Is this the end of the lurker?

[Sensei]

I lurk. There is a wealth of knowledge here. Its like a gold mine. It takes a lot of work. Im patient and i am on this site no less than 50 times a day. I never skip a post from RMI, uptrend, Bquat, sensei (hell too many to list). Yeah, I want to be like birch. Right now im a student. When i can grab that stone from the master, look out. Til then, thank you guys! And I do tell everyone about this site.

Thanks for mentioning me. I was a lurker in 2010, and it's been a great education since I joined. I think I understand what the old-timers are hinting at about how it's not the same as it used to be, but this is still a fantastic site. And I think lurkers should be welcome, as they might become future contributors.

 

[BigJohn]

Thanks for mentioning me. I was a lurker in 2010, and it's been a great education since I joined. I think I understand what the old-timers are hinting at about how it's not the same as it used to be, but this is still a fantastic site. And I think lurkers should be welcome, as they might become future contributors.

It looks like my comments have been misconstrued. I think lurkers/surfers/passersby are the future of this website and not only should be welcomed, but should be given as much information...in the easiest format...as possible. My idea for a separate forum wasn't intended to exclude these folks, but to give them another resource where those longer in the tooth are concentrated. At times I surf to see what newer members are saying...sometimes I focus on who is at the top of the leader board and track down their threads to see what they have to say...sometimes I surf to see who has the most posts...and finally, sometimes I surf to see what some of the older members are saying. My idea was simply to put the older member's thread in one place.

To JTH's ideas: I think 5 years may be a bit too long and I don't think an Elder's council is a good idea. The last thing I think we need to do is make the "old farts" club grandiose... If you gave members with 3+ years the option of moving their threads to one forum; and gave those with 500+ posts the same option...the end result might be a forum where this collective information is more readily accessible.

Bottom line: my suggestion was organizational in nature, in no way meant to discourage newer visitors...quite to the contrary, to make threads easier to find for those interested in how the older and more frequent posters think.

 

[Cactus]

Sounds like the bigger issue here is the old timers want things like they were in glory days. That was before my time, but I suspect it's like everything else. Things change and there's no going back. The more you try to make something like it was, the more you strangle it and turn it into a dead, ossified ritual.

Having a separate category for more substantive information instead of putting it into Members' Account Talk with everything else isn't a bad idea. You just have to figure out a way to keep the fluff out of it. Reserving it for folks who have been around for X number of years isn't going to do it. That's just setting up a nostalgia clique. That's OK if that's what you want, but if you really want substantive information, you could get more of that from someone who just showed up today than you could ever get from me even if I were here for X years.

I for one try to limit the posts to my "Member's Thread", so I don't bury the threads of others on page 3 and beyond. These days I give my reason for the IFT on the AutoTracker itself. A 100 char. limit may be difficult for some, but it works for me. I'd like to see more of that, as most reasons are blank. Maybe an optional menu of short, canned reasons would help. Something like: Scared, Greedy, Getting bullish, Getting bearish, Seasonality, Gut reaction, Following someone, Met target for month, Drop passed my trigger, Use a move before EOM, Get setup for next month, Taking a rest, etc.

Just my 2 cents worth -- and that cleans me out.

 

[Sensei]

These days I give my reason for the IFT on the AutoTracker itself... I'd like to see more of that, as most reasons are blank. Maybe an optional menu of short, canned reasons would help. Something like: Scared, Greedy, Getting bullish, Getting bearish, Seasonality, Gut reaction, Following someone, Met target for month, Drop passed my trigger, Use a move before EOM, Get setup for next month, Taking a rest, etc.

Interesting idea. I personally prefer to see people elaborate in their account threads, as I check the forum frequently, but only the recent IFTs on the AT once or twice a month. But the drop down would be cool. If it can be added, an "other" option allowing you to enter your own value (as it is now) should be preserved to go along with the presets.

 

[Cactus]

Yes, the AT only keeps the last ~100 IFTs, so if you don't check it frequently you miss out. There is no preserved history like on the forum. That is the downsize.

I wasn't thinking of the Menu as a replacement for the enterable description, but as working along with. It would fill the description field with the canned entry if you choose, but you could still change it or not use the menu at all and just type in your own reason. It's called a BrowseEntry field in PERL/Tk. I don't know if it can be set up easily with the AT software. I just thought it was a better option than leaving the field blank.