Reinvigorate ASF as a stock forum

[Joe Blow]

I'm guessing you can't temporarily stop posts in the General Chat section or you would've done that.

No, I can close entire forums very easily. I was just hoping for a situation where we could keep General Chat but it would represent maybe 25-30% of all posts instead of 60%. I've dropped a lot of hints and made requests, but it seems that hasn't had any real impact. It's quite clear that most people here would rather talk about politics and religion than stocks, trading and investing.

Perhaps it is time to close down the General Chat forum? I don't think people are going to voluntarily start posting more in other forums, so in the end my hand may be forced.

 

[moXJO]

Perhaps it is time to close down the General Chat forum? I don't think people are going to voluntarily start posting more in other forums, so in the end my hand may be forced.

Shut it down joe.

This is a stock forum first. And its obvious this isn't getting resolved unless general is silenced and offending views tossed.

 

[SirRumpole]

It's your site Joe and you can do what you want but the assumption seems to be that "investment" people are driven away by General Chat. Do you personally believe that is the case ? My belief is that GC has kept the site going in the face of a general decline of interest in the investment side of it, maybe because of the GFC, or that property is a better form of investment or the rise of passive investment via index funds and/or superannuation .

But if you really think that GC is detracting from the site, then by all means delete it. As a passive investor myself with little interest in trading I won't be hanging around. An option is to move GC into the Members Only area so that the seemingly hundreds of hangers on (Guests) don't get distracted by off topic discussions, and to remove all GC posts from the Recent Posts lists.

The only other suggestion I have is to widen the appeal of the site by trying to attract the small business community or property investors.

 

[Darc Knight]

I consider @SirRumpole a pretty good Bloke and hope he does stick around or at least come back if GC is reinstated but I feel a temporary suspension of General Chat maybe needed by the sounds of it.
ASF survival looks to be at stake.

 

[Tisme]

Well if Tick Tock and his cobbers are leaving because of me, I'm prepared to go post AWOL. There you go no more excuses. Joe you can even send them a pls comeback on the back of it. Enjoy yourselves.

 

[Joe Blow]

It's your site Joe and you can do what you want but the assumption seems to be that "investment" people are driven away by General Chat. Do you personally believe that is the case ?

I've always been a supporter of General Chat, but the problem is that the balance is currently way out. ASF looks like a General Chat forum with a handful of people posting about stocks, trading or investing. That's the reality and should be pretty clear to everyone irrespective of what they think of the General Chat forum. Around 60% of forum posts are made in General Chat at the moment at the moment when ideally it should be about half that. I think this may turn off many who arrive here looking for stock market related chat.

I also think that political and religious discussion can create a toxic atmosphere. While the discussion here is generally at a high level, political debate does tend to whip up an almost religious fervor in some. We live in a world with a black and white political landscape now moreso than at any time I can remember and there can be a lot of incivility, labelling and personal attacks in political threads. People get fired up and sparks fly. It would be nice to see a little less hostility and a little more civility. Someone with different political views isn't an infidel, they're just someone whose life experience has led them to a different philosophical place.

My belief is that GC has kept the site going in the face of a general decline of interest in the investment side of it, maybe because of the GFC, or that property is a better form of investment or the rise of passive investment via index funds or superannuation .

It's done more than keep it alive, it's taken over. I agree with you that it has kept the forum active but at the same time it's also taken the focus away.

This is not necessarily a black and white issue. It's not all or nothing. There can be change in the right direction and a slow incremental move back to a focus on stock market, trading and investment related discussion. But I'm just not sure that it's something that people are going to do voluntarily. My sense is that people are taking a "It's my way or the highway" approach to this issue and I think that's unnecessary. No need for anyone to take their bat and ball and go home.

I've never wanted to chase anyone away, alienate anyone, or disappoint anyone, but it seems that I've inadvertently done all three. Whether I like it or not, I'm simply a politician here and my policies (or lack of them) are going to be attacked. My vision for ASF was and remains an intelligent stock market community with a healthy General Chat section.

But if you really think that GC is detracting from the site, then by all means delete it. As a passive investor myself with little interest in trading I won't be hanging around. An option is to move GC into the Members Only area so that the seemingly hundreds of hangers on (Guests) don't get distracted by off topic discussions.

The only other suggestion I have is to widen the appeal of the site by trying to attract the small business community or property investors.

People are quite welcome to discuss these topics in the General Investment and Economics forum, which I might rename soon to Business, Investment and Economics to broaden it a little.

All I really want is for the balance to be returned to the way it needs to be. I don't want anyone to leave, I want more to arrive and stay, but ASF needs to be a stock market forum first and a general chat forum second.

I realise this thread has gone way off topic, but I'll move all these posts out of here and into another thread later tonight.

 

[SirRumpole]

You are a decent bloke Joe and whatever you do I hope it works for you.

 

[PZ99]

Ahh bugger - this again. OK. Just one suggestion.

Open General Chat only when the ASX is closed

 

[greggles]

Or maybe we could all just try posting more in stock threads, trading threads, investing threads and economics threads?

