7 replies to this topic

[vilyin]

It is always nice to hear opinions of Ben, Neil, David, Megan, Brad and Barry on this and on diamondstalk forums.
Still I was wondering who else of the knowledgable professionals, or how I would call you guys - "market makers", participate in this forum.
The reason I am asking this question is because it seems like there is not even a handful of professionals participating in the forums.

Also what other forums are worse browsing/participating in. So far the best ones I found for "consumer information" are this one(diamond.info) and diamondstalk.

Also I was wondering what are the forums that professionals other than customer facing ones (e.g. brokers, sales people) like cutters, bench jewelers, importers, etc. participate in.

Thanks,
Vitaliy

[hermann]

I believe most jewelry professionals participate in POLYGON which is a closed forum only for the jewelry trade. You have to demonstrate credentials in order to read it or participate in it.

The main difference between the Diamond.Info forum and everyone else out there is that we do not allow advertising on the forums. I feel this allows all professionals and consumers to participate without having to worry about their contributions being displayed alongside their competitors' ads.

[denverappraiser]

The forums are a very different issue from the standpoint of professionals. They effectively represent a trade of time and content for advertising. By posting things that people think have merit, a jeweler (or appraiser) increases their own reputation and hopefully increases the chances that people wanting their type of goods or services will stumble across something that they've said and find that it applies to their current situation. Posts usually last forever and man are read by thousands of people. It does work pretty well but it can be remarkably time consuming to keep a presence in these things. I suspect that if I were fair about the accounting, I wouldn’t be doing it. In the end, I do it because I like it and I suspect that this is true of the other regulars as well. With some of the forums the pros are required pay to be a sponsor and the management prefers to encourage advice from their own panel of experts. This has an effect on who chooses to participate and the extent of their involvement. Others prefer to have consumers posting advice for each other and discourage involvement by industry insiders, especially in certain kinds of conversations. This has a completely different effect on the content. The end result is forums with very different flavors. It’s true that there is some overlap of expertise by people who participate in several but they are far from identical lists.

Forums are far less useful within the diamond and gemstone trades as a way of distributing information and although there are a few, they don’t enjoy much participation. Polygon is available by subscription only and they only get a few percent of the trade to subscribe. It's relatively expensive and the decision to subscribe usually has very ittle to do with the forum. For bench jeweler types, www.ganoksin.com is a popular place to trade bench tricks and techniques. As with Poly, their market penetration is quite smal but at least they're free.

[diamondsbylauren]

I think thgis a very pertinant question.
Diamond forums have value to both consumers, as well as tradespeople.

If knowledgable tradespeople find value in participating, they can add valuable content- as Neil says, it might not be an exact "tit for tat" yet, there is value in getting a business' name out there.

So, in a neutral envoronment like Diamond.info, a consumer can get to hear each professional's bias ( we're all biased to some extent) and opinion in a balanced arena.

I do not find value in "trade" forums, although others might.

A word of caution- forums which are commercially based must be looked at with that in mind.

[vilyin]

W-o-o-o-o-o-w, that is just totally ridiculous.
David, I am truly sorry for your negative experience.
Honestly.... Don't people ever grow up. Does it always have to be about about dirt and jelowsy.
If you create a forum on your web site, be prepared that people will come to express their opinions. That what the forum is for!!!!!!!!!
On forums people do get emotional, but as long as everyone stays within the intellectual bounderies , discussion is always benefitional to everybody - wether they are simply passively browsing ot actively participating.
Unless of course, the forum is mediated one-sidedly.
Comm'on people! Difference in opinions is good!!! There is a saying - there are as many opinions as there are people.
Anyway, I am totally surprised that this problems are also present on the "trade" forums.
I was hoping it wouldn't be the case.

Thanks,
Vitaliy

[hermann]

Quote

If you create a forum on your web site, be prepared that people will come to express their opinions. That what the forum is for!!!!!!!!!

That's true, as long as people stay within boundaries of mutual respect, ethics, the law, conflict-of-interest, and other such considerations. Left completely uncontrolled, any forum quickly becomes spam, and becomes useless for anyone. It's the almighty Tragedy of the Commons.

Here at Diamond.Info, I endeavor to 'police' this forum in a manner that is consistent with the Forum Rules. They are posted for everyone to read -- look at the top left of your screen. The last thing I want is to disenfranchise some well-meaning contributor by arbitrarily deleting his or her messages like what happened to David.

With the Forum Rules, all users know what to expect and can decide for themselves 1) whether to contribute, and 2) whether to heed advice given in the forum. You are right that there are some forums out there, which shall remain nameless, that are run by dealers strictly to promote themselves. This is ok if the agenda is fully disclosed, but unfortunately, it rarely is.

[diamondsbylauren]

After reading the rules again, I edited my post to conform......
Apologies.

[Feydakin]

There are many forums out there that contribute at various levels to the knowledge base for consumers and sellers.. They all have their pluses and minuses and you need to spend time with them to decide which place you intend to hang out in if this becomes more than a little bit of a hobby to you as an amateur vs the time spent here by professionals like me and the others that are here trying to help..

Why do we post?? Yes, a small part of it is to get our names out there and noticed, and maybe even generate a sale from time to time.. But I don't think that that is the primary reason for any of us to be here.. There are far better ways to drive sales than posting on forums.. Most of us are here because we genuinely enjoy sharing what we know and learning from others.. It really is a community effort to learn and grow that keep so many of us coming back to post over and over..

I'm sure that we've all had good and bad experiences on other forums.. But it comes down to settling into a community that we enjoy participating in that also enjoys having us around..

As for trade forums.. They are closed communities and we mostly discuss the business side of the jewelry trade and also share a lot of information about new techniques, how to do things, etc.. It may be of some interest to the average person, but the good ones are all pay to post boards and I can't see anyone not in the trade willing to spend $30 to $100 a month to read what jewelers are saying

And finally, always take every bit of advice offered online with just a grain of salt until you learn to trust specific people.. It is not uncommong to have people that really have no clue answer questions posted by others.. They may have heard or read something similar and have made a giant leap in reasoning just to provide an answer and look smart.. It really comes down to trust but verify..

Steve -