true, but a basher causes his own problem by repetition... and it is his spamming that gets him in trouble with other posters... (and if you take the time to read what I have said below, you will see me argue that this repetition is different and more harmful than what happens from pumper spammers that just are puffing the merits of the stock repeatedly...)
When bashers say they own the stock, as many of them do, and then for long periods of time, sometimes years, they post only negative things 30 times or more per week, then one tends to think they are either dishonest about their ownership or some sort of psych case... and they draw the criticisms onto themselves... like why own a stock you hate and why come on a chat board 24/7 and tell everyone this for extended periods of time... [is this bashing, trashing, spamming the litinay of negatives addictive, or what... are these guys addicts? I will answer that below...lol]
Most posters own the stock or are thinking about it and they dont want their property to be trashed in public all day, every day by a clown who says he owns it too, but it seems like he doesn't...
Additionally, for those bashers that do not say they own the stock, or say that they dont own it, but are there 24/7 to tell everyone why they should not own it by presenting the same 1/2 of the story hundreds of times... they are offensive too, and they draw personal attacks... not for their negative opinion, but for their spamming of it...
Basically, the spamming basher is criticizing the stock and, indirectly, everyone that owns it 24/7...
When you get the same criticism in a chant, litiany or just over and over, you get tired and bored of it and you want to say that guy is discourteous, nuts, and a liar... ergo the paid basher explaination arises...
At least that is a rational that makes the basher understandable... lol that says, OK, I see what you are doing... you are not crazy, you work for the man... ok, now it all makes sense... lol
The bashser gets attacked because: (1) it is hard to take too much criticism without fighting back --even indirect criticism-- for spending your money in a risky investment from someone telling 1/2 the story all the time, before you want to attack him; and (2) it also is hard to accept what he is telling you as true, if he claims to own the stock just like you, but has no balance in what he says and points out only the negative about the company and the management who is not there ususally to protect its own reputation...; and (3)finally, there is something going on with this basher that is actually harmful, in that he is trying (and may be succeeding) to do harm to the sentiment and the stock value... by working on and promoting the emotion of fear... which saps stock value... after all if he owns the stock and has so much bad to say about it, should you buy it, answer, maybe no... and while we welcome some constructive criticism and information it is the spamming of the negatives that make this harmful, IMO...
thus, the basher not only is criticizing the owners of the stock but he is trying actively to harm their financial interests... or he behaves in utter disregard of their interests... so the owners should be able to examine the bashers motives and attack him back and try to show what the basher is doing... thus, the personal battles ensue about why people are bashers and what is their agendas... IHub is not able to catch all the spamming by the basher... so the shareholders try to fight back...
Free speach and the benefits that flow when we have both sides told are not harmed if we get rid of spamming bashers... and certainly I think, to answer your point, many bashers deserve to be spending their time responding to the plethoria of personal attacks... they are drawing them deservedly, IMO...
In these three ways, bashers are fundamentally different from pumpers and more harmful... IMO
...that is what got me into jail here... I attacked bashers that were spamming my investment 24/7 with only 1/2 the story and only on the down side... lol
If you read this far, my appologies for such a long winded post... but this is a big idea... and deserves discussion...
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
