>>On the one hand you & Matt have stated that you would like iHub to get back to being dedicated pretty much strictly to a place where investors can come to discuss "investing".
In my own dream world, iHub would be stocks only. You'll note this if you read my posts circa 2000. However, over time I learned that communities are kept glued together by the off-topic boards.
Being "strictly dedicated" to stocks wouldn't be an accurate representation of iHub. The Free version of iHub, yes. All of iHub, no. We want stocks to be the initial and main reason you come here. If you are coming here to talk about hair products or dogs or cooking...and don't have a clue about stocks or care, you've found the wrong place. We want to make it that clear. And if all those offtopic boards are in the premium zones, that takes care of the issue for 99% of the folks.
The original concept for the free zone (and it has worked well, I might add) was to throw an incentive out there to start new boards up (stock boards, but eventually off topic ones starting there, too). To hatch 'em, per say. Then, when they get big enough, they graduate to premium-only board, at their discretion. Along with that, you get more exclusivity (and features?) and members *subscribe*.
A good example of this concept is Cassandra. She came here originally to talk about EDIG, then browsed around and found the off-topic boards. Figured she wanted to hang out and post there, so she subscribed. Perfect! Exactly the plan.
As we continue to grow, the site will attract more and more people. The place where the most conflicts tend to happen is on the off topic boards. Politics, reglion, whatever gets involved and it creates a mess for the users and me. I (nor Bob) have no desire to get involved in a flame war over religion or politics. Stocks are our gravy train. If you remove the element of free people participating in these type discussions, things are easier to manage. Premium people are far less likely to get engaged in a war if they think they can lose something (money they paid). Free folks have nothing to lose. They get in a war, they get terminated, they come back. No big deal. I don't want to deal with that. Quite a bit of this is actually removed even now because of the 3 post/day max until I approve. A lot of people barely make it that far before being toasted.
To sum it all up: We are a stock site. You can come hang out with us and talk stocks at no charge. If you want to talk to about anything else, discuss politics, or use our plethora of premium features, it will cost you an entry fee.
As far as RB, there is no use in discussing that place. It's a sad excuse for a message board as it stands right now, that's only end result is going to be self-destruction.
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