Reinvigorate ASF as a stock forum

[satanoperca]

The simple Filter suggestion has my vote because it will highlight Stock posts from people like @greggles to nearer the top of the queue for a longer period of time, rather than see them disappear into insignificance

Ah, I hadn't even realized the implication of implementing a basic filter like this, that is why I love working together with people to share ideas and create the community that Joe has built through hard work, barney you are 100% correct, if the filter is implemented, stock related threads will remain higher in the search results and not be drowned out by the GC and distracting users from posting.

Appreciate your insights or thoughts or just general comments

 

[systematic]

The lack of participation at ASF is my primary concern and has been for a number of years. It really bothers me to read these two paragraphs because it speaks volume about the current state of affairs here. A number of people have mentioned things that frustrate them about ASF, the General Chat forum posts, certain aspects of the site's design and navigation, etc., but I'm not sure what the real reason for the lack of participation is. I'm not sure new features or new content or a new design will necessarily change that level of participation. Will those things make people post more? I find that hard to believe although I am willing to be proven wrong.

If I could ask everyone reading this thread one question it would be just that: what would make you post more? If I knew the answer to that question ASF's problems would be over very quickly indeed.

The new features ideas were more in the context of new users and growing ASF as a brand. I agree - they may not do a lot for level of participation of members.

Peter2 (who you quote above) reminds me of a sentiment I have shared. I wonder if we all have different interests in the market. I enjoy (probably moreso in the past than present) looking at which ASX stocks qualify under known systems - such as NCAV, Magic Formula, Piotroski etc. I was genuinely surprised - a little disappointed as well, but more surprised - that I almost felt alone in those or similar threads. So - the market participants that I want to play with, are those interested in banging on about system trading / investing. And because I'm not someone who needs to impose on every thread, I'm going to tend not to post to a macroeconomic thread or, say, Peter2's forex thread - apart from to say, 'cool, watching with interest' - because it's not my thing. And, I assume, vice versa.

Part of it might be the old saying that trading / investing is quite a solitary past-time? I'm really only interested in my own analysis, and I expect others to be the same. Someone posting a chart or analysis on some stock - how could that be part of my own investing plan? In fact, that's exactly what people do in the 'real world' - and it's a bad practice! I'm all for learning and education - and so those threads (where I can learn, or sometimes contribute) are great. But what someone else thinks about a stock I own or could own - is irrelevant.

The magic question you ask: what would make you post more? Well, given that we're especially talking about the individual stock threads (correct?) - I don't know.
I could go and post in 100 stock threads tomorrow, with, "this currently looks like a quality stock based on 'x' Maybe I should - maybe I will! But it'd be more to help out. I don't have a particular need to do that. I think that was the gist of the recent thread on this similar topic, wasn't it? And, quite a few of us did step it up a bit (posting to individual stocks a bit more). But again - for me at least - it's difficult to keep that up. It's not meant to feel like a job.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

If I could ask everyone reading this thread one question it would be just that: what would make you post more? If I knew the answer to that question ASF's problems would be over very quickly indeed.

You're doing what I would have done a while back - asking the customer.

But as a business you can't afford to do that. The customer/end-user/buyer should never be aware of the company's problems. And they should never be asked what's wrong, how to fix the problem or if they would contribute to fixing the problem. The reason for this is because such actions send a very negative message to everyone. And the message is "things aren't going so well here", and that repels a lot of people. Visitors and members should never have any awareness of this. Even if you do this one thing alone, you will stop the bleeding. It's business as usual at ASF.

Businesses require a leader with a strong mojo. From mojo comes passion and belief. And all the other requirements flow from this - time, energy, investment, involvement. I know it's not easy, but if there's any hint of 'blah' in you (lack of mojo), that's the place to start. Start with yourself and people will return. If you are vibrant, you will automatically attract business, even if you change nothing about ASF. That's both my personal experience and observation of others' businesses. Once you find your mojo, then you start implementing the changes suggested by members.

 

[satanoperca]

So provide a solution or potential solution or part of a solution, you just state the obvious.
You sound like ever other self help guru on the internet, provide your opinion without any direction.
Joe is trying to build a community, he is not the leader, just the facilitator that gets us all together

 

[basilio]

I'll return with a suggestion I offered earlier.

Currently it seems that ASF is purely Joes "business" and we are all customers or clients.
However the reality is that the intellectual property that will create further interest and activity on ASF lies in a small percentage of the clients. It is the research of Greggles, the energy knowledge of Smurf, the analysis of Pixel (now gone..) and the expertise of many others that adds critical value to forums.

