Drillbits & Bottlerockets

[JXM]

Matt,
I just went through the conversation and I will point out that I agree with Lisa on most points. And dammit Lisa, if you stop yelling, it will be much easier for people to see your point (smooch, you know that I love ya!).

I think that there are a number of things that I would take exception to concerning your underlying premises. One would be that, since Jenna's thread is discussing stocks, that the ends justify the means. So, is it your view that the ends justify the means? That having orderly stock discussions is more important than having fair and unbalanced views? This is what appears to be the underlying philosophy of the site.

And dismissing a person's views because they have not posted about stocks or been a COB or whatever is pure business folly. If you want to grow this site, you have to start attracting new posters who will provide content. I have not been overly active on iHub because it hasn't proven itself to me yet. Yes, you do have to keep your existing customer base happy, but you have to attact new people. You should not have a bias on how you interpret the rules based on whether someone is a prolific poster or a newbie. You should apply the rules equitably regardless.

Further, you may envision this as a site for discussions about stocks, but the fact is, if you don't plan for it being something much more than that, it will not succeed. This needs to be a community where one of the things that we all have in common is stocks, but like in any other community, there will be a whole lot of other activities outside of the main interest.

If Jenna or anybody else is going to require that their little community (thread) is only about stocks and that if a post that isn't about stocks written by somebody that the COB does not like is deleted, then by rights, she or the COB should not ever post anything that isn't about stocks. That is, if you want things to be equitable.

So, no it is time for a trick question:

If a representative from Merrill Lynch started a thread on iHub with the intent of soliciting business, would you:
1. Allow it?
2. Allow open criticism of the existance of the thread?
3. Allow open criticism of Merrill Lynch's analysts on the thread?

BTW: the freakin logout problem is still here.