SoAndSo is an ET Verified Member Facebook and Twitter give verified members a blue check mark. Perhaps ET could look into doing the same thing. The verification requirements would have to be worked out.
The verification requirements would have to be worked out. For starters people who use their real name could get the Verified member status.
I'd rather have a 'verified' real life personal trading account performance check mark. Maybe somekind of hover mouseclick thing that quickly shows this info
What's your real name ? I only ask because I'm assuming you want to be a verified member of this forum. Heck, lets not stop there. What city do you live in ? Also, due to the fact some members pretend to be a woman when in fact they are a man... Copy of drivers license, passport or any government issue identification card with picture should be submitted to Baron. Baron will then contact to proper authorities to ensure all information given to him has not been falsified. Any fees for such...your credit card will be billed and you'll see the payment info on your credit card at "EliteTrader.com" In addition, if you have any outstanding arrests...the local police in your area will be contact. Also, if you have and past due debts...the credit agencies and those you have past due debts will be notified. Further, to prevent any possibility of identity theft from guest viewers that are able to view the forum without registration...Elitetrader.com will no longer be a public forum. It will then made private and only accessible to those that are verified with no criminal history. To avoid the above, please pay Baron a $100 fee so that you can remain anonymous. Look, I'm just joking. Yet, Baron is a smart camper. He knows what will kill his forum (this forum is income for him) and asking members to cough up personal identification info about themselves such as their real names to become a verified member...most will not do it and will just leave or let their membership become inactive but they'll still access the forum via just being a "guest viewer". Seriously, the only time someone should be asked to provide "verification" of their identity is if they come to this forum and state they are someone in specific like "I'm the CEO of Netflix" or "My name is Kayne West"... Yeah, Baron should then ask for verification and I believe this is what Facebook and Twitter verification system is all about for those stating they are someone...they must then prove it. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/07/twitter-verification-utterly-meaningless/399866/ http://sproutsocial.com/insights/verified-accounts-using-twitter-features/ http://www.xojane.com/tech/how-to-get-verified-on-twitter
verified member would be voluntary, not compulsory. Also facebook people use there real names, and it hasn't stopped it growing
Facebook and Elitetrader.com have a completely different business model and different purpose. People here aren't using ET to connect to friends, relatives, associations, organizations and other things. Facebook is setup for such and does such very well. Therefore, of course its growing and it wasn't built upon a platform of anonymity along like ET. Doesn't hurt too that Facebook is available in 37 different languages. Seriously, how many of your relatives, friends at home or work colleagues use ET to keep in touch with each other. Regardless, OptionGuru stated "like Facebook and Twitter". I then stated with links as verification why Facebook and Twitter have a verification system...for people (e.g. celebrities, politicians and such) that say for example that my name is "Taylor Swift"...they want you to verify that you really are "Taylor Swift" or else your account gets deleted. Yet, I think only ET members saying they are somebody in an effort to seem important...Baron needs to request verification. For example, years back there was someone here that said he was the head football coach of an SEC football team. That ET member would definitely qualify as someone that must prove their identity to become "verified". What if someone shows up at this forum and say they're "Bernie Sanders" and wanted our opinion about his views to add tax on trading ? I would think that person would qualify as someone that needs to verify their identity. If they refuse to verify their identity after saying they're someone like that... Their account should be deleted to prevent any legal problems with the real Bernie Sanders. Simply, proof of identity should be a requirement...not voluntary whenever someone claims the identity of somebody important.
You are probably 8-10 years too late...But I don't believe all of it was due to troll's, shill's and sockpuppet aliases...Much of the exodus has been market related...Let's face facts: there are alot fewer traders nowadays. Many left the game and Elitetrader isn't something that alot of former traders are interested in visiting. For those who remain, I'd view the "Verified Member" moniker as a non-starter. There are few threads going nowadays and this notion that all of those "former members" are going to suddenly rush back to this site if some form of verification is enacted is delusional... The bottomline is that this sort of proposition would more than likely drive traffic away from the site as people value their anonymity in a world where holding that anonymity is becoming near impossible. wrbtrader is spot on.
Unfortunately for some of those facebook members who decide to publicly comment on various sites, they lose their jobs and/or face the prospects of social media shaming...Basically, one has to censor themselves on any topic that is "politically incorrect". Only fools venture into this territory with their names attached to any controversial posts.