Quote from garachen:
I'm interested in engaging in respectful adult conversation about my chosen profession and I find that this can occasionally happen on this site but more often than not conversations become co-opted by noisy people who hide behind their anonymity.
You are most assuredly not alone. This isn't a democracy, and it is sad to see worthwhile discussion derailed by the proud and arrogant who mistakenly believe that all contributions are equal and there is some sort of entitlement to inflict their intellectual and personal limitations on others. Perhaps it would be easier to ignore were it not driven by pride, envy, avarice, resentment against achievement and general poor character. I believe it is the disappointing weaknesses and overwhelmingly negative intent evident in certain posters which can drain one of any creative spirit or generosity to share interesting or helpful material.
I would be interested in reading more of your anecdotes concerning those who you were fortunate enough to meet and be inspired by in the earlier stages of your career. You know from personal experience how seeds can be planted and inspire greater levels of success. I really appreciate that you are paying it forward with your contributions here, but fully understand that you may not be inspired to do so for much longer.
Unfortunately, perhaps this (and other similar sites) are simply not the correct environment to host such discussions. Perhaps a workable alternative would be a section on this site, or a new site entirely, where only "verified" posters had posting privileges, but interested observers could follow the conversation, and perhaps submit guest articles/posts/comments for review. Daily Speculations seems to make that concept work fairly well, and I'd venture that the signal:noise is higher there.
I would be very sorry to lose this facility where interested aspirants and professionals can benefit from the gracious sharing of knowledge, experience, and intelligent discussion. Also, certainly some parts of the financial community are insulated and low profile and sites such as this provide opportunities to make connections and advance mutually beneficial relationships where this may not otherwise happen. The withdrawal of serious, intelligent, and successful contributors to this site seems sadly rather inevitable.
I would be interested in a web based "enclave" for serious traders and other financial professionals, to be by invitation only. It would be nice if the content were public in order to assist those looking for information, but it would remove the nuisance of disruptive anonymous posting.