Sticky How can T2W better serve its community?

counter_violent said:
Which leads us on to why the content dry's up from those sufficiently knowledgeable and able to provide it. After a while, they realise that there's just no upside in sharing and educating others ( think bbmac ), and especially when nothing comes back in return.
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I wonder what could that be ! So we're back to hidden agendas and vendoring ...
 
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tar said:
Isn't that implemented already ? Via private forums like "Just Trading" for example , only invited and approved members can participate in , but its hardly active at the moment , yes its for free but its the same principle .
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I just told Sharky he could pull 'Just Trading' because nobody uses it......
 
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tar said:
I wonder what could that be ! So we're back to hidden agendas and vendoring ...
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I'm talking about information exchange, however that's dressed up, there comes a point where it is either all one way, or the poster quits because he considers the other participants offer nothing of value in return.
 
Sigma-D said:
OK. Why do you think it never gained momentum?
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Honestly? There was no need for it. We just wanted a place to hang out.

I think people said they wanted better trading related content but the group of us that are/were full time traders didn't really need to talk endlessly about trading. We wanted to hang out with each other for company. Occasionally we would discuss trading but we knew each other pretty well, knew where we were in terms of competence and felt comfortable just being friendly with each other rather than trying to prove stuff to each other.

I'm not trading full time at the moment (I am running a corporate turnaround in Germany) but I daresay when that finishes and I switch back to full time trading, I'd probably come back here just for chats and lulz. More likely I'll hang with DT at Big Mike's because we trade the same security in the same style and I like Pedro as a human being and trader.
 
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Which, unfortunately, means counter_violent was correct in that the more experienced traders don't really have much to talk about with each other that's trading related and get tired of the one-way street when discussing trading with newbies. But I presume that wasn't the ethos on this site when you joined it robster? So what's changed: the site, trading or the people who now comprise the general membership?
 
counter_violent said:
I'm talking about information exchange, however that's dressed up, there comes a point where it is either all one way, or the poster quits because he considers the other participants offer nothing of value in return.
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Yes , IMO its much more complicated than that , some did quit because they had to work a regular 8-16 job , others did quit after getting a promotion on their trading job/career , others did quit after facing a dead end on their prop trading and thus looking for other ventures . And many did quit because of forum's moderating policy - FXMO's thread ... etc - .

... etc
 
Sigma-D said:
Which, unfortunately, means counter_violent was correct in that the more experienced traders don't really have much to talk about with each other that's trading related and get tired of the one-way street when discussing trading with newbies. But I presume that wasn't the ethos on this site when you joined it robster? So what's changed: the site, trading or the people who now comprise the general membership?
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The skew in 2008 when I came here was that experienced traders generally dominated the tone of the conversation so that newbies who understood this is not a get rich quick scheme, had a body of information that could be tapped and was useful in the development of a trader. Relationships developed, information was provided, experience was imparted.

Now, I see those experienced traders being marginalised through the difficult balance the site tries to straddle between generating advertising/sponsorship revenue and new eyeballs vs keeping the content useful which in itself, is anti-vendor to the point where the experience has buggered off because it is not allowed to (a) hang out or (b) criticise vendors.

The site policy is what it is. It reaps what it sows. Nothing more, nothing less.
 
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tar said:
Yes , IMO its much more complicated than that , some did quit because they had to work a regular 8-16 job , others did quit after getting a promotion on their trading job/career , others did quit after facing a dead end on their prop trading and thus looking for other ventures . And many did quit because of forum's moderating policy - FXMO's thread ... etc - .

... etc
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Yes, all of that and more.

As far as moderation policy.

It's interesting that members don't seem able to accept that there are many individuals, styles and points of view that make up a forum.

So each member will have their own ideas about limits, boundaries, behaviours etc etc, and each one of them will think that they are right. (well they would wouldn't they)

So, what's the answer then ?
 
So Sharky's request as per the title of this thread is really directed to banner-clicking newbies rather than experienced old hands who would actually be more useful than the banners clicked.

In which case I'm sorry to have missed the site's zenith and I'm sorry its policies have had the impact that they have.
 
My view is that most of the real traders just get on with it and are more interested in T2W as a diversion from trading rather than talking about it. Since they are (have been!!) here many are happy to pass on the odd nuggets of advice etc and/or point up spurious claims from the five minute wonders (of whom there have been many). Many were often pretty vicious with the latter types to the extent that they either got themselves banned or went off in disgust.

