Private Forums

[SOCRATES]

Can't see what all the fuss is about personally.

It is all about the frustration of the "Most Helpful Member" and how the gentleman does not miss an opportunity to create dissent, cause aggravation, argue, pester everybody and generally make a nuisance of himself thinking it is clever and witty according to his frame of reference. Then when something seriously meaningful is organised and he is excluded because of his track record in this regard, he does not like it one bit. I think it is really funny, personally.

 

[SOCRATES]

I echo your sentiments Roguetrader.

It is hardly a life-threatening development is it and besides, the new forum is hardly a private one when it is open to approximately 99.9% of the T2W membership.

Ah, but you are not up to date, Salty, because there is life outside T2W, you see.

There are other groups to which automatic membership is not granted, but the opposite is the case, only involving .004 % of the membership, and there's the rub of it, as W.S. used to say. Admission is by invitation only, and by unanimous agreement to boot This rankles you see. Now you know. It is the other side of the looking glass through which the wily old wizard pulls the chosen.

Kind Regards.

 

[JumpOff]

Those who have recently sought private forums have done so in order to moderate the threads themselves, ensuring no adverse view or contradiction (or 'disruption') of what they want to say will be tolerated.

This seems rather obvious from the outset. It reminds me of going to church, or attending class at University. There is someone there who purports to know something about a particular subject, and is willing to lecture a bit about it, and assign you some lessons or reading material - but the price you pay is to stay on topic and to avoid shouting and heckling from the back pew. As long as this is clear, - then one can participate, lurk, or stay away as one chooses. If at some point, your interests diverge or you think the 'moderator/mentor/lecturer' is unwilling to address an important question, then you supplement elsewhere or just stop attending. It is not surprising that persons with a well known penchant for heckling are not admitted.

This hasn't happened to you has it? I have always found your posts to be on topic and slyly humorous at the same time.

Where commercial interests are involved, it should be made clear to members requesting membership of these private boards, perhaps by a sticky threads or post, that the thread moderators are commercial entities. Whether it be tuition, trading systems, ebooks - whatever.

Agreed. If anything is being offered for sale, such as mentoring, classes, essays, systems, then that should be stated up front -and perhaps the thread could be marked in some way so that you know going into it that it is an advertisement no matter if the forum is private or public. I suspect many people who gather in the private and public forums would welcome the opportunity to part with cash in return for information. It's a shame there are only two categories here - commercial and non-commercial.

There really needs to be a separate category of forum for people who are willing to spend the time to run a forum, answer questions, occasionally lecture, or point out useful links and tidbits that fit with their philosophy while at the same time they are selling something. It's really not a commercial corporation like pristine, or tradestation, or traders.com, yet it's not quite a free forum either - if parts of the 'knowledge base' are only available to those who are willing to pay for the essay, or to attend the lecture, or session or whatever. I have often found some of Mr. Charts and Naz's threads and posts confusing because there are clearly things they are not willing to give away for free. And who can blame them? Yet it is also not clear to me what it would cost to purchase this information. I was pleased to be able to purchase the ebook by dbphoenix, and I would consider purchasing mentoring from Des44 (who is clearly trolling for clients by giving away a lot of good, free info in the public general chat section - bless him).

I fear that a strict enforcement of "no commercial activities" would just lead to more confusion. I like the idea of people being willing to give away a good bit of time and advice in return for the priveledge of subtlely trolling for paying customers, or perhaps in order to obtain a group of students or guinea pigs who stick to the same techniques. I like those free samples they give out at the bakery - and if I then choose to buy a 1/2 dozen donuts, well I'm an adult and surely I can choose what I read and pay for?

Even where there is no commercial aspect or involvement, there is the rather more difficult issue of bias with which to deal.

The bias is that t2w admin allow these private forum owners free rein to limit and edit what other members post. But these private forum owners are allowed to post, without those same restrictions they impose on others, in the public forums where all members share similar rights & protections.

If members feel strongly enough to desire and request their own private forum AND if t2w admin feel such a facility (and all the privileges which accompany it) are to be provided, then it is appropriate in my view these members should NOT be allowed to post freely on the Public forums.

Either you're part of the general membership - or you're not.

Anyone else have any views on this?

I don't get this part, - I would eagerly look forward to you running a private forum on a topic of your choice, and would consider it a great loss if you were required to abstain from posting elsewhere. I suspect their are many sources of knowledge that you could share, but might be willing to do so only in an area free from heckling and distractions.

For me, the private forums are not quite private enough. I don't know who the other members are who are reading my posts, and I don't know when additional members come on board or who they are. Frankly, there are many things I do not publish because I feel I have already played court jester out of ignorance one time too many. When there are many lurkers and few participants, it's easy to feel like one is in a fishbowl.

So to sum up, people read and post at T2W for a variety of motives, and I'd like to see Sharky continue to give those who are selling something some leeway as long as they are contributing free information also..
JO

 

[frugi]

Thank you all for your views.

There is no compulsion for members to be involved in a private forum, especially if the principles governing its creation, alleged agenda of its founders, severity of its moderation, or indeed any other gripe that they harbour are not to their liking. The idea of the private fora, though it may be a touch naive, is simply to gather like-minded members together so that they can enjoy free flowing conversation without interruption. This disingenuous statement will of course breed a gigantic "Yes, but ....", which is healthy and expected; despite being a mod, I have similar reservations. I'd like to think that if I didn't, I wouldn't be fit for the post at all.

