Consider Charging for Posting Rights

I just wanted to agree with having to pay a monthly fee, since i have thought about it myself beofre sothat i can see anybody that is willing to promote.

thanks for detailed explanation.

 

What is the reason for allowing aliases? Wouldn't it be better if you had to stick to just one name?

 

Please reference Baron's point regarding dynamic IP addresses.

 

ET would be a better place with fees???

Baron, you should learn not to make the same mistake as SI.

 

If people had to pay for posting rights they would have to pay a fee every month for every alias that they use. If they want 5 aliases then they pay 5x as much.

 

Silicon investor (SI) is a large and profitable company relative to most message boards.

 

Where is this post?

 

mondo worry about your own business and let Baron run his site as he sees fit.

If you don't like it, get your own message board. This topic has been beaten to death. You must not be a trader cause you got way to much spare time on your hands :-/

 

In response to this comment: And to prevent him from signing on as another poster, the system should monitor the IP and e-mail addresses of new posters and compare them to suspended posters.

Baron replied: The system does that already, but since most people using cable modems, DSL lines, and standard modems have dynamic IP addresses, comparing IP addresses is totally worthless. In terms of email addresses, we've been requiring unique email addresses for a long time.

You can read the whole thread here: Waiting period on new registrants

The point is, it's tough to screen people intent on disruption by creating multiple aliases. There are many ways around it. To "gate" a community to deal with just this aspect would probably be a poor choice, unless the new business model is to be supported on membership fees and not sponsorship.

And frankly, I don't think the marketplace will support for-pay communities. Salon gated it's popular Table Talk community, and even though their demographics include many people who would seemingly be able to afford it, it took a major hit in activity. Ie: people simply chose not to pay. The Fool gated its community with a fee as well, and they've taken a major hit in activity as well. And they've granted an amazing amount of free accounts to their most active users, many who complained again this go-around about having to pay, and they got comped.

A community needs speedy access to first time posting, so that new people can join in right away. It's the draw that brings them back, and keeps a fresh source of new members and new perspectives. It's quite vital, really.

André

 

you aren't Salon.

Salon is a very broad based site with a huge range of topics. They need mass eyeballs to sell their diverse advertising.

You are in a niche market. All your advertisers have something to do with the trading industry. You don't need mass eyeballs, you need focused eyeballs.

Paying for mass eyeballs to look at an ad for Futures Trading is stupid, I would never do that. Your advertisers are paying because they want the right people to look at their ads, not everyone. And they want the aliases on here to represent real people that might actually be business prospects.