<b>Jumpie</b>, thanks for reminding me to log off and eliminate any further emails from ET threads. But before I do that, let me make one thing perfectly clear: this place here is not a very big stage. Most of the people here ain't present to impress anything upon anyone. We came to hang with like kind, like kind ain't here any more, so we're leaving. Capiche`? I was never here to swap pictures of "my sweet ride" or any juvenile "mine's bigger" kiddy-poo nonsense. Nor was I here to troll for business, because this forum sucks for that. Ya wanna know why I was here? Do ya, sonny? I was here to stop by for a drink with fellow traders and fellowship. I assumed it could be like a few of us sitting around a table in person, face to face. I know for an absolute fact you would not talk the same way to us in public that you feel bold enough to do in a little anonymous forum. Same with the other "aggressive" trolls just like you which you referred to. Talking in person like many of your like-kind spew out here would quickly define for each of you a new and complete understanding of what "aggressive response" really means. That you can be very sure of. Now I look around the ET barroom, see nobody I care to drink with, so it's time to square up the tab and leave. Best Trading Wishes
Dont you see your flawed logic? In any place I have ever visited...any business enterprise I have ever been involved...even when I went to high school many years ago, I realized that not everyone in the room was my friend. Maybe they didnt like my posture, my smell or my bad breath, but for some reason, they hated me. It was a shock at first, but I learned to deal with it and MANAGE the situation. The keyword is managing the situation. You come to this forum believing that everyone is going to be your friend. That is your expectation, but it is a truely flawed expectation. You are asking something of Baron that he cannot provide to you. You are asking him to make everyone your friend. Thats impossible and no amount of moderation can accomplish that. You come here expecting this to be a bar full of your friends when in fact its a place that is just like the real world...a place that has your friends and your enemies. I live with my friends and enemies everyday. I have gotten used to it and accept it. Whatever their problems with me, I dont care anymore. They have to live with my bad breath. So I think you need to look at your expectations. Not everyone is going to be your friend in life. Just deal with it, live with it. Thats how life works.
I think you make a good point. People can and do manage the situation. The 'problem' that some seem to be pointing out, is that successful and experienced traders tend to manage the situation by leaving. This works very well for them. The question one might ask, is whether this is in the best interests of the future of ET. I don't know the answer to this question, but it's worth considering seriously, IMO. To pick up on austinp's analogy, if you go to a bar after work, and you find that almost every time you go to the bar, some random person comes to you out of the blue and picks a fight with you, you might eventually figure that you need to find a more welcoming place where you can enjoy spending time. Managing the situation is easy, and is being continuously done by each member of the site. Baron just needs to assess whether he likes the way it's being 'managed' by the best content providers on his site, especially if they are leaving the site, or virtually never posting. Again, it's a business decision on his part, and his vested interest is to do what he thinks is best. There is no obvious or easy answer, IMO. Flame wars increase pageview in the short term, but <i>might</i> (or might not) lessen the long term value of the site. I believe you had mentioned traders wanting to draw attention to themselves, or raising funds from potential clients. You are misreading my point, though. Myself, and the vast majority of the long-term members of this site that are experienced and successful traders have no interest in either. I would never consider trading anyone's money, despite repeated offers in the past several years. I don't need the headaches, nor do most of the independent traders I know. I also don't want to be a 'guru', sell anything to anyone, or have need of other attention that might come from an anonymous message board. Instead, the members that I am referring to might occasionally simply have an interest in 'giving back' to the trader community. I understand that this might be hard to understand, but when people have succeeded in a business, and are basically in semi-retirement, they don't need the approval of others to build their self esteem, nor do they need funding from others. Anyway, sorry for the long-winded post, but it still comes back to a business decision by Baron on whether he truly believes he is losing a significant asset (long term, valued members who are experienced, successful traders) from his site, and if so, how to reverse the trend. Whatever he decided will be fine with me, as I will manage the situation to whatever works best for me, as will others.
