the threads I see get closed are the same five people chasing each others tails.

Originally posted by WaterBottle
There needs to be more political diversity.

All the popular left winger seem to get banned for whatever reason,.

edit on 19-4-2013 by WaterBottle because: (no reason given)

I think it can seem that more people you like get banned because you notice the people you like.

I'm allegedly a horrible liberal that is bringing down humanity, and I don't think I've ever really been close to being banzored.

Other posters hit nails on heads ... bigger site = people more likely to say inflammatory things that cause impassioned debates that suck everyone in. That's why it's called 'the mainstream', because it's a flow and it's hard to go against it.

Originally posted by Pinke
I'd say that threads about gay marriage tend to go more off topic than PETA at an grey hound track, and some certainly go on forever and then get close ....

But what you're saying simply isn't true, and the threads I see get closed are the same five people chasing each others tails.

Maybe you are right.

Still, aren't most threads on ATS five people or less chasing each others tails? It seems a weak justification for closing anti-gay marriage threads.