In the early days there was a preponderance of the semi-experienced who interacted with each other as part of their ongoing learning. Sometimes that smacked of the blind leading the blind, but often there were those more advanced in their learning journey to take the lead. There seemed to be little by way of "hidden agendas" - usually commercial in nature - which have become an increasing headache for the site as the membership has grown.
 
Sigma-D said:
So Sharky's request as per the title of this thread is really directed to banner-clicking newbies rather than experienced old hands who would actually be more useful than the banners clicked.

In which case I'm sorry to have missed the site's zenith and I'm sorry its policies have had the impact that they have.
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It's just my opinion. Other's may have different views.

Fortunately the site acts as a historical archive for some very, very good content. However, it is hard to know if something is there if you do not even know you are supposed to look for it.

Unknown unknowns as Rumsfeld refers to them.
 
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Not to mention the changes in markets' volume and volatility , lets face it when there is a high volatility environment - credit crunch - that will bring traffic and encourage participation ...
 
But you'd imagine there would be a steady stream on new to the site, but experienced traders, who would go through that loop ad infintum. What seems to have been the case is that there was a tranche of experienced and semi-experienced traders who co-existed in the same space (here) and time (then) and when they all got bolloxed off with the site - left. Never to be replaced or refreshed. That's it.

I'm wondering if the shift in popularity and ease of access to Forex has been the culprit?

Trading stocks, options, commodities and futures attracts a more seasoned, sensible and generally intelligent form of life than the level these days attracted into the 'simplicity' of trading forex. The former has a business-like feel and requires a business-like approach while the latter tends to be geared to morons with pocket money to play with and ease of access to brokerage facilities where you can play for a few pence per pip. The sort of person, if robster is correct, that the site is actively hoping to attract in order to max is ad revenue streams.

Seems they've got what they wished for.
 
tar said:
Not to mention the changes in markets' volume and volatility , lets face it when there is a high volatility environment - credit crunch - that will bring traffic and encourage participation ...
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Yeah the volume and volatility is a major issue. TBH I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would trade forex in these times.

Algos have also taken their toll.
More restrictive regulation.
Banning of short selling.

There is loads to talk about, but nobody doing it.
 
Thanks for all the feedback so far, it's exactly what I was hoping for when I kicked off this thread.

I don't want to dwell too much on the past, at there is a lot of history there and I'm really interested in how to move things forward from here.

I'm open to all suggestions, and my only priority is the interests of the site, NOT increasing page views.

I think we all agree with Sigma-D when he said 'Anything which promotes sensible, polite and experienced debate has got to be a good thing.'

For me this is the no.1 priority and the minimum any self-respecting trading community should aim for. It's a 'need' for a successful trading community. Outside of this, the aims of providing a safe platform for newbies and as Barjon put it 'a diversion from trading rather than talking about it' come second, and can be described as 'wants'.

The challenge is in balancing these three things, and that's the motivation for this thread.
 
News and economic calendar - live - section with a chatting/commenting feature .
 
As a fairly new member - less than one year - I really don't know a lot about the site in the good old days - but can say - this last 6 years from 2008/ 9 - the whole world as changed and things have moved on in more ways than you think

T2W as far more competition and diversions compared to 2005 -2010 - everything from Facebook / Twitter / You Tube / Instagram / copytraders / etc etc - and so its bound to lose members to other new sites etc.

I actually agree with a lot of the comments already said about what's happened - but surely this as happened to all specialized trading sites - People are no longer living the good life of the nineties and early millennium - times have been tough for many since 2009 - money is no longer growing on trees and so less new traders willing to enter the markets.

Then add the fact that its not just dodgy vendors who have been ripping off all newbies - its been the banks - and now approx 10 yrs too late - they have been found out as deceitful crooks and so the FX markets have changed - they are harder to trade ( although still OK for experts) and so instead of having 1000 new FX traders every week or month signing on at brokers - its maybe 10 now and so T2W and other similar sites need to adapt and change with the times to attract more new members.

If you do a quick SWOT analysis on the site - its still as many advantages over it competitors - but with having such a vast thread base - many of the real gems are lost.

i would say that its worth finding the gems from the proper traders who have now left and recirculate them for a month or so to create new interest again.

The "Off the Grid" section is good for light relief from the boredom of full time trading - but so many good comments are lost in a couple of hrs in busy times - it needs to be latest 25 or 50 posts rather than just 10.

I think if the world economies improve over the next 1- 3 yrs - T2W will get lots of new members again joining every month - but meanwhile its a case of making sure every new member is made welcome and looked after - so that they want to join in and contribute and recommend others to come over to what can be the best Trading site again

Just my thoughts for now

Good Trading

Regards

F
 
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