Quote from EricP:
Baron,
Do you tend to agree or disagree with the OP's statement:
"Successful traders will not start quality threads anymore because there are always a few slimy maggots who are intent on wrecking them. This hurts YOUR website."
If you disagree, could you suggest a handful of quality thread started by successful traders in the past several months on this site?
If you agree with the OP's statement, do you have any alternatlve thoughts that could be implemented to improve the situation?
My comments were intended to be constructive comments for the improvement of your site. For me, it's now back to the shadows for a long hybernation. Happy Independence Day, Americans.
I had a couple of telephone conversations with Baron back in 2006 ~ 2007 that touched on this very topic. My impression then was Baron is a really nice guy, great person but clueless on what a golden goose he had in his hands. I thought he was missing the point of this website entirely by letting go as a free-for-all bitchfest forum.
I was right about Baron the nice guy part, and dead-wrong about the business angle part.
Most long-time posters here log in out of habit. They hope to see something of substance about trading, like the old days. Well the "old days" are gone, and they ain't coming back. There are trader forums out there strictly moderated and focused on serious topic discussions. If that's what you want, time to delete ET from your list in "Favorites" file and go elsewhere.
Those other forums are a fraction of ET's click traffic, and they will never be much more than that. ET is a great internet business with strong revenue for one reason: entertainment. There is nothing of educational substance here. It is all one big flame war and bitchfest. And THAT is the secret to business model success.
For whatever reason(s) a majority of people somewhat interested in trading are no longer interested in public message boards for serious discussions on trading. If there was a huge demand for that, wouldn't those other message boards be swelling in traffic?
As a pure internet business operation, ET is an incredible success story and model of how to let customers drive the evolution in growth. Not give them what you think they want: give them what they personally choose. So the micro-minority of site visitors are indeed the mass majority of click-thru traffic. They develop the business model into what works for them, and Darwinism rules as it always does.
Quantcast measured ET traffic last month at 96,000+ visitors. Using their stats, 2,900 of those people are the 3% Addicts who drove exactly half, 50% of all site activity. 37,500 other people were 40% of the click-thru traffic. A remaining 52,800 people clicked thru 11% of the traffic... they took one look, said "hell no" to ever coming back and left without giving ET a second thought.
What does that tell us in a nutshell? The vocal addicts do the clicking. Of the new visitors each month, that vocal addict list grows because this environment appeals to them. Serves their need, fills their emotional voids. Works perfectly as a profitable business model, for venting frustrations and enjoying the spectacle of conflict.
Now the ET spectacle becomes more outrageous every year in the same manner WWF wrestling becomes more outlandish in every way too. Both mega-profitable business models continue to become more of what they are to deliver more of what the loyal customers (addicts) desire.
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So ET works great just the way it is for the purpose created: generate revenue for the business owner(s). Does anyone here think there should be some sort of altruistic purpose that would harm the bottom line revenue? That would be stone stupid, period.
It is sad that a guy like EricP who has made more money from trading than 99% of ALL 96,000+ visitors last month can be shouted down in every thread by some loudmouth kid who never made two dimes trading. Isn't that ironic within a site for Elite Traders? Seriously. A guy who is ultra-successful at what everyone here strives to accomplish is browbeaten to silence by yet another perennial loser. How is that possible?
I'm simply tired of reading pure drivel from people who don't have the first clue about trading in the trenches spouting rhetoric about how it's done. Liars and losers claiming to "save the newbies" while filling them up to their ears in pure, 100% unadulterated bullshit.
What EricP (and others) wants is something ET does not offer, i.e. a well-moderated discussion board for serious professional traders. That business model is out there elsewhere, but doesn't pay well. Entertaining Traders is an excellent business model and success story just the way it is. Why ruin it?
I have the utmost respect for Baron and his success here. Every person amongst the collective readership would love to have created the same. None would change one thing that affects bottomline revenue. And that is the real, absolute truth.
Personally, I'm done posting or even visiting here forever. As a consumer of the website product, there is nothing of value or even mild interest for me anymore. Time is too precious for any of us to waste. Life is too short. I don't need conflict, angst in life... less or none is preferable. A collective bitchfest does nothing for me, so the choice is simple. Delete ET from "Favorites" file, sign off and move on.
