(04-26-2023, 01:48 AM)Freija Wrote: There's still something fishy about all of this.
Wasn't ATS sold like two years ago? Where has this Darko cat been all this time and despite many member pleas and conjectures about the new owner why is it only in the last couple of days that information is dribbling out and changes are being made or proposed?
I can remember Darko from my days there, although I think he was just a member then, rather than an admin. I'm not sure he's the owner, despite what that new admin said - it wouldn't be the first time folks have been lied to, y'know? I was told it was someone else entirely, but can't rule out a group being co-owners.
Quote:@"Ninurta", it is not just or always a case of one member slagging another that makes the place toxic. Try looking at things from my perspective and see how slurs and degrading comments towards certain groups of people are not only allowed but applauded by many who are completely obsessed with parroting what their right-wing bias confirming sources have told them to think. It is sadly pathetic that this level of ignorance and disrespect is allowed to fester and that so many of the people there are nothing but easily triggered simple-minded sheep.
ATS used to be great, informative and entertaining. Now it's just a hellhole.
Oh, I kinda understand. Although not in the same league as yourself, over time I was called a "redneck", a "hillbilly", a "bubba". and other, less flattering, things during my time there, almost always in a roundabout way so that I wasn't being "directly targeted". Mostly I think they were just trying to piss me off and get a rise out of me... but the fact is, I AM a redneck hillbilly, so it didn't bug me as much as they thought it would. Luckily, in my case I'm not very easily triggered, so it just sort of rolled off my back like water off a duck while I set about destroying the accuser... but in a nice way, of course.
You are correct, of course, that there are a lot of simple-minded and easily triggered folks there, just as there seem to be in our general population of the US. That makes it even worse, because it's not hard for trolls to get a rise out of such folks Matter of fact, I think there are some trolls there who specialize in trying to get a rise out of easily triggered folks just to watch them get banned, which doesn't seem very sporting to me.
I used to spend hours a day there, but haven't done so in a number of years. Now I just check in occasionally, so I'm sure I've not gotten the full flavor of what it has become now. I do know there were a lot of complaints around the 2016 election and it's aftermath that ATS had become a "right-wing echo chamber", but that was never my experience when I spent a lot of time there. When I was there, it seemed to be pretty much evenly divided, which made it interesting to me. I could always count on some left-winger to pick a fight with me, and that's one of the places I honed my skills in making friends of enemies.
You see, when folks in your own tribe respect you and are a friend, that's not much of a feather in your cap. Making friends of former enemies, without capitulating or losing what you are, now THAT takes some finesse!
ETA: Some day, I want you to explain to me what is wrong with putting tomatoes in a fruit salad. After all, they ARE fruits, and I eat them just like I eat apples. You'll probably have to talk slow, and maybe spell some things, but I bet I can eventually get the gist of it!
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