5000 points just for joining the ATS feed on twitter?

Originally posted by beefeater
I think this sucks, people work hard to get points but join some stupid networking site and you are gifted 5000 points. It undermines the hard work of people on this board.
I think you should be ashamed and how do you know the mod giving the points out doesent have some agenda to gain members for this daft site. Earn 500 members and we will pay you xxx?
Nothing in life is free......

NEW: AboveTopSecret.com is Tweeting on Twitter!

Over the years, we've had lots of queries from members and even well-informed outsiders as to our overall lack of presence on mainstream "Social Networks" such as MySpace, FaceBook, Friendster, etc. For the most part, I've never come across a useful feature, function, or reason for ATS to adopt one such service over another. However, after some preliminary experiments, I believe Twitter provides our community with a unique additional method to expand awareness of our topics, our members, and what our members are thinking.

For those who are unaware of Twitter, it's a slightly different twist on the concept of social networking that encourages participants to contribute short blurbs about what they're currently thinking and doing. It's gaining popularity in many circles, especially since it integrates mobile devices, IM, and email into the mix. To many, this might seem excessive, if MySpace were coffee, Twitter is like crystal meth in comparison! But then... it hit me... the genius of something like Twitter may not be what one person is thinking/saying/doing, it's more likely going to be what a large group of like-minded people are saying, doing, thinking, and hoping for.




The AboveTopSecret.com Experiment With Twitter


AboveTopSecret.com On Twitter

AboveTopSecret.com and our Twitter Friends

As you can see, we've developed a method to automatically feed Twitter new topics that quickly generate several replies. We've been at it for a couple days as part of our initial test.

And as you can also see, a few astute ATS members have noticed our Tweets (that's what a Twitter update is called) and have decided to follow our updates, and we're following them. The resulting with-friends page is an aggregate list of everyone's tweets.

Hrm... now that is where ATS can take this concept and push it someplace truly different.




The AboveTopSecret.com Firehose Of Consciousness on Twitter


Imagine, if you will, an AboveTopSecret.com & Friends Twitter page with dozens, or even hundreds of ATS members providing one or two tweets a day, along with the regular hot new topics. This becomes especially valuable if your contributions are meaningful and not the typical "waiting for pizza dude" type tweets that seem to be prevalent. We'd end up with a running relevant commentary of what's important to us for all the world to see. A firehose of what we think, as we're thinking it.




Starting The Experiment


To encourage our members to join and participate with relevant tweets, just do one of the following:

1) Already On Twitter? Follow our page, then U2U me with your Twitter username.

2) Join Twitter With Your ATS Username then follow our page

3) If your ATS Username is taken on Twitter use a different name to join Twitter, follow us, then U2U me your username

We'll award ATS members that follow our page with 5,000 ATS points. (Not to worry, membership in Twitter requires a minimum of information.)

If all goes well, the ATS & Friends page will be a stunning stream of consciousness on a fast-rising social network.




DISCLAIMER
There is no relationship between Twitter and The Above Network, LLC. This idea is purely born out of us noticing the potential that exists with integrating such a service. If any relationship between us and Twitter were to develop because of this initiative, we'll be sure to provide full disclosure.