Can we make ET a better place?

[lwlee]

Funny you mention that. Activity seemed to drop a bunch right after the site had all those issues with the upgrade.

Quote from billyjoerob:

The real problem is the lack of posters. Ghost town.

I'd also like to see people posting real trades with real plans. I posted some trades in my trading journal and it was crickets.

 

[vincegata]

Quote from billyjoerob:

Have you visited stocktwits? Talk about very little value. It's nothing but blowhards and frauds (Davian) touting their non-existent hedge funds.

Exactly my thoughts about LinkedIn. Despite everything I find ET more informative.

 

[dandxg]

Baron has no motivation to police this place. Don't you get it drama sells bud. Look at all the freak shows on tv and their ad sales.

 

[tortoise]

I, personally, would mourn the end of incivility and imbecility on ET.

It's the one thing that keeps me coming back

 

[comintel]

Quote from noregrets:

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.

I agree and know many traders who will not post on ET because of the abrasiveness of many threads.

I realize that some off the most frequent posters here love the insults, comebacks, and course exchanges, though.

I would suggest the site go one way or the other. If it ends up being all about attacks and ribald humor, though, I have no interest at all.

 

[wrbtrader]

Quote from brownsfan019:

Forums are dying w/ the popularity of twitter, stocktwits, etc.

Add in there's very little value around here and no reason to be active.

Agree.

Yet, I primarily use twitter and stocktwits for real-time news, breaking news and info occurring globally that's impacting the markets. Also, better monitoring info about charts and message posts if needed. These are things one can't get from ET or any other forum.

In contrast, anybody trying to use twitter or stocktwits to follow the advice, trades posted by another trader...good luck with that because there's very little value there in my opinion.

Baron tried to embed some social media stuff into ET awhile back. Folks complain or said they weren't using it. Soon afterwards it was gone. Hopefully, the new ET (soon to be release) will incorporate connection to social media (e.g. twitter, stocktwits, facebook, link, reddit and many other stuff).

 

[Josef K]

Quote from tortoise:

I, personally, would mourn the end of incivility and imbecility on ET.

It's the one thing that keeps me coming back

As long as marketsurfer stays around, you need not fear that happening.

 

[Ned Stark]

I don't know if I agree with this. It seems this site is being policed more now than it's ever been. At least from what I can see.

Quote from dandxg:

Baron has no motivation to police this place. Don't you get it drama sells bud. Look at all the freak shows on tv and their ad sales.

 

[electron]

Quote from Josef K:

As long as marketsurfer stays around, you need not fear that happening.

Are you saying that marketsurfer is not civil? Since when? He has always been nice to me. Perhaps you are not treating him well.

 

[electron]

Quote from brownsfan019:

Forums are dying w/ the popularity of twitter, stocktwits, etc.

They are not. Twitter is not a substitute for a forum. Never will be.