Is there a way to more formally recognise these skills to
1) Encourage them to become leaders in the discussions in their areas of expertise
2) Encourage new people to joinbecasue they want to learn about particular trading systems, share selection, analysis whatever.

Thoughts ?

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

I myself enjoy the layout of ASF and am comfortable to browse and download topics of interest.

The "other forum" tend to have a flood tactic with so many stocks being displayed simultaneously and available with a click.

I have seen this ASF forum setup elsewhere so it must be fairly vanilla.

It is your call Joe.

As you know in the past I have advocated for attention to large caps on ASF. All to no avail.

If you are making a quid from the forum commensurate with the time spent then keep it going, then keep on.

Many posters are just big sister boys who like to whinge ( from my indigenous roots so do not censor admin ) .

I like ASF.

gg

 

[Gringotts Bank]

So provide a solution or potential solution or part of a solution, you just state the obvious.
You sound like ever other self help guru on the internet, provide your opinion without any direction.
Joe is trying to build a community, he is not the leader, just the facilitator that gets us all together

This is the sort of **** posting that puts people off. There's nothing obvious about what I said, and it comes from personal experience in business.

 

[satanoperca]

Really, I ask you GB to provide a solution/suggest a solution and all you have to reply is that I put people off, I actually thought you were better than this.

We are not Joe's customers, Joe has built a platform and environment to interact and communicate.

Think about it

 

[Gringotts Bank]

Really, I ask you GB to provide a solution/suggest a solution and all you have to reply is that I put people off, I actually thought you were better than this.

We are not Joe's customers, Joe has built a platform and environment to interact and communicate.

Think about it

It's Joe's business. He owns it, runs it and has money tied up in it. If it folded tomorrow, I won't lose a minute of sleep, and you won't either .... but someone will. That makes him (Joe) the leader. He sets the tone for the whole operation by his actions and words, and by the layout/style of the forum.

My solutions were plainly stated. One: don't ever admit things aren't going well. Tell your mentors, wife and accountant, but not your customers. Two: work on your personal energy. If there's low energy, nothing works. The ways to work on energy can take a lot of investigation as there can be a multitude of reasons why someone might feel off their game. Could be as simple as exercising more. Could be as complicated as flying north for the winter to escape the cold. People are attracted to vibrant leaders.

I've been in the same situation where it's like "what the f is going on? Why is business dropping?" And I'd try implementing a million different things to create the desired change. In the end it was all about me and my energy. That's where it all starts. All solutions just flow naturally from that point, so nothing specific needs to be suggested about the website layout or moderation.

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

OK for all you whingers out there I'll tell you how to use ASF.

1. Post regularly on stock, economic or general chat forums, to get the vibe.
2. Read the answers.
3. Read the answers.
4. Do a search on your favourite poster, mine are that silly shoveller Tech/A and Wayne/L. Download all their posts and read them . Pure Gold
5. Go back to 1.

gg

 

[satanoperca]

GG, What is a solution or part of a solution to change things?

Can you respond in one simple sentence? Keep it simple and sweet. I am simple

 

[Parse]

If I could ask everyone reading this thread one question it would be just that: what would make you post more? If I knew the answer to that question ASF's problems would be over very quickly indeed.

More posts in the stock threads

Actually I like greggles posts with current news on stocks and then sometimes barney or someone will comment on the post. So I start thinking maybe I could ask something here, but then, that stock has already gone quiet.....

Don't get me wrong, I fully enjoy reading greggles and barney's posts in the stock threads, it's just a shame a discussion doesn't continue.

 

[satanoperca]

4. Do a search on your favourite poster, mine are that silly shoveller Tech/A and Wayne/L. Download all their posts and read them . Pure Gold
gg

This is pure gold, well with acceptance of horse lovers, tongue in cheek. Wayne does does provide great insight into investing and trading, his political beliefs are best left for GC

 

[Value Hunter]

If there is one change I want to see above all else is that on thehone page get rid of all non investment related topics.

Only investment related topics should be allowed on the “recent posts” or “trending topics”, etc lists. Only investment related threads should be visible on the home page.

General chat, etc would still exist but you would have to actually click on the sub forum to see any of the posts. It would not be visible on the home page. This would mean anytime somebody goes to the home page only investment related topics are hitting them in the face. This would encourage people to read and post on these investment threads.

