Hello hub leaders:

I have found that in my past experiences as an investor, I was often looking at numerous stockboards for information on some of the companies I was either researching or invested in. The offerings I tried were Stockhouse, Ragingbull and even years ago there was more basic Agora.

After day after day of participation in what looked to be bashers versus pumpers, I eventually had enough of the personal attacks, inappropriate posts and content and of course the lack of being able to do anything to change the playing field. These boards were non productive and a waste of time when separating the wheat from the chaff. The other boards also lacked a lot of helpful investor resources. The boards seemed to be getting worse as home investors discovered daytading and stock boards. Combining the basic investor's emotions like fear, greed, and poster anonymity made for an ugly experience. The worst of it was it was not going to get any better. In the end I felt like I had made out of a bad neighborhood and never wanted to set foot there again.

Here at Agoracom, I found there was a community of like minded investors who ultimately shared common needs and goals in what they wanted fron an investing forum. There were tools for displaying photos, useful links, company filings, as usual there were the daily stock feeds and something a little more offered was historical trading info. The ability to interact on a somewhat accountable process was a plus. The rules of use are what keeps the boards fairly well behaved and civil. If there was ever a time when a poster was outside the limits of use, the site has overseeing administrators who ultimatley lend a helping hand in restoring peace if and when that is required.

Giving the ability and the tools to the actual leaders of each forum is useful in keeping the boards a positive and rewarding place to visit for info. Participation in the forum was much more proactive and fulfilling. The facts and figures approach to posting here has left the mind games and personal battles at the door. The merit system is a good thing and creates a better community in my opinion. Each particapant can work their way up the community ladder. There is balance and discussion which can be both brought to the table in a good way. The rules were not always hard and fast either but a common sense approach to poster contribution made for a much better experience here. Latitude within reason tends to be a good thing here.

Ultimately I find the Agoracom boards to be a great place and quite possibly it is still very under utilized by investors seeking info as they do thier DD on their personal and individual stocks of choice.

IMHO

Whaler