Hotcopper, it is what it is?
unfortunately this forum is a rabble ....... and a perfect reflection of the active contributors and their supporters. it is what it is. let me explain. hotcopper is now unfortunaely renowned as a pit of over-emotional excitable day traders. a nice place to visit to gauge sentiment in the speccy end of town, but hardly somewhere youd care to live. no wonder the more astute are making their homes elsewhere.
if so, who's to blame? i'm sure pat is happy to see plenty of site traffic if the advertising revenue model is based on posts/hits. if its quantity not quality that earns for hotcopper (all power to them) then its up to us posters to shape the content of the site. which is exactly what has been going on.
HC has a character, same as investorweb or stockhouse or anywhere else. in may ways this site has barely changed over the years.
for example, i was scanning another forum this morning and pondered the difference between the two sites. althought there are some great posters here, there numbers continue to dwindle. i went to investorweb where guys like Snapdragon and GT and Groundhog and Bookie and many many others make their home. they are all only to happy to extend the hand of friendship or discuss viewpoints. They have their characters too, not unlike here, but what was noticable was although a diversity of views were present, their forum is never permited to deteriorate into a rabble. why?
the answer is quite simple. a culture has evolved where a certain standard of behaviour and etiquette is expected. this in turn attracts more like minded people, which further reinforces the cultural standard and so on. the web moderators can be asked to step in to maintain decorum, but at the end of the day the populace decides what is and isnt acceptable. anti-social and multi-nic behaviour is not tolerated, as one infamous HC member found out. reminds me of the saying about judging someone by their enemies, not their friends LOL!!
hotcopper has often been regarded as a place where sheep are fleeced. nothing will ever change while the majority of members want it this way. its a shame, but this place is what it is.....
