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Originally posted by Red
The funniest part is that TC himself would argue that he couldn't possibly be #1 because he's NOT a frequent poster.
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Truth. I was just saying that a couple weeks ago. In terms of actually posting and being an ATRL participant, Nick and Ryan are both miles ahead of me, it's not even a contest. Plus, I'm not really sure what it says when the most visible
administrator of the site is deemed the most essential member. This **** is rigged!
THAT SAID, it's an honor to be recognized among such Internet legends. I admit most of my development/design for ATRL is done as a hobby to keep my "tech mind" active when I get bored, but for some twisted reason I do actually care, too, as I've stuck around for over 10 years (geez). There's something about this place that you just can't deny.
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Originally posted by Kworb
Based on looks and functionality ATRL is seriously the BEST forum on the internet that I've seen, and I've trolled hundreds of forums all over the place. Just browsing this place is always a pleasure. Very few webmasters are as talented as TC. Honestly it's a shame that despite his incredible work on this site, the majority of the people who go here are pressed stans looking to fight for their faves. ATRL is not a battleground, it is a work of art.
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I appreciate that a lot, and I'm glad to have been the main designer of a website that has consistently grown over the last 11 years. We're now getting 3 million views per month. That's like 10 times as many as we got in 2004, and it's even 50% more than we got at the beginning of
this year. It's amazing. ATRL is somehow more popular than ever.
Maybe we can thank generous search results on Google and exposure on sites like Twitter for some of this recent popularity. But it also demonstrates that people are posting news and info on ATRL that people across the web actually care about and want to know. That's cool! If it's important in pop music or pop culture, it's almost guaranteed to be on ATRL.
Of course, it's been an ATRL tradition to make fun of our own members, but it's not that bad. Sure, it's full of young guys and the occasional girls who will stop at nothing to defend their favorite artists and bash the rest to eternity on the basis of charts and sales... but what do you expect when one of our taglines is "obsessed with pop music" and we originally came out of TRL, the show that turned pop music into a daily battle to find out who's #1? It makes perfect sense.
Besides, have you
seen the average "comment section" on the most popular websites, blogs, forums these days? It's awful. ATRL beats that trash any day. There's something resembling a community here, at least. But anyway!
Quote:
Originally posted by Ace Reject
1. TC
Does anything really need to be said? This man has become, in effect, our eternal father - always a little ornery, but still the one who keeps the lights on. He is the alpha, and the omega. One of the first to reach out to the indie crowd. Never turns his back on his pop roots. Stans for middle America, but has a cosmopolitian attitude. You all could never.
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Bart, your write-ups have been informative, nostalgic, and ridiculously entertaining. You even got me exactly right. My opinionated and stubborn leadership style, my inexplicable blend of indie and pop, and most importantly, my "cosmopolitan attitude" (love that phrase) in a decidedly backwards geographical location. NAILED IT.
It's been fun to see some old friends return to ATRL for this event. Congratulations to all 100+ members, thanks to everyone who responded (Ed, yankee, Red, Kworb, Johnald, arkl, Marnie, etc.), and thanks of course to the main man himself for putting this together. Now, given the breadth of this ridiculous post of mine, this could very well serve as a goodbye speech, but I know (for better or worse) I'll still be around awhile. Next stop, Best of 2010. See you there!