Ego, Trading and Voting

I've started this topic to address some of the comments and questions from khamore1 and will quote his comments from today's trading topic below and delete them from the trading topic.

Honestly this voting system can be very distracting. If i am in a trade whether it is 5 or 20 contracts,the last thing i need is some one to make a silly comment and vote me down. that is like some body calling you in the middle of a trade and call you to irritate you.i like to trade as i make a living out of that. the last thing i need is getting upset because anonymous person didnt like what i had said. the funny thing here is we are all arguing like teenagers when the average age here is around 50.one thing this will do is scare people away. i am being very honest as i have more gray hair and more shining scalp than most of us here? as i said yesterday we are here to learn,make money and become good traders during those 7 hours of trading. i still dont understand why any body should be penalized for asking or making comment that may not meet the levels of an experienced one?. i think that we are making this too complicated as there are other important things in life. often times the guy votes you down does it later during the day like 8pm as he is done trading.i honestly think this can scare any new member that may be interested. i am here to learn,earn and not to be criticized.

Very well said Jedi. As someone who posts often I agree that ego is a huge part of forum life. hopefully nobody has confused themselves to feel otherwise. Trading is a lonely life and like many things financial gain is important but cannot be the ONLY thing if you want to survive in this business.

I hope everyone does whatever it takes to support their egos and works hard at having HUMBLE self confidence. Naturally we don't want to do this at the expense of others.

Originally posted by Jedi
We all have egos and emotions and there's nothing wrong with that and it doesn't make us a bad person.. Every emotion has a place and its there for a reason.. However, when it is expressed out of place, that's where we need to own up to it and use it as an opportunity to grow.. and often, feedback is an important part of that, whether in trading or communication or in any other area of life..

Vasuki,

I have noticed that too...it's as if somebody comes on the forum after they get home from their regular job and vote people down. Other times it seems like it is to cause trouble and somebody is bored.

It's actually kind of cool as it gives us a good snapshot of what the world is like out there. Some act rationally as we define rational and others act impulsively. It takes all kinds and that's what makes life so fascinating. These varying opinions on what is valuable.

This is the same concept that drives the markets, different opinions of what a stock or index is valued at.

I like the system as it is.

To me, a vote is like a nudge, but not necessarily worth commentary. If the recipient has an issue, they can ask. Posts with 1-2 negative votes should be taken with a grain of salt. If you check in and see -5 on your post, people should step up and explain if asked.

My aversion to mandatory explanations is they can quickly lead to pissing matches. I'm fairly new here (as a regular) and I like the "on topic", civility of this place. IMO, the proposed change would hurt that.

Originally posted by ETM

I like the system as it is.

To me, a vote is like a nudge, but not necessarily worth commentary. If the recipient has an issue, they can ask. Posts with 1-2 negative votes should be taken with a grain of salt. If you check in and see -5 on your post, people should step up and explain if asked.

My aversion to mandatory explanations is they can quickly lead to pissing matches. I'm fairly new here (as a regular) and I like the "on topic", civility of this place. IMO, the proposed change would hurt that.

The problem is how does the poster know what he is being nudged for? and you can easily get -5 from 1 person alone which is often the case. Perhaps, if the explanation was anonymous, it might remove some of the concerns with confrontations and etc.. both end benefit and the forum benefits with open honest dialogue.

I am not in the forum any longer, but made a suggestion some time back, not to allow the vote until the next day. This would eliminate the shoot from the hip type of voting, and would give the trader time to think thru why they were voting the way they were ...

Hi Red,

I never expressed my dismay over you parting the forum. Hope all is well with you. Is there any chance we can twist your arm to rejoin us here ? That candle stuff you posted always put a cool perspective on things and is missed here.

A great suggestion too...that would give folks time to think and rethink things..

Hope you'll reconsider participating with us again.

Bruce

DT this is a question for you

What exactly the “vote” up mean to you? And what did you want to accomplish with it?

Is it thank you? Is it you’re great? Is it your post helped me?

The same question for the “down vote” is it F*** you? Is it shut up? Is it I don’t want to hear you? Is it your post sucks? Is it a nudge like some wrote here?

What do you want to say and what do you hope to accomplish with it?

I have other question for you I’m sorry I can’t concentrate right now, this thread made me sick

The voting system is in place to allow traders to gain reputation and be recognized by their peers as valuable and generous contributors and good traders and educators.

It provides valuable and democratic feedback to the moderators and administrators of the forum. For example, Joe Ross' posts were regularly voted down and that combined with complaints about what he was posting forced him out of the forum. Likewise, spam-style posts are quickly identified, the user's account is terminated and the posts deleted. These actions, often invisible to other forum members, keeps the quality of commentary on the forum high. The most often quoted reason for traders coming to this site and forum is quality. I believe that the voting system helps guide that quality.

The down vote, in a nutshell, is someone saying "I wish you hadn't posted that." There may be an infinite number of reasons why the person said that and all of those you quoted (and more) could be included in the list.

I did a lot of research before implementing the voting system and have received a fair amount of feedback about it. The negative feedback that I've received is about the down vote and that is still in the minority.

Originally posted by BruceM

Hi Red,

I never expressed my dismay over you parting the forum. Hope all is well with you. Is there any chance we can twist your arm to rejoin us here ? That candle stuff you posted always put a cool perspective on things and is missed here.

A great suggestion too...that would give folks time to think and rethink things..

Hope you'll reconsider participating with us again.

Bruce

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Hi Bruce

I spend far less time in chat rooms and forums. Focus is much better.

I can understand that Red.....Well I hope if u decide to post again you'll remember us here at mypivots...

all the best to you!!

Originally posted by redsixspeed

Originally posted by BruceM

Hi Red,

I never expressed my dismay over you parting the forum. Hope all is well with you. Is there any chance we can twist your arm to rejoin us here ? That candle stuff you posted always put a cool perspective on things and is missed here.

A great suggestion too...that would give folks time to think and rethink things..

Hope you'll reconsider participating with us again.

Bruce

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Hi Bruce

I spend far less time in chat rooms and forums. Focus is much better.