I recently joined ET and contributed to a thread started by someone else; the thread was about a commercial venture I was trying to investigate. Because I had already done some investigation of it, I had more info than most and became the major contributor to the thread. My motive was to provide information, in the same way that I would hope that others who had similar info would help me. Because I was enthusiastically positive about this topic, I was accused of being a shill, and the hours of time I spent contributing to the thread were wasted when the moderator flushed the entire thread down the crapper. It should be obvious to anyone who checks out my website at dubdubdub rickthebrick dotcom that I have a legitimate real estate business and am not associated with the commercial venture that was the focus of the thread. The moderator won't even answer my emails that are 3 days old. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I realize ET is also a commercial venture and has the right to enforce its policies, even whimsically, if they choose. However, the taste that this kind of censorship leaves is pretty rotten. While I've enjoyed the use of this forum, its usefulness appears greatly diminished. It may be that the moderator will ban me as a result of this new post. If that's the case, I won't attempt to return. I certainly haven't much hope of openmindedness around here, based on immediate experience. Good luck to you all. -- Realtor
A Moderator is soon going to drop this thread like a brick into the Feedback Forum where it belongs. And, save the feebly grandstanding threat, your whimpering doesn't rate a banning. Cheer up - you'll get over it - as soon as you learn not to jump into a chorus line of song and dancers pimping a non-EliteTrader-registered vendor.
What I have come to realize is that their are a couple dozen mods and far less than a handful of regarded mods. You see the distribution of participants across ET. The distribution/curve of posters has a very small but extreme tail. Those in the tail are constantly pumping nuggets, content, and value into this forum. The other 99% just feed and largely spit out the content as waste. Being fed up with mod efforts, I earnestly volunteered to mod and was flat out denied as being someone who uses too many aliases... WTF? Later on, we had an entire thread ERRONEOUSLY closed for having ZERO TA content. I thought it was hilarious since the mod regarded our focus as having nothing related to TA, as if to imply that the mod had complete knowledge of TA. The irony was that by closing the thread, the mod had proven that he/she lacked knowledge of TA. I PM'd the mod without getting a single response... ET is funny like that. Instead of taking out the garbage, garbage is collected for display and the value-added content is thrown out. As a result, all the value-added content that is continually being added gets buried under the pile of garbage. Nonetheless, the value-added folks try and pump ad-naseum despite the amount of content in the landfill... The work around is just create a buddy list of these folks. That way it is easy to track the consistency of having valuable content in addition to getting straight to the nuggets... MAK!
In your function as a Realtor, don't you thoroughly read, intial, and sign contracts? Then, what about the Membership Rules and Guidelines agreement that you signed (by clicking the AGREE button) in becoming an EliteTrader member? Remember?... It states clearly in boldface: ... Advertisements and solicitations of any kind are strictly prohibited unless you are a paying site sponsor. As a person who does not represent one of our site sponsors, you agree that you will not solicit our members with any type of commercial offer, or advertise your business through your posts, private messages, or signature file. This includes, but is not limited to, posting your phone or fax number(s) and posting any URLs or hyperlinks to your commercial web site(s) or email account(s). Elite Trader and its agents may remove or edit any posts, without prior notice, that contain unauthorized advertisements or solicitations. You agree that Elite Trader may, without prior notice, immediately terminate your membership upon discovery of any unauthorized advertising or solicitation. ... Why not use your non-stop sales ability to convince Afshin to sign up (or re up) with ET as a legit sponsor! There are lots of other ET'ers, IMO, who look forward to reading some more well-contributed E-mini threads. Good luck!
The main function of moderators is not to add "nuggets, content, and value" but to keep discussions flowing smoothly through precision guided editing, deleting, thread moving, PMs and warnings to various and sundry users, downright banning the worst offenders, meanwhile keeping each other and Baron appraised of events that deserve mention. And all that action is far from "just feed"ing, Baron could not run this board at it's current scale without moderators. One generally hopes (if not requires) that potential new moderators understand the position. You do not need to be a moderator to add value as a poster. If you wish to make ET a better place by "pumping nuggets, content, and value", you already have that ability.
Rick a.k.a. Realtor, As I have explained to you before, the thread was deleted because of the abundance of spam that ensued throughout the thread. Although you may or may not have noticed the spam, we see spamming like this every-so-often and we assess the threads on a case by case basis. When moderators find spam in a thread they can either choose to delete the certain posts in question or delete the entire thread depending on how much infestation of spam has occurred. Regarding the moderator not responding to your emails; He did respond by referring you to myself and another site administrator. You have contacted me and I have spoken to you many times behind the scenes regarding this thread, and we have always come to the same conclusion about its intentions. If I can assist you any further please feel free to email me. Thank you, support@elitetrader.com
I think you missed my point. My issue is not with the value added content, it is with the garbage. The problem largely lies within the mods to take out the garbage. In Long Island, the garbage man collects garbage every Tuesday and Friday. When the garbage isn't taken out, the garbage just piles up, hence the necessity for mods. The pruning that mods do is intended to be minimalist so as to let the thread flow, which in and of itself, is not a bad thing. However, slanderers often follow value-added posts. At a certain point, threads just die simply because the pile of garbage reaches a critical level. If we look back at the thread originator's comment, it was to why the thread was closed when all he had hoped for, was to post some value-added content. I shared with the originator, the same exact experience. In both of our experiences, the mod had taken unnecessary action and didn't bother to respond to our inquiries. I respect most all individuals in these forums, what I can't tolerate is the continued lack of respect for sharing knowledge. The knowledge in ET is thinly spread. However, it is there. Much of this pickle is a direct result of the nature of traders. It takes a different caliber of trader to share what many regard as secrets. As a result, ET is largely biased to the acquisition and protection of "allegedly" sacred knowledge as opposed to the sharing of it... It is what it is. Mods, this is not criticizing your efforts. ET is a monster. There are some great mods, I just wanted to be a part of them. Nonetheless, I participate and contribute wherever and whenever I can... MAK!
sorry to hijack... cld sthg be done to put an end to never-ending personal wars such as the one b/w apex capital & jimrockford for instance, and thus prevent the clogging of otherwise interesting threads? honestly that wld great! thks in advance