The rein of the forum owner(s) with respect to moderation is free as long as it is not allowed to twitch too savagely in an unwelcome direction. Of course, members have to put up with the definition of "unwelcome" being arbitrarily defined by the likes of Sharky, rossored, barjon, the beater of the FTSE and the late arrival of a peculiar wooly creature, all of whom may indeed be poorly qualified to tackle the ethical subtleties involved. But rest assured that at least that the moderators of private fora are being observed and can be moderated in turn, if necessary, especially if it becomes obvious that honest discussion is low on their list of their priorities. The site thrives on rich content and if this is unforthcoming even in the context of a personally controlled forum then action can and may be taken. Posts that are deleted, memberships that are removed etc. can be reviewed later by the mods if necessary as there is a trail left behind.

So can we not, at least for the moment, simply consider the new fora a worthwhile experiment and give them a fighting chance? To echo the Rogue and the Gibbon: "What is all the fuss about?". There is no implicit suggestion of permanency in any of this. The ability to hold two contrasting ideas (and the shades of grey that lurk in the middle) and still function is one I particularly cherish and I wish others could do the same. There is no morally absolute right way of doing any of this, unless anyone is privy to a higher authority of which I am unaware. Salty?

This site should be principally concerned with the discussion of trading, not the circular, somewhat self-defeating discussion of the channels available for discussion and, though feeback is of course welcomed, I would nevertheless welcome a respite from the latter. There is a surfeit of politics in the trade wind and, for the trader simply wishing to exchange pertinent information, it is surely of little practical use? Let's just get on with it and not forget why we're all gathered here in the first place.

The mods are far from perfect, of course, but we try to do our best in the circumstances. Anyone who prefers the unfettered free speech and consequent irritating clutter that besets other looser trading sites is free to leave at any time.

Yours, with luck as impartially as my flawed character and position in the company will allow,

Frugi

 

[Salty Gibbon]

There is no morally absolute right way of doing any of this, unless anyone is privy to a higher authority of which I am unaware. Salty?

The Almighty makes the ultimate decision Frugi as he so often reminds me in my mentoring sessions.

 

[Salty Gibbon]

The mods are far from perfect, of course, but we try to do our best in the circumstances. Anyone who prefers the unfettered free speech and consequent irritating clutter that besets other looser trading sites is free to leave at any time.

It is refreshing to observe the correct use of the word "looser".

Too many aspiring traders refer to themselves as "loosers" on this site and I have never been able to get my head around that at all.

 

[frugi]

I almost tried to make a witty comment about that distinction earlier, but though it best not to.

Heads? No sorry ...

You loose(,) Gibbon. Try tightening the harness a little

 

[fridayeve]

It is with some suprise that I find myself posting and not on a friday but imagine my shock when I realised I may be one of the few who actually understand to what extremes some members will go to put there misinformed opinions across, this I only discovered once I had come across trade2win chat. Surely instead of bickering about a subject so complicated that it may take a virtual lifetime to master, it would be a wise man whom focused on reality and started seeing the wood from the dead wood

 

[dbphoenix]

if I then choose to buy a 1/2 dozen donuts, well I'm an adult and surely I can choose what I read and pay for?

Unfortunately, there are a great many people, particularly now in the United States, who would take issue with that. In fact, legislation is now being considered that would allow groups to edit DVDs as they see fit without regard for the wishes of the director or studio. And given the current air of theocratic fascism, it's likely to pass.

Rent Farenheit 451, and lock your doors . . .

 

[thedunce]

As Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard's Almanack of 1737, The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise. Wily Old Wizard, Please! It's obvious isnt it, if you don't know this, well , you know, you shouldnt be posting!

 

[dbphoenix]

I almost tried to make a witty comment about that distinction earlier, but though it best not to.

With regard to the website to which you refer, there's really no distinction to be made.

But let's not start anything . . .

 

[SOCRATES]

As Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard's Almanack of 1737, The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise. Wily Old Wizard, Please! It's obvious isnt it, if you don't know this, well , you know, you shouldnt be posting!

Yes, I will act upon your advice, which is very wise and pure PodG Logic, and cease posting forthwith.

 

[fridayeve]

Could anyone tell me why the dow was only moving up and down today and not just one or the other?

 

[SOCRATES]

The magnets that attract prices one way or another have been interfered with and shifted unexpectedly.

 

[fridayeve]

Getting back after a long day on the piste I found myself wondering who was the best trader still trading?

 

[SOCRATES]

Magnetic shift

The magnets that attract prices one way or another have been interfered with and shifted unexpectedly.This is the best explanation that can be offered in a public forum, but I am certain that you get my drift....

 

[erierambler]

To echo the Rogue and the Gibbon: "What is all the fuss about?".
This site should be principally concerned with the discussion of trading, not the circular, somewhat self-defeating discussion of the channels available for discussion and, like roguetrader, I would welcome a respite from the latter.


Frugi

Exactly, the people that take responsibility for themselves , learn to think for themselves.

erie

 

[fridayeve]

i realised that something was afoot when my own magnets were slipping down the magnetic board but failed to put two andtwo together.Thanks for the tip Socrates.

 

[fridayeve]

Does it have anything to do with the earths magnetic feild when the prices are going in both directions at different times?

 

[SOCRATES]

Not exactly, see your private message inbox, for a full and detailed explanation.