Just like how newspapers strategically chose which stories are front page worthy the website admin here should provide some kind of filtering for what makes the front (home) page.

Also rather than just imploring people to post more about stocks, Joe could set an example by making it his mission to research stocks and make one stock related post per day. This would help stimulate discussion.

Also another suggestion is that Joe could put up a “hall of fame” section on the front page to highlight threads that he thinks are very high quality and relevant.

 

[SirRumpole]

I won't give you the "it's too difficult to do" excuse. Instead I'll give you the "it's too expensive to do" excuse. I haven't checked the price recently but licensed content from the ASX is incredibly expensive. They do not distinguish on the basis of website size (i.e. traffic). It is a very high monthly fee that in my view is out of all proportion and entirely unreasonable.

What about articles that don't come from the ASX , ie reputable financial journals or writers ?

Once they have been published they can be quoted and linked to. A bot that trawls these sources and posts relevant articles would be useful.

 

[tech/a]

So provide a solution or potential solution or part of a solution, you just state the obvious.
You sound like ever other self help guru on the internet, provide your opinion without any direction.
Joe is trying to build a community, he is not the leader, just the facilitator that gets us all together

I think this should be directed to everyone.

It’s like opportunity
Most of us can see it
Few know what to do with it
Hardly anyone does something!

This is the sort of **** posting that puts people off. There's nothing obvious about what I said, and it comes from personal experience in business.

It’s not GG. I’ve been chatting with Joe off line for 12 mths.
It’s not an easy topic——Joes business is unique to yours AND mine.

I’ve cut back because of 2 things

(1) Time
To do a decent post complete with chart takes 30 min to an Hr
I just don’t have the time —- hats off to guys like Pete.

(2) Very little response to posts so why bother?
These are trading type posts.

The biggest disappointment to me of ASF is the number of quality posters over the year who have been chased off.

 

[Joe Blow]

What about articles that don't come from the ASX , ie reputable financial journals or writers ?

Once they have been published they can be quoted and linked to. A bot that trawls these sources and posts relevant articles would be useful.

It's possible, although they would most likely have to be collated manually, rather than by a bot. Bots don't know good from bad, useful from useless.

 

[SirRumpole]

It's possible, although they would most likely have to be collated manually, rather than by a bot. Bots don't know good from bad, useful from useless.

The trick would be to stick to respected writers or journals.

I've just posted a couple of articles by Ross Gittins which might be useful. I'm sure there are other journos that could be searched for relevant articles.

 

[basilio]

It's Joe's business. He owns it, runs it and has money tied up in it. If it folded tomorrow, I won't lose a minute of sleep, and you won't either .... but someone will. That makes him (Joe) the leader. He sets the tone for the whole operation by his actions and words, and by the layout/style of the forum.

My solutions were plainly stated. One: don't ever admit things aren't going well. Tell your mentors, wife and accountant, but not your customers. Two: work on your personal energy. If there's low energy, nothing works. The ways to work on energy can take a lot of investigation as there can be a multitude of reasons why someone might feel off their game. Could be as simple as exercising more. Could be as complicated as flying north for the winter to escape the cold. People are attracted to vibrant leaders.

I've been in the same situation where it's like "what the f is going on? Why is business dropping?" And I'd try implementing a million different things to create the desired change. In the end it was all about me and my energy. That's where it all starts. All solutions just flow naturally from that point, so nothing specific needs to be suggested about the website layout or moderation.

I would offer a different perspective on this "business" Gringott.

Firstly as customers we don't actually pay money. We invest our time, interest and expertise. The way Joe pays the bills is convincing advertisers he has a strong, interested bunch of investors who might buy into their products.

In a very real sense we are the product. Cultivating, nurturing, encouraging, pruning the product is the way to to grow the business. (Mind you I honestly can't see how Joe does more than pay the bills for ASF and make a bit of pocket money. I suspect its a labour of love.) In that context efforts to involve users in making ASF a better, more vibrant, constructive, more useful forum are win/win strategies. If we don't buy into the deal we lose the forum as does Joe.

I suppose the question we ask ourselves is "How much do we value ASF as a source of information, relationships and places to visit ? And if so how can we contribute to improving it? "

 

[basilio]

The trick would be to stick to respected writers or journals.

I've just posted a couple of articles by Ross Gittins which might be useful. I'm sure there are other journos that could be searched for relevant articles.

Good idea. As Joe points out bots can't do it only people.
Probably like us..