Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

The changing face of online communities

Jump to new
@tech/a mentioned quite correctly that there are some great written and video bloggers out there. Many of them do it for the joy and recognition rather than money.

I'm sure many of them would like to be associated with an online community that shares their special interest. They would like the extra attention knowing hundreds/thousands of extra people are reading their blog or watching their vids.

The challenge would be allowing them to keep their independance yet able to arrange a two way interaction with part of the forum that shares their special interest.

---------------------------

Online communities will fragment from multi-topic communities to special interest groups. These individuals with a special interest will aggregate towards independent online collectors and providers of information relevant to these special interests rather than groups that rely on member contributions only.

Is there an Ap that will allow me to see every online article published about any stock code I input?
There will be in the future and online communities will appear around that Ap to discuss the info.
---------------------------

I see that Saxo is one of the forum sponsors. Saxo have expert commentators publishing online articles about many financial markets. Would you allow your sponsors to insert their links to these articles in the relevant threads? It would enhance the content.

eg. I'm on Saxo's email list and have just received an invitation to an educational webinar about the basics of Futures & Options trading to hedge or speculate on today's markets. There might be a few forum members who would like to attend this hour long presentation from one of your current sponsors.
 
Although this is a stock forum, there are other forms of investment ; eg collectibles; old cars, stamps and coins, comics, books and magazines, art works, toy soldiers whatever.

Is this forum an appropriate place for such things ?
 
Another idea, on a specific stock thread:"AGL" or whatever, maybe a quick link to some of the basic info of the day if you can easily get it from a provider: last price..by the day, no need i think of curremt pseudo real time, the PE, volume etc;
I often for stock i am not following, go back to my trading account to check these figures, graph etc; may be a nice way for a saxo/comsec etc to have a bit of free ads while providing the asf user with relevant info available on a click when dealing with a stock.
What do you guys think?
 
SirRumpole said:
Although this is a stock forum, there are other forms of investment ; eg collectibles; old cars, stamps and coins, comics, books and magazines, art works, toy soldiers whatever.

Is this forum an appropriate place for such things ?
Click to expand...

It certainly is. The General Investment and Economics forum is the place for all investment topics that are unrelated to financial markets.
 
There's always been a lot of general chat discussion at ASF, it just wasn't as noticeable when the amount of posts in stock market related threads was higher. There are a multitude of big picture reasons why an imbalance started to occur. Some of these include the perceived lower risk and higher returns in real estate, the increasing popularity of ETFs and passive investing, the psychological effect of the GFC on retail traders and investors, the rise of social media, the list goes on.

I think there are also cultural reasons for the current imbalance. I think many people are reluctant to contribute to stock related threads out of a fear of being belittled, criticised or labelled a ramper. Some just prefer to read and not post and I think this tendency has increased in recent years possibly due to market conditions here in Australia. The recovery post-GFC has been slow and undramatic. The commodities boom, underpinned by years of Chinese economic growth, that drove the bull market from 2003 to 2008 is now a distant memory. Can anyone remember the last time they got a stock tip from a taxi driver?

There's not a lot that can be done about big picture causes, but there is much that can be done about cultural or site specific causes. Financial markets aren't going anywhere. There will always be a need for venues in which to discuss the stock market, individual stocks, and trading and investment related topics. As far as Australian based websites are concerned, some of them have come and gone, and some are still around. ASF is one of the ones that has survived, largely due in my opinion to a loyal member base and quality and diversity of content. There are many members who joined ASF in 2004 or 2005 who still visit and post regularly. However, there has been some difficulty in recent times in retaining new members. This is something that needs to change. Please help and encourage those new to ASF. Make them feel welcome and comfortable contributing. The foundation of growing any online community is creating and maintaining a culture based on respect, tolerance, a willingness to help others, and constructive rather than destructive criticism or feedback. Communities that are friendly and positive are more attractive to newcomers and more likely to encourage repeat visits and increased registrations.

There have been some great suggestions made that I intend to follow up on such as more content, increased promotion of existing content, and finding more ways of making ASF stand out as a destination for those looking to chat about all things stock market related. Please help me out by sharing content and raising ASF's profile on social media. And keep making suggestions and seconding other suggestions that you agree with. Ultimately, all changes are made in response to member requests and suggestions, so it's always useful to know what people want. Don't be shy in letting me know.
 
I am quite a new member in the sense of time, frequency and that my posts are generally fluff.

What drew me to the forum is that I felt a sense of dealing with genuine people. What I mean by that is people who generally don't have self interest in selling you a product and have experienced trading/investing.

When I go look at other places online alot of it is just a sales pitch or people who have no idea.

Secondly I feel that I get genuine feedback too my questions/ responses, once again not just a sales pitch or waste of time chatter.

Finally I think that the decline in shares based activity is a generational one. My fathers generation baby boomer invested in small caps as a hobby and to build wealth. Now everything is forex cfd futures derivative based. Shorter and shorter time period, more and more complex, more quantitative and more algo. That is what is in vogue.

I don't know if the younger generation will pick up the stocks again and the fashion will ever change back.

my two cents
 
from earlier on
.
Screenshot_20230917-075210_Chrome.jpg
 
I'll try to be a little more concise than I originally intended to be.

