There is a toxic culture of doubt and cynicism flowing all through ATS. The majority of the daily topics are political in nature and most of the members have a very conspiratorial bias to the point of asinine delusion. There is much gaslighting, and many of the viewpoints sound like they are coming from jerk introverts that don't travel and just watch the news.
A little research into the more popular contributors reveals that many post on ATS for 12 or more hours a day in predominately politically charged forums. A look into the content of these posts reveals little substance, and the majority of the time they are goading and prodding those with different views. Many of these members are using multiple computers and sock puppet accounts to further boost their neon green stars and reinforce their opinions.
There was a time when it was a different landscape, but that time is gone. What's left of the paranormal forums is the same old people seeing phenomena in dust particles lit up by the flash on a handheld camera. The UFO well has practically dried up. Hundreds of millions of cellphones with video capability+ the new arrival of consumer drones and still nothing.
That leaves politics. And it has ravished ATS and revealed a lot about its members. Quality contributors are a thing of the past, and when they appear, it's still all about politics. Divisive rhetoric is king.
After several years of reading the site on and off through a couple of presidential campaigns and bogus UFO disclosures, I've learned that ATS is mostly morons, some pseudo intellectuals, a whole bumper crop of social justice warriors, a LOT of old men, and a few real psychopaths, many of them seem incredibly lonely, and use the site as an echo chamber.
It was announced recently that the site is potentially going under. It's no wonder why.
Good riddance.