More Glitches in the ATS Matrix

[FlyingClayDisk]

Since I joined ATS, 20 years ago, people have been complaining that ATS is an echo chamber of those with ideas opposite to theirs.

Politics only made it worse.

"Worse" and "Better" are subjective in this context.  I disagree that politics made ATS worse.  I personally think it made ATS even more relevant.  Worser or better-er.  Politics made ATS worse for some people today, and better for the same people tomorrow (on a different subject).  It depended on the day. 

How many times can Roswell be discussed, or Area 51, or Bigfoot, or some blurry picture?  Politics are the new conspiracy du jour. 

What made politics 'worse' for some people was when their own personal political ideology got challenged.  This wasn't some distant blurry picture which was taken thousands of miles from their back yard, it was something real, and something right on their front doorstep.  It affected them personally.  It was reality, sometimes going upside their head with an opposing and equally credible viewpoint.

Politics may have made ATS 'worse' for the moderators, because it required much more 'work' to moderate fairly (and some were not able to do this).  Discussions were much more passionate and filled with emotion because they were closer to people's hearts, they had an actual and real effect on their lives...today.  Politics wasn't some distant concept, or some fantastical thing, it was real and it was in their face. 

Politics was one of the things I loved most about ATS.  Just about every discussion on any topic can be distilled down to politics...even Roswell, Area 51 and Bigfoot.  With politics included ATS rose to the highest levels it ever got to prior to that.  Oh sure, some old-time members got disgusted because their favorite topics were getting squashed by all the other noise, but then 'mud pit' was created to contain that.  With politics included at ATS, people could discuss anything at all; there were no limits to discussions.  When I first joined ATS in 2013 the ATS stats were still climbing, and 'mud pit' had long been established by then.  ATS was a bastion of free speech, something few other websites can achieve.

The mantra of this website is "Deny Ignorance", and one would be doing the exact opposite of this by denying that politics have a very real impact on people's lives today.  It would be denying reality, which is the antithesis of denying ignorance.