I have no idea who the long term valued members are. There seems to be very few people posting blotters or results in this forum. Are the long term valued members the ones with the most posts or the ones with the best calls? In my experience, people want to see the posts of those who make the best calls. I can point out a few blogs that took off overnight over the poster making a few correct calls. My suggestion is for self-moderated forums, but only by those members who can prove their results. I suggest creating a forum that is dedicated to making calls and, whoever makes the best calls, gets to be moderator of their own section of the site. Either you make good calls or you just create noise for the site. I know that many want to use such forums as a "social hour" to meet other people, but the name of the game here is trading. Let the one with the best results moderate, but not the ones who make the most noise. In my experience, the ones who make the best calls usually do not get flamed. Its when you start making half-ass calls and post up material that others do not understand when the flames begin.
Your emphasis on "calls" is disturbing. If you are coming to ET looking for "calls", you have already lost the battle. "Calls".
Start Yahoo! or Google groups? It seems really weird... Many people write like it's their "right" and it's a benefit of ET for them to post... Hubris?
Seriously... good traders are still around in ET. Maybe... you don't feel there aren't many left them because they don't agree with your views or don't bother replying to what you have to say or ask. Here's a typical historical trend of things: 1. When I joined there was a major debate between technical analysis and fundamental analysis. People complained about this site going down because it's becoming a site for gamblers. 2. Soon, technical analysis got accepted or gained majority. There was a major debate between esoteric analysis like Gann and regular Technical analysis. Gann/Elliott people are gone. (Personally, I changed from a Gann trader to a systematic approach) 3. We still have this but we now have the discretionary trading vs. systematic trading. Systematic trading is gaining momentum but the Quant side is still weak compared to the other sites . I try to start a thread but it ends up with 2-3 people. But equally, there's plenty of smart IT guys in here that's always a good read. Maybe your way of trading is now diminishing from ET just how Global Macro (Fundamental), Gann/Elliott, former-prop scalpers, religious psycho-babble and others. Last of the dying crowd was all the guys in trading psychology threads. They used to be really huge but now it's turning into a bunch of insecure newbie and sheeple traders believing one minded statements they read or hear from a guru. Way people trade and approach is always changing. A lot of us has seen this change happening. History repeats itself... It's better for this site to let go of all the old / outdated traders and let the new ones come in.
I don't think you get it. Maybe this is a new alias for you, or maybe you really did just arrive on the scene and don't really understand what goes on here day in day out. Don't get me wrong . . . I understand why this site is managed the way it is . . . I'd do the same thing to max out my profit. But you are the perfect example of what you seem to be refuting . . . you take cheap shots . . . . . . and your counter-points seem hostile. You are aggressive here, but would never dare be this way in a face-to-face setting. Why are you like that? Why is it hard for you to post a viewpoint without making it personal? Why are you so put off with the idea that somebody may not want you around? I mean, it's not really hard to see why. You are the "entertainment" I guess. If there were an "Entertainment Off" button for the threads, that'd be all I need. With a little bit more kick than the Ignore button.
Written English is subjective. What you feel is "aggressive" and "personal" may not really be that way and others may interpret it differently. The reality is you do not know the other person's intentions or why they are expressing themselves that way. Furthermore, the majority of people out there are not your friends and are aggressive. This is the reality of the world we live in. You have to deal with aggressive characters and know how to properly manage different situations. Self-moderation is a very bad idea because the author of such posts could easily delete viewpoints that run contrary to their own. These contrarian viewpoints are neccasary so the thread can be balanced versus a one-sided thread that just supports one opinion. It seems as if many members of these message boards seem to have problems of insecurity. They do not know how to handle contrarian viewpoints and then frustration occurs. This frustration then eventually turns to anger and hostility. I wouldnt pay too much attention or respond back to such posts. When you respond to a post, then the other poster feels obligated to reply. Not responding and ignoring the aggressive poster is one way to manage the situation. Asking Baron to make the world a nicer place is unrealistic. Its not about the money for Baron, but its about going beyond what can be done. Baron cant make you guys place nice in the sand. As an adult, you should be moderating and managing each situation yourself. Dont forget that when someone responds to you aggressively on a messageboard, its a nameless faceless alias responding back to another nameless faceless alias. They do not know you so you shouldnt be that offended.