Bob, I sent this suggestion to Matt the other day but he was apparently too busy dealing with various whiners to respond. What do you think of this idea?
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Matt, I have a suggestion for something I think would be quite useful for those of us who like to keep track of what positions the better traders are taking, as well as for those traders themselves.
BACKGROUND:
You may have noticed that my buddy Larry Dudash has been on a board creation rampage lately -- setting up boards for every trader who distinguishes him/her/it-self so that they can have someplace to post their trades and/or views for all to see.
This is all well and good so far as it goes. The problem is that I, for one, am finding myself spending a lot of time cross-posting to all of these threads in order to try to have a conversation about the markets. In addition, I have to read all of these threads, which have themselves become rather clogged with other people's cross-posts. (The cross posts of others like myself who are trying to engage in conversations about the markets, etc.) I suspect this is also a problem for other folks, but I can't swear to it.
MY IDEA:
My idea is for you, (actually Bob, I assume), to create a new type of board -- a single-poster sub-board. The name needs work, but I think the idea is good. Here's how I think it would/should work:
[1] Anyone who creates a new board would have the option of checking a box to "allow single-poster sub-boards." If the creator of the new board elects not to includes SPSBs, then everything is just as it is now. But if the creator of the new board does elect the SPSB option, then anyone who wishes could create his/her/its own sub-board of that board.
[2] A sub-board would differ in a few respects from a standard board.
a. A sub-board would be permanently linked to its parent board.
b. Only the owner of the sub-board would be able to post to that board.
c. Anyone wishing to reply to or comment on a message contained on the sub-board would just click "public reply" or "private reply" as we do now.
d. The private reply function would remain as it currently stands.
e. The public reply function would be different. A public reply to a post on a sub-board would go to the main board to which that sub-board is attached.
EXAMPLE:
Larry might create a board called "Larry's Favorite Traders," (LFT). Along with the main board, LFT might have several sub-boards, for example, "Larry's Trades," "Steve's Trades, and "wahz's Trades" (LT, ST, and WT).
All public responses to LT, ST, and/or WT would go direct to the main LFT board. Thus, each trader would have his own space to post his trades but they would all be able to share one discussion space like a big, happy, semi-functional family.
ALTERNATIVE FORMAT:
An alternative way to set things up would be for their to be the option of adding Single Trader iBoxes to boards in much the manner outlined above, except that there would be a "Post New Message" button rather than a "Reply" button. I offer this alternative as something which might be a bit simpler to implement yet still have the same basic effect. (Most traders with their own boards seem to have them mostly so they can use the iBox to create a record of their trades.)
A BIT OF EXPLANATION:
The reason I have gone to the trouble of emphasizing that each sub-board would be permanently connected to a main board is so that we won't have a situation of would-be gurus handing out cruddy advice to people with there being no way for the public to confront them on their lousy calls/advice/sales pitches/etc.
So, what do you think?
(:
augie
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