That way, we can all stop talking about it because the problem will be fixed. This place is a community. If there's a problem that needs to be fixed, it's up to the members of the community to fix it.

I'm sure everyone has five minutes a day to help out and post a little more in some stock market related threads.

 

[SirRumpole]

Or maybe we could all just try posting more in stock threads, trading threads, investing threads and economics threads?

Fair enough, but economics is mostly about politics, so does that break the rules ?

 

[greggles]

Fair enough, but economics is mostly about politics, so does that break the rules ?

If politics comes into it, fair enough. But start the thread in the economics forum and make the discussion about economics.

 

[Smurf1976]

I have some thoughts for relevant threads / posts and will post them (the actual content that is) in a day or two.

US and other major market cycles and timing is the subject, that being the basis of my own investing with individual stock picking a secondary consideration.

I don’t know if there’s much interest in that sort of thing here. Only one way to find out.....

 

[barney]

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I'm sure everyone has five minutes a day to help out and post a little more in some stock market related threads. ​

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Exactly … I'm sure most of the long time Members are genuinely interested in preserving this site …. As you have shown Greg, it doesn't take too much effort to post about Stocks you either own or are interested in.​

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I'm sure for example a lot of the longer term investors here own BHP (I don't but wish I did!) Just a simple cut and paste of the important News on a regular basis would give the thread some life with minimal effort.​

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It might surprise everyone that BHP has had just one post in the last five months and that was from @greggles ​

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If we truly want to see more traffic and interest in the Site particularly from new Visitors who are looking for a reason to stay, as Members we need to have a bit more input … and I include myself in that suggestion.​

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Fair enough, but economics is mostly about politics, so does that break the rules ?

Rumpy, you are an excellent poster and its nothing to do with rules ….. As Joe has stated, he needs the Site to be more trading orientated to survive. Like many I'm sure you have a few old favorite Stocks that you've made a squillion dollars out of over the years which you could give a regular update on

 

[barney]

Just a quick follow up ……….. I'm wondering whether its just me or do others also think that the Site would be better served by the Home Page actually being the Forum Page?

Personally I'd much rather see the Stocks A-Z and all the Trading Threads as the first thing I see when I log on ….

Now obviously I can simply set that page up to load because I'm familiar with the site etc etc … but any new visitors searching the net will likely see the page below which to me does not scream "Trading" … thoughts??

 

[barney]

I would much rather see this page which entices the User to have a search around without even knowing the Site.

Obviously there could be additions and changes to make it more of a Home Page, but this Page is way more inviting to a Visitor interested in Trading.

 

[SirRumpole]

I have some thoughts for relevant threads / posts and will post them (the actual content that is) in a day or two.

US and other major market cycles and timing is the subject, that being the basis of my own investing with individual stock picking a secondary consideration.

I don’t know if there’s much interest in that sort of thing here. Only one way to find out.....

I'm looking forward to that Smurf.

I'm quite attracted to your macro approach to investing as it gives time to do other things instead of hanging around a screen every day worrying about micro ups and downs.

 

[Country Lad]

About to board ship for a 27 day cruise with very little internet so rhis is a quick off the cuff thought.
Every time I look there are massively more "guests" than members on line. Particularly puzzling at the moment are 6 members and 390 guests on line. Only 6 members is logical as it is before 6am your time, but 390 guests at 6am?
Every time I have looked over the years there are always hundreds of guests who obviously have a free ride and do not contribute. I would suggest that guests be severely restricted in what they can see - they are not contributing anyway so force a case of join to see more than a snippet of the discussions here or bugger off. Maybe then more will join and possibly contribute. If not, nothing lost.

 

[notting]

Someone in admin should step up and start posting daily about the big movers of the day.
Like the top and bottom 5. Do it at 11:30 am
Make some comments about them if you have an opinion, ask people what is going on if you don't have an opinion. Get the conversation going.
Also at the end of the week look for 5 stocks that made big moves up and down and do the same for weekend discussion.
First of all this will actually help people notice where some action is but is also where people will feel more compelled to say something as it tends to get the emotions etc going.
Look at how the great stock sights like CNBC, Bloomberg get your attention with headlines.
You need to do more than just sit back and expect everyone else to do everything!!!
The other thing to remember is that the site usage peaks during volatility and we haven't had that for a bout 10 years so that's probably contributing to the apathy too.

 

[Logique]

Just a suggestion, the General Chat forum is very discursive. What about curating it back to a more limited range of threads, as judged financially/economically relevant.

It would mean a few favourite threads would go, but that's the sacrifice you make.

I don't think the baby needs to be thrown out with the bath water

 

[greggles]

Everyone (except Smurf) is dancing around the real point. Yes, the website design needs some work. Perhaps other changes need to be made as well in terms of functionality. But that won't solve the problem. It's just window dressing.

The problem will only be solved when people post less in general chat and more in threads in the other forums, especially stock threads. It really is that simple.

This is not a problem government (admin) can solve. It needs to be solved by the people and can be solved literally overnight.