One of the features that sets Stockopedia apart is our welcoming environment that lets investors connect and learn from one another. There is a huge depth of experience, expertise and moral support in our community, and the Discussion area is where that starts. This week we're introducing changes that make it better for both contributors and readers.
To start with, we've removed the ability to 'down-vote' articles and comments. From now on, if you appreciate an article or post, you can 'like' it with a thumbs-up. There are no changes in the ability to reply to content, regardless of whether you agree or you have contrary views - healthy, constructive discussion remains the primary goal.
We know that down-votes divide opinion and we've thought very carefully about making this change for the benefit of everyone. There are several reasons why we have done it:
- We know that down-votes deter some genuine contributors - particularly those new to the platform - from publishing articles, and that is not healthy for the community.
- There is evidence that down-votes stifle the willingness of some to offer contrary opinions to articles and posts. This risks creating a sense of 'groupthink' in discussions, which is also not helpful to readers.
- At times, down-votes have been used in a way that has disrupted entire threads and left nobody with a positive experience.
- In recent months, the content and support team at Stockopedia has tightened up systems and rules around moderation. We much prefer to leave things to the community but we are more active now in dealing with problems when they arise.
Regular readers of the daily Small Cap Value Report from Paul Scott and Jack Brumby, may well be aware of some of the challenges that down-votes can cause. So here's what Paul has to say about the new change:
"Down votes demotivate the writers, and cause arguments, we're all human! So I'm very pleased they are being abolished. If you don't like something, just ignore it. Taking away power from negative people is a good thing. I want to be surrounded by bright, positive people in the Stockopedia community, and generally in life."
Overall, we hope that with the removal of the down-vote button, that all members of the community will feel more comfortable and confident in writing about their ideas and strategies. We are also keen to hear your views about the kinds of functionality that you'd like to see in the Discussion area in future. Development work is continuing at increasing pace across the entire platform and all of it is prioritised. But it's vital that changes and improvements to the Discussion are informed by those who use it - and that's the community.
An instant alert about the age of site content
The library of articles and threads in the Discussion area of Stockopedia is now huge, and it grows by the day. The challenge for readers is knowing when they've clicked on an article that might be older than they expect. With this in mind, we've introduced a banner to alert you if the article you are reading is more than a year old.
We know that the collective wisdom in our articles and posts is an immensely valuable source of ideas and opinions. We also know that many of our subscribers enjoy re-reading and commenting on some of the older articles. One of the effects of new comments is that it immediately pushes articles to the top of the Discussion board. With new users joining all the time, it's important to make sure that readers are aware that the stocks and ideas discussed within these articles may be out of date.
As such, you will now see a 'warning banner' at the top of all articles which are more than 12 months old. This alert is completely automated and will ensure that you are not making investment decisions based on old information.
What's Next?
The next important release will be a much improved subscriber referral program, which will give all our users the opportunity share the benefits of Stockopedia with their friends and families and be rewarded at the same time. As always you can keep an eye on our Product Roadmap for details of upcoming improvements and new features.
