i used to help run a stock chat room that normally had between 80 - 100 attending during the day. Now, it was my job to be there, call out support and resist figures on new finds and hopefully call tops, which im pretty good at. In fact, it helped me tremendously because i learned how to "call" the stock in just a minute or so, if that long.
the attendees got a lot for their money (considering it was free) because it gave MORE eyes watching MORE stocks which simply equates into MORE chances to make profit.
were there many there for "reinforcement" ---- i would venture YES, but without the reinforcement, many would never enter the trade at all, so it worked out pretty well for all !
there was a side element of "pump and dumpers" but people got to know them pretty quickly and with the education i and others had handed out, plus everyone else observing, those peeps were pretty well ignored.
as long as the site is honest, and everyone knows the timeframe of the trades that are called out (does no good to be talking about the 5 min timeframe, when someone then enters and holds all day !) it can only help because theres a chance a newb may make some profit, remain in the game and learn as he/she progresses --- otherwise most are thrown out of the game before it begins !
my opinion, of course
mp
