Yet you continue to read the posts and you continue to post yourself. If "quality" were the measure, ads on PBS would outcost CBS, NBC and ABC. But Jerry Springer brings in the bucks.
dbphoenix, Your an observant person...this I know for fact. Therefore, you should also notice my posting here has been reduced (not because I'm more busy)... In addition...something your not aware about...most of the threads I do post in now... is only after a online pal (another ET member) has sent me a link to such post to ask my opinion... sometimes I just tell them and other times I'll just post a reply in that thread. In other words...if nobody tells me anything...I don't show up. Hopefully that clears things up. P.S. I got the link to this thread via email after someone saw Baron's comments. NihabaAshi
Nonetheless, you chose to post rather than PM or email the individual in question. Your presence - and others like you - is all that advertisers care about. They couldn't care less about your content.
These are more people-oriented problems than site-oriented problems. We can't change the nature of people's behavior online. We also can't force people in general to be nicer or less argumentative. The only thing we can do is react to the worst posts and posters. In that regard, we already delete/edit more posts and ban more members in a day that most sites do in a year. But skip all that though, here's the more important question: What do you propose is the solution to the problem you see?
I'm all ears too, NihabaAshi. I've worked in online community for close to 10 years. I've worked for some pretty major companies (AOL and Lycos). Some of these dynamics are just the way people are. Online communities go through cycles as well. There are some funny, funny folks here, who have been banned. How do you balance it out? It's tricky. You can try to smack it all down, but that does impact how much people post. It's an inexact science at best. Maybe we could draft a FAQ or more in depth set of community guidelines that could encourage a higher standard of posting. Does anyone care to contribute to defining the language and conduct of a trader? André
Hi Baron and Andre, You guys already know a few things about me and many here do also (I'm known to be tough on spammers, trouble makers, lurkers, pikers and anything else that scares away quality members)... Here's my suggestions which some have said are radical and others said are needed temporarily...some copied from an earlier feedback suggestion and others have been added: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19493&perpage=5&pagenumber=4 1. Show traders partial IP addresses with their message posts. Yes...it's possible that a hacker can use info from a complete IP address... partial IP address seems like a valid solution. 2. Require credit card registration in which there's no charge or only a small $1 fee... surely all the great traders can afford to cough up $1...besides...its tax deductible. 3. All potential new members go through one of those registration process that requires them to answer questions, click on "I Agree" sections just like you see when opening up a broker account... This is extremely useful because those questions can be also used as info to help advertisers tailor their ads. 4. Make a list of inappropriate words that if typed in a message post...the message post can't be posted... it gets rejected until the poster removes the offensive word. 5. Spammers are banned immediately...no warnings... because they had agreed via clicking that "I Agree" statement to not spam in the registration process I mentioned above. Contact the host of their website...send them copies of the SPAM. In fact...any alias that's a member of ET and spamming other discussion forums or Bulletin Boards...should automatically be banned. I know for fact there are 7 ET members that are spamming other locations under the same user name... Hold them accountable for their online actions elsewhere if the info that is presented is proof (verifiable) I know for fact there are 3 active ET members that have made some serious threats to cause harm at other locations. 6. Fix your ignore list. If I make the effort to put someone on my ignore list...I don't even want to know they exist anymore. Therefore, current method is not a true ignore...we can still see the user name in a thread that's on our ignore list. Yahoo! has it setup so not even the name shows up in a thread. This doesn't solve the problem if a following reply quotes someone on the ignore list... at least we can't see the original post nor their names. Also, set it so that if someone on our ignore list starts a thread...that thread doesn't appear at all... we'll never know it existed unless someone quotes a message from that invisible thread in another thread. 7. User names that get identified as trouble makers...get silenced for 30 days although they can still view posts. Along with an email that they must respond if they want the silence to be lifted at the end of 30 days. It's obvious this suggestion treats some like kids...however...if they didn't act like children...they wouldn't be silenced. 8. Ken_DTU posted this and I think it has some merit... http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6946&perpage=1&pagenumber=9 To add a nice twist to that...verified members via credit card... can view and post messages... those that don't want to provide their credit card info to Baron nor pay a $1 fee... can only view and not be able to post messages. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6946&perpage=1&pagenumber=12 9. Their should be a test of one of the forums to see how moderating ones own thread will work or not work... I suggest the Trade Journal threads be the test area. Those that start their own Journals and don't like an irritant poster...can simply ban that poster (not delete messages) from making further comments... 10. The banning of Hotmail or any other popular spammer domains is useless... Here are other popular spammer domains... Yahoo, AOL, Netscape, Comcast, Sympatico et cetera. 11. Get an association with a Anti-Spam organization and post a visiable link next to the edit/quote/complain menu that sends the message post directily to the Spam organization... ET advertisers and Sponsors will not have a "Spam" notification menu in their message posts. 12. VERY IMPORTANT...show members the other aliases they have at this board. I believe Motley Fool has this feature or something like it. 13. Get one of the Advertisers or Sponsors to sponsor an actual trading tournament... Monthly prizes for winners or top 3 places like free subscriptions, small cash prizes et cetera... Then post the top 3 people and a trading biography/profile in a Tournament Thread. Then have a grand champion trade-off at the end of each quarter or year. 14. Make that Terms of Use (TOU) visable at the top of the board somewhere... not tucked away...below in small letters. By the way...TOU needs some serious updating. There needs to be specifics about what happens when spam occurs, chronic personal attacks, chronic verbal abuse, racial slurs and anything else that some people would lose there jobs if they did such in a work environment... Post a tough stance and don't back down... hold traders accountable for what they say and remove that wall of anonymity via introducing credit card registration process. 15. Allow thread ratings or member ratings...only those that are verified members can vote. Geeeshhh...try something or one thing from these suggestions... some of which have been posted before by other members. Baron and Andre, think about this... would it hurt to test or try something from the above ??? P.S. I have about another dozen or so suggestions. However, this post is long enough already. NihabaAshi
just because someone complains about arguing/conflict or "bad words" doesn't necessarily mean they are right and things should be changed the way they want it. in fact, if a "bad word" bothers you, YOU have the problem. laws against profanity/obscenity are sinking ships and guys like nihaba are on them. the world is headed in the other direction than how you think it should be, nihaba. just look at human history. do advancing civilizations have a growing or shrinking list of "bad words?" do people get more individual freedom or less? people should use their ignore list instead of whining about all the people they don't like or the words they use.