I am becoming more and more convinced that the current Agoracom member rating system is a hinderance rather than an attraction to achieving wide-ranging discussions as well as to attracting new membership. It appeared to me initially that only contributors who were less than extremely bullish on a stock were rated down by fellow members. However, although this is clearly the case on many Hubs, another phenomenon is the "newbie effect" in which many of the current members simply downgrade new posters as a matter of course regardless of what they have posted. There is an unfortunate tendency for the "old boys/old girls" who frequently post on certain Hubs to resent the intrusion of others. These folks think of the Hub as a private club in which they communicate with each other rather than as a forum in which ordinary members are encouraged to express opinions and share information regarding a particular stock of interest to them. This results in a very negative first impression for new members who have the temerity to join in the discussion. Worse yet, an active and well-regarded member who is an active participant on one Hub who happens to post a few messages on another Hub of interest is often given a very bad rating on this new board. Since the "newbie" to the Hub has only posted one message on this particular board it is somewhat understandable that they have not as yet contributed a great deal to that particular Hub. Why then should the over-all rating, not to mention the rank of that member, be negatively affected by the posting of messages on Hubs other than the primary Hub of that member? I respectively request therefore that Agoracom require that a certain number of messages be posted by Hub members before they themselves receive ratings from other members. It makes no sense whatsoever IMHO for a member to be rated on the basis of a single message they have posted on a Hub which is not their primary one. I would also appreciate it if my fellow Hub Leaders would post messages on their Hubs stating that Agoracom encourages new members to join and contribute to wide-ranging discussions of relevant issues. Am I taking this personally? You betcha. I recently posted a single highly positive message on the Falcon Oil Hub and immediately dropped significantly in my over all ratings. This board has several very active and apparently very well-informed leaders who do most of the posting and have ratings in the +4.00 range. Others, particularly new posters, are rated down quickly. Hub leaders, please tell your Hub members that your Hub is not a private club for a few members but rather a discussion forum in which all are encouraged to participate.

Andreas, I would appreciate your comments on this issue. Thanks for the great forum and for the new and improved server.

Doc