Threadshitting - A civil discussion…

i'd probably see more intellectual dishonesty if so much of the thread wasn't tl;dr. i know i'm a terrible hypocrite in that regard, but what can you do?

 

I hear what you're saying- I guess it can be hard for a rookie to break in. I've got like 125+ under my belt, and connects I can reach out to.

I guess what I'm saying is there are a LOT of kick-ass traders out there. Take a step back from the craziness and you might find some of 'em. Unfortunately- and this ties in to threadshitting- the negative actions get the most attention around here.

 

Well, by concerns I meant, for example, that the threadshitting threads and value threads could somehow have other adverse consequences for the boards, even outside of their own content. Maybe by backlogging the FT:ISO boards or something. There are people who perceive that as [part of the] issue. That's what I'm referring to here.

Basically, they can be hilarious, yet still not be want we ultimately want for the board, even if they crack us up.

 

That's an empirical question, I'd think. It seems you'd support threadshitting so that people can't inflate the value of their beers, right? Because I'm not sure how else to stop that, except by prohibiting replies maybe.

 

Promote em' all I say....

even when they have nothing to do with nothing, I still love them. I'd rather sit and freaking crack up laughing! It's all in the perception. And my perception is usually from sideways.

 

It's a value judgment to say whether there are positives, and it's not one I'm prepared to make or have tried to make. Others have argued the educational value. As (I think) my first post in this thread argued, it's about lining up the pros and cons and considering them.

 

LULZ

 

I'm just gonna drink some great beers instead of replying to all who've replied to me. This thread is just running in circles.

Cheers guys.

 

I'm sure that's the case.

When hobbies, teams, organizations get more popular, things can happen to related messageboards. What once was a tight-knit community with a core set of values has to compete with an influx of new persons. These problems aren't new, but just a variation on a theme I've seen other places and that happens all the time.

The question is how to deal with them. And, as I've said, that involves weighing the pros and cons. Unfortunately, there's not enough "science" to it, if any at all, and ultimately, you'll be making value judgments. If you disallow threadshitting, new people might not learn. If you disallow responses to threads completely, new people might not learn, threadshitting won't keep bumping pointless threads and blocking up the front page of the FT:ISO thread, and we won't get the lolz, etc., etc., etc.

It's awfully tough to consider any of these in isolation, because they all play off of each other.

 

I see it as 10,000 different directions, rather than circles. But cheers to you, brother.

Unfortunately, I have a date with my Trusts and Estates book this evening.

 

Question?

Anyway, I'm fine with "threadshitting" depending on the tone and intentions of the poster (which unfortunately much of the time are shitty and bad, respectively). I think there's definitely a time and place for interjecting information in a trade post, or for calling out a poster for shady behavior.

 

bears repeating. just because (say) rare traded for 12 pliny doesn't mean that exact exchange will occur over and over indefinitely. eventually you will exhaust the supply of people willing to do it.

so knowing what some previous trade went for doesn't mean that the next one has to get done for that exact set of beers. in that sense, the " value " is mercurial and ever-shifting.

what it really comes down to, i think, is that most people have some understanding of what it would take to get something done, but they don't want to offer that much and they'll often disregard advice telling them to.

 

It's ever-shifting, but you can't get in the right neighborhood, no?

 

"Threadshitting" just has such a negative connotation. Let's just change it to: Threadloving, and boom, no more people being like "hey man, quit threadshitting." Instead, all those mofos would be like "hey man, thanks for the threadloving. I had no idea that I couldn't trade a six pack of Gubna for Rare!"

 

what i'm saying is:

a) there is often enough info to get in the right neighborhood (look at trade offers from people with good trading reputations)
b) when the above is unavailable, get an idea based offers for other beers by that brewery and considering bottle count / scores
c) failing all the above, start a trade thread and ask

what gets me is that even when people resort to (c) and get answers, you'll sometimes see them blatantly disregard that advice and either try to argue it down or to promote their offer. it's not a request for information, it's a billboard.

what also gets me is that when people get (c), they'll take it too literally. " well someone traded cbs for king henry so why is mine not getting done?!?!? wahh hoarding i'm so unhappy right now!! " those people need a wakeup call.

in short, the " trade value??? " threads are a prime example of how too much information is a bad thing for some people that clearly are ill-equipped or unwilling to handle it.

 

We could go back to the Beer Karma days. (God, I hated Beer Karma)

 

That all seems reasonable. But how do you allow (c) and yet make sure thing don't get to what you discuss in the last 2 paragraphs?

Or, how do you make sure (c) never happens without putting a lid on the growth of trading (or whatever other potential consequences there might be)?

Not such a simple solution, IMO.

 

I guess I just don't have sympathy for new traders who don't RTFF (read the ******* forum) and just start trying to shoot for the moon right from the start. It isn't our fault they didn't read for some background information first. I know we are living in the age of spoon-fed information but people could at least do a little reading. Instead people post waste of time ISOs rather than asking for help and advice first, then of course we just coddle them anyway. I love growth in the trading community too, but I prefer to see a little effort from the newbies, or at least start small.

 

I'm of the mind of a warm handshake and a smile, although if you read the forums you'll see I am in the minority. I'd say if us Vet BAs want a good trading forum it's up to us to take N00bs under our wings.. problem being is there is always a few bad eggs, both in vets and in n00bs.