In short, long form quality debate and discussion is still on the decline overall across the internet. Platforms such as Tiktok are actively reducing attention spans and encouraging short form content and mostly this appears to be a generational shift. Older people continue on as they have in the past, but young adults in 2024 appear to be largely unfamiliar and uncomfortable with long form content and complex argumentation. There is more black and white, less nuance, and less of a willingness to explore alternative methodologies, viewpoints and positions. I don't think is going to change anytime soon. Please note that this is all just based on my own observations. Others may have a different view.

For a while I thought that Facebook Groups was going to be a existential threat to old school forums such as ASF. This has proven to be incorrect. Facebook Groups is a wasteland of deserted groups that have died for one reason or another. As an example, one ASX based group has over 34,600 members and now manages a mere two posts a week. Why this has happened I don't know and can only speculate but I assume that if it wasn't management issues (powermongers run amok), they probably just ran out of steam due to ramping and low quality content or became toxic due to unpleasant and anti-social conduct. Whatever the case, many of these ASX based groups on Facebook appear to be a spent force.

As for ASX-based forums there is ony ASF and HC left with one other forum that was started by a group who decided to leave HC and start their own forum. A forum called Bullseye started to great fanfare in 2021 but unceremonously folded just two years later. It's a tough niche to be working in 2024 but we are still flying above stall speed and still seem to have some petrol in the tank.

I have no idea what the future holds, and take things one day at a time because of this. In around four months, ASF will have been online for 20 years. That's a long time for an internet forum and not many make it that far. That in itself is quite an achievement. If we all keep posting and engaging in intelligent and respectful debate and discussion then we may be online for a lot longer. But that remains to be seen.
 
I am in a few forums on FB and the biggest problem for me is finding old posts and revisiting posts or topics which interest me.

If I read it tonight and wish to revisit in 2 days time to clarify something it is Gone, buried in the past somewhere.

The continuity provided by ASF threads encourages folk to follow a stock and visit regularly as others post announcements or rumours for all to read.

On FB usually all niche topics are included in the main thread and become a tangled mish mash of info which swamps individual interests.

Because it is so hard to find an old post new punters post the same questions over and over, old posters have answered the same question 4 times so they just ignore the request.

Quickly, new posters think no answer=no help so go elsewhere and the page dies off.

ASF format is really the only option for on going discussion over a Long period, some of the stock threads started on day 1, you can't do that on FB.
 
macca said:
I am in a few forums on FB and the biggest problem for me is finding old posts and revisiting posts or topics which interest me.

If I read it tonight and wish to revisit in 2 days time to clarify something it is Gone, buried in the past somewhere.

The continuity provided by ASF threads encourages folk to follow a stock and visit regularly as others post announcements or rumours for all to read.

On FB usually all niche topics are included in the main thread and become a tangled mish mash of info which swamps individual interests.

Because it is so hard to find an old post new punters post the same questions over and over, old posters have answered the same question 4 times so they just ignore the request.

Quickly, new posters think no answer=no help so go elsewhere and the page dies off.

ASF format is really the only option for on going discussion over a Long period, some of the stock threads started on day 1, you can't do that on FB.
Click to expand...
In my profession we used to have some really good forums such as this one. Farcebook has really destroy those to the point that none exist anymore... The exact opposite of our experience here at ASF.

TBH, I far prefer a forum such as this for the reasons you mentioned
 
macca said:
... Because it is so hard to find an old post new punters post the same questions over and over, old posters have answered the same question 4 times so they just ignore the request.

Quickly, new posters think no answer=no help so go elsewhere and the page dies off.

ASF format is really the only option for on going discussion over a Long period, some of the stock threads started on day 1, you can't do that on FB.
Click to expand...
which is why Forum Decorum is important. Try not to drift off-topic, go down rabbit holes, point-score, etc.

Hard to do, we all slip. A bit of discipline and use of Search never goes astray.
 
Facebook Groups do serve a useful purpose for some things. I belong to a couple of local area groups where people ask for tradie recommendations, report lost pets, discuss local road upgrades and things of that nature. For that, Facebook Groups is useful.

But for specialised areas that involve posting at length and in great detail and depth and for discussions that go on for years and sometimes decades, that format is not so useful. I can't find anything that was posted last week let alone last year. It's a conveyor belt of short form content that is here one day and gone the next.
 
Joe Blow said:
As for ASX-based forums there is ony ASF and HC left with one other forum that was started by a group who decided to leave HC and start their own forum. A forum called Bullseye started to great fanfare in 2021 but unceremonously folded just two years later.
Click to expand...
I've just read that Stockhead puff piece from Bullshy. And some of the rest of this slow long weekend has been on the Goldsky thread....

Convergence? Dang, those promoters and their fancy words.

And as a rejoinder to Facebook local groups, why do marketing when a physiotherapist can do your work for you? Word of mouth and personal recommendation can cut both ways.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

wayneL
The Under 16 Social Media Ban
2 3
Replies
52
Views
2K
Smurf1976
Smurf1976
ducati916
November 2024 DDD
2 3
Replies
53
Views
5K
ducati916
ducati916
Dona Ferentes
The role of Private Equity
Replies
5
Views
2K
Dona Ferentes
Dona Ferentes
basilio
How valuable are two parent families?
2
Replies
28
Views
3K
Value Collector
Value Collector
A
My experience with the forex course Learn to Trade/Smartcharts by Greg Secker
Replies
11
Views
2K
Joe Blow
Joe Blow
Top