After reading all the replies today about issues that may have caused several long time posters to leave Saul’s Board or to leave or just post less. I have sent an email to membersupport@fool.com, hwlp@foool.com, rbi@fool.com (David Gardner’s podcast), & radio@fool.com ( Tom Gardner’s podcast) hoping to maybe get someone’s attention.
Just asking if there is anything they would care to do to bring back those posters.
I have been on the fool for over 25 years and Saul’s board was one of the best things I ever found.
I am also on the Reddit board but I don’t trust everything on Reddit and find it not as easy to move around.
After you were on Saul’s board for several months or even a year - you learned who to trust or follow and loved all the discussions.
After several back and forth emails with support @ TMF. One of the issues - you need permission from the author to post on a free board. I explained that Saul was probably the “author” and is no longer active on the board. I know Bear was a monitor but possibly that was an issue. They said they would let the Boards Team know and maybe they could do something on their end.
Seems to me that TMF would be only too happy to see Saul’s Board disappear. I think they consider it a competitor to their paid services. That would probably be an accurate perception. I think (speculation, I haven’t any evidence) followers of Saul’s Board, and more importantly Saul’s methodology generally have better investment success than subscribers to any of TMF’s services.
And it seems that TMF is succeeding in their passive effort to shut it down.
TMF has been a gracious and supporting host. Saul said so many, many times. Saul had very high praise for TMF from the beggining of the board to his abdication.
I believe you are incorrect. Evidence, even within these latest threads, indicates otherwise. As a matter of fact, posts here SUPPORT broader efforts by Fool.com to share knowledge and recommendations to our community (paid or not).
We have board moderators posting. We have countless views from TMF individuals who are just as curious as we regular users are at why the board is withering.
We are Motley. We are different. This is our strength.
OK - So a couple of folks have pushed back on my speculation that Saul’s Board in particular has become somewhat of a thorn for TMF management.
I know from separate off-board conversations that it has been exceedingly difficult to get the attention of TMF regarding issues that pertain to this board, i.e., the permission for new members to post. I also fully understand that previously the ability of anyone and everyone to post had become an issue. So maybe the remedy is worse than the poison - or at least, has resulted in some unintended consequences.
I have been a member of this board nearly since its inception. I have posted here numerous times over the years - maybe a hundred or more times. I do not seek the demise of this board. I have gained greatly from the insights posted by several very smart investors who have freely provided their analysis and insights. I hope that at least a handful of folks have found some of my posts to have had a positive impact.
But I don’t think anyone who has been a reader and contributor over the years can deny that this board has lost some of its vibrancy. Some of the best and brightest members seem to have largely moved on. And due to the constraints imposed on new posters (or whatever reason), others who might have taken their place aren’t doing so.
I hope I’m wrong - but recent activity seems to indicate otherwise.
Not as far as this board is concerned. We still support it. Bear is the moderator - he approves new members who can post and flags and removes bad posts as needed. This is the only board that restricts who can post, btw. It is not based on the author - it’s based on a curated group of users that Saul established 4ish years ago and new members can request permission to join the group (and Saul was pretty strict with who he would add to the group.) If you all want to remove the posting restriction, we just need to know.
No efforts at all to shut it down.
The only “fix” we can make is to remove the posting restriction and that’s up to Bear and you all. The rest is up to you all to decide if you want to keep posting.
I’ve said it on other posts, but I really think the “withering” is because Saul isn’t here anymore. Only you all, the core group, can really affect a change and get the momentum back.
This makes it seem like it is up to Bear (and possibly a few others) to help preserve Saul’s board by authorizing a few new moderators to accept the responsibility of overseeing the board and responding to those individuals who request posting approval?? Not at all sure my understanding is valid BUT sure would like to do anything we can to ensure viability of this board while at the same time doing our best to improve on what has been so valuable to so many people for so many years!
I really don’t know what happens at this point. Though I’ve been a long time member of this group, I have never been directly involved with the administration of this board.
Thank you for your reply and explanations. What you say makes perfect sense. There is obviously no decision by TMF to remove any support for this board. It is simply a fact that once Saul retired and moved away from his board that it has slowly withered. It really is simply down to us as board members to take it upon ourselves to decide to post more if we want to save the board.
One problem of simply opening up the board to anyone to post here is that it could very soon get watered down because Saul is no longer around to oversee it. This board has always been so much more than just another discussion board. It only worked because Saul had very clear rules and guidelines that he actively enforced (especially in 2020 - 2022).
I think now that the reddit board has been created - and many members have moved there - that this board may sadly wither. I did check out the reddit board the other day and I noticed that Bear and some others who used to often post here are now posting their monthly summaries on reddit rather than on here. I’m still not sure what reddit offers that we cannot access here.
Personally, I still do find this board valuable - even though many days it is very quiet and I still enjoy and benefit from reading and learning from those who do post on here.
To me this looks like a simple case of burnout on the part of Bear and the other silent mods, which I can completely understand. I find this forum invaluable (in no small measure because of the contributions of Bear, Wpr, Ant, etc etc – many of whom are migrating over to reddit).
I think it is time for Bear to pass the reins, with great fanfare, fireworks, thanks, and well wishes, and see what happens with a new set of hands. There doesn’t seem to me to be any reason to doubt that some of the people who have offered their services wouldn’t be capable, and I haven’t read comments from cmfmints that the power to grant posting rights must reside in one person only. Bear seems to have run his race on Saul’s, so let’s let him pass the baton.
Seems like most people are in favor of trying this and I am too. Worth a shot anyway. Please do this, Jen.
If I need to add another board moderator at some point and give them access to delete posts etc, should I just post my request here on the board? Or is there some other way I can reach you, since email has been unsuccessful?