message to all members

Mods have noticed an alarming increase in the number of frivolous and mischievous TOUs, so don't make them please.

We have 10 volunteer moderators who do a marvelous job of keeping the boards tidy, but we would all prefer to see more discussion and less disruption. They don't need to be on 'playground duty' when they could be following up genuine TOUs for more serious matters, such as defamatory comments that could put you the poster in breach of the law as well as bring unnecessary drama to Hot Copper.

You are responsible and accountable for what you post.

Moderators are also keen to stamp out multiple posters who create more than one account for the wrong reasons.
If you have more than one account for whatever reason, you can hit the support button at the bottom of the page and let us know so that we can cancel unnecessary accounts and leave you with one active one.

TOU abuse may result in suspension, or time out, so, as is the case in the politics forum, that has been very successful, think hard before using it.

Some points:

If there is fighting between two posters on a thread, don't TOU each other is you have aggravated the situation. Stop posting if you can't take the heat, or put each other on ignore.

It's not necessary to send in a TOU telling us that someone else has posted incorrect information/facts about a company. If you believe someone has posted incorrect facts about a company then make a post politely correcting them and posting the right facts.

Flaming:
Flaming is calling people names, or just being downright insulting.
Being critical is NOT necessarily flaming, it's just debate, robust or otherwise, but do not post to cause mischief by making another poster lose their temper.

Posters are permitted to engage other posters in direct dialogue about their comments, providing it is done rationally, civilly and constructively.

As an enormous amount of what is posted overall is basically unsubstantiated information, please don't TOU for that just because someone has said they've bought or sold some shares for example. Just ignore them if you think they are not worth reading.

Use ignore when you don't like what you read from a poster on a regular basis. It takes a strong character to use it, but most posters agree it is well worth it, and makes their reading a lot more pleasant.

At the end of the day, we endeavour to see conversation flowing, rather than have a disruption of grey posts taken out for often petty reasons.

We encourage tolerance, intelligence, maturity, good will, lateral thinking, fulfillment, nurturing new members, wealth creation, mental well being.

Please think at least twice before you hit the TOU button, and from all at HC Admin, we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and all the best for your trading and investing in the year to come.