I have been on ET for about six months, and during that time I have come to appreciate that there is a lot of trading knowledge on this site, both live and in the archives. Some posters are very knowledgeable and clearly successful traders, and even those who are still working to become successful (like myself) can make positive contributions to the discussions. I have learned a lot on the site and it continues to help me improve as a trader.
However, I have been absolutely dismayed from day one by what seems to be a pervasive lack of civility on the site, that I think really takes away from its effectiveness and discourages new folks from joining (and likely causes some veterans to leave). Without naming any names, some posters consistently post in very inflammatory terms, make ad hominem attacks, and generally create a very distasteful environment for everyone. The same points can be made civilly and respectfully in discussions, and in fact elevate the discussion since a poster can focus on the subject matter at hand rather than feeling the need to defend oneself against onslaughts (or attack others preemptively).
I cannot imagine that if we were all sitting in a room together that we would speak to each other the way we do on this site, under the illusion of Internet anonymity. Or frankly that many of the inflammatory posters would even have the intestinal fortitude to speak that way in person.
I wonder if a "code of conduct" or some set of posting guidelines, to be enforced by the moderators but with self-policing by all of us, could greatly improve things and help ensure the future sustainability of the site. Such guidelines might include, e.g.:
1. Treat others with the same decency and respect with which you would like to be treated.
2. No ad hominem attacks.
3. No profanity except in chit chat and P&R.
My goal is simply to try to start a conversation on how we can improve the discourse on ET to make it more effective for our collective learning, more enjoyable for all of us, and more sustainable going forward. The above is simply an idea on how we might go about doing that. If others feel the same way I would be happy to contribute towards achieving this.
However, I have been absolutely dismayed from day one by what seems to be a pervasive lack of civility on the site, that I think really takes away from its effectiveness and discourages new folks from joining (and likely causes some veterans to leave). Without naming any names, some posters consistently post in very inflammatory terms, make ad hominem attacks, and generally create a very distasteful environment for everyone. The same points can be made civilly and respectfully in discussions, and in fact elevate the discussion since a poster can focus on the subject matter at hand rather than feeling the need to defend oneself against onslaughts (or attack others preemptively).
I cannot imagine that if we were all sitting in a room together that we would speak to each other the way we do on this site, under the illusion of Internet anonymity. Or frankly that many of the inflammatory posters would even have the intestinal fortitude to speak that way in person.
I wonder if a "code of conduct" or some set of posting guidelines, to be enforced by the moderators but with self-policing by all of us, could greatly improve things and help ensure the future sustainability of the site. Such guidelines might include, e.g.:
1. Treat others with the same decency and respect with which you would like to be treated.
2. No ad hominem attacks.
3. No profanity except in chit chat and P&R.
My goal is simply to try to start a conversation on how we can improve the discourse on ET to make it more effective for our collective learning, more enjoyable for all of us, and more sustainable going forward. The above is simply an idea on how we might go about doing that. If others feel the same way I would be happy to contribute towards achieving this.
