(04-13-2025, 12:38 PM)FCD Wrote: I'm not sure what to think on the subject of ATS and a shadow-hand's involvement.

I think it's certainly possible, but I also see lots of things which don't add up to that same conclusion.  And, maybe 'shadow-hand' is a premature usage.  Perhaps I should have said 'government hand', because I very much DO think there was something going on at ATS.  "What?" though, is the $64,000 question.  If I had to speculate, I'd say it is far more likely that the later days of ATS were a product of some incomplete or unsuccessful PAC action, trying to collect ammunition against one political party or the other (i.e. conservative or liberal).  But, which one is completely unclear; I can see angles for both.  I could see conservatives trying to draw out "gotcha's" from the left.  However, given the loose reigns on conservative posting, I am also inclined to think it could have been a liberal PAC hoping to draw out radical conservatives and get them to start talking crazy stuff (including even possible violence, etc.)

I don't think it was a government administration control thing (neither Biden's nor Trump's, but I could see a bit of an Obama angle if pushed). 

As for the advertising angle, politics aside, I think it's important to realize that discussion forum boards are pretty dated technology.  They've been overtaken by shorter form social media such as FB, Tik-Tok and X (among many others).  People's attention spans have been reduced to 20 seconds and/or 280 characters or less.  Society is getting dumber.  Advertising dollars are going to go to the places where the majority of people go, and this is not on long-form forum boards.  Hate to say it, but we're a dying breed.