Bob it this the place where we can ask stupid questions like when we will get preview? Or how to clear our subjects page in one fell swoop? And other suck things that might make the experience here more plesant?
This post is intended as an overview of the rules of engagement for participating on Investors Hub, or, more specifically, what to expect of me based on what some of you already know of me based on my role at Silicon Investor.
For the most part, there won't be any difference. For example, spam, threats, and invasion of privacy will continue to be dealt with swiftly and severely.
Spam
The definition of "spam" that we'll use here is: "Multiple posts of the same or essentially the same content." If someone spams the site, they could receive a warning or account termination, depending on the extent to which they did it. I have never been tolerant of spam, and never will be, as it's often a tool used by scamsters and subtracts dramatically from the value of a site to the community who uses it.
Generally speaking, two copies of a post is the limit, and one of those copies must be in a thread specific to the stock and the other can be in any other thread that isn't specific to a particular stock (like a "Trade of the day" type of thread). More than that, and it's spamming.
Advertising
Advertising and Spam are not the same thing, although ads are frequently spammed. A post being advertising doesn't necessarily make it spam, although advertising will be strictly limited as well.
Links to one's site in a thread header are acceptable if the purpose of the thread and header isn't strictly to advertise the site.
Links within posts are only acceptable if they're part of a non-advertising message and if the link is either in support of the (on-topic) content of the message itself, or if the link is included as part of one's signature line and is to the writer's homepage, provided the homepage isn't a paid site or a site with ads; essentially that the link isn't an attempt to make income by enticing users to visit it. Examples: If I sign off a post with "Bob Zumbrunnen, http://www.bobzumbrunnen.com", it's not advertising. If I discuss technical aspects of a stock's recent price activity and post a link *directly* to a graph illustrating what I'm talking about, it's not advertising. If I write a post asking readers to check out a newsletter I'm offering, it's advertising. If I do it more than once, it's also spam.
As far as your profile goes, anything goes, to a point. Feel free to use your profile to advertise another site as shamelessly as you want. All other parts of the Terms of Service apply, but if you want to put a blinking banner in your profile, go for it. If you're a good enough writer that people want to go to your profile to see your other posts, you deserve the hits you get.
Still pretty gray? I'll update with examples as needed.
Multiple threads per ticker
Effective immediately, there is no "one thread per ticker" rule. The number of threads associated with a particular stock needs to be kept within reason, but it'll be my job to ensure that it's kept reasonable. If you want a thread that discusses daytrading QCOM and the existing thread focuses more on LTB&H (Long Term Buy & Hold), feel free to start a daytrading thread about QCOM. If the QCOM thread is too bullish for your tastes and you don't feel welcome there, start a QCOM thread for the bearish perspective.
We do, however, want to keep it "within reason". It doesn't do anyone any good if all of the information relevant to QCOM is divided into a dozen threads. Thread dilution needs to be kept at a minimum. If QCOM issues a press release, don't create a new thread for it. Post it to an existing thread. And if there are 4 threads about QCOM, posting the same thing to all 4 threads would be considered spamming.
Exception: For OTCBB and Pink Sheet issues, the limit will remain at one board per ticker. This is subject to change in the future, but I want to see how it goes with Listed and Nasdaq issues first.
Personal Attacks
At Silicon Investor, quite a bit of ad hominem stuff was permitted. This aspect will be dramatically different here.
I want to hold our community here to a higher standard. And because of the Chairman of the Board concept, there should be less of a precedent problem, or situations where someone got away with calling someone else a moron earlier so it must be okay for everyone to do it.
Another thing that'll help is the existence of the "Parking Lot" thread. Want to tell someone what you really think of them? Go there. All the more reason for us to have much lower tolerance of that kind of stuff in the other threads.
Aside from the Parking Lot thread, no kinds of personal attacks will be permitted, whether they're directed at individuals or groups.
General Rudeness
This is something that wasn't addressed on Silicon Investor at all. It will be here.
Excluding vulgarity, personal attacks, threats, and invasions of privacy, members will be able to conduct their own non-stock threads in any manner they see fit. If your thread is not specific to a particular stock or group of stocks, feel free to post in any way you see fit.
For example, if you have such a thread and post "This stock is a POS and the CEO works part-time at my estate pulling dandelions with his teeth. If this turd ever pokes its ugly head above $5 again, I'm going to short it until you feel some serious pain.", that would be acceptable.
However, if you go to the thread that's specific to that stock and post the same thing, you're going to get a warning or suspension. If you want to post your negative opinion on the stock-specific thread, do so in a civil manner. For example, "This stock is a poor investment choice because the CEO's only prior experience is in lawn maintenance and I will see any rally as an opportunity to re-enter my short position."
On threads that are specific to stocks, civility is expected.
Warnings
On Silicon Investor, I gave suspensions far more often than I gave warnings. This was for a number of reasons:
1. Oftentimes, my warnings were met with very extreme personal attacks and threats against myself. Surprisingly, far less so than suspensions. 2. There was no easy mechanism for tracking warnings. 3. Warnings are very time-consuming compared to suspensions. 4. Having clicked "I Agree" on the Terms of Use was considered warning enough. 5. I was required to communicate a certain way with users; not in the style most comfortable to me.
On Investors Hub, I will continue my philosophy of my role being more "moderator" than "punisher", and further it. This includes giving warnings for all but the most blatant of violations. The availability of the Chairman of the Board concept to reduce my workload is the main reason I'll be able to do this, and when I communicate with members here, I'll be able to do so in the ways I see as appropriate.
So, if you get a warning, please just take it in the spirit intended and know that it wasn't a suspension.
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