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Isn’t it great? We’ve had forum posts from five new contributors recently! It’s wonderful to see fresh voices joining the conversation. Keep it up into the new year, people—I’m loving the new perspectives you’re bringing!
Who else has a story or an idea to share? We’d love to hear from you!
Mrs. Clements and Mr. Sheremeta have posted several notes in the Forum encouraging both new participation /engagement as well authorship of newsletter worthy articles. That said, an established member of a community welcoming a new member to a community and encouraging them to share is a nice thing to do.
I monitor this website regularly, as does Mr. Sheremeta. My husband designed the Forum so that it would be a community of readers sharing not only notes of their personal financial journeys but forging relationships based on a common interest – personal finance. And it is through this common interest that the “mission” is sustained.
I would like to remind you that my husband died just three months ago. i have asked readers to be mindful and patient during this transition, apparently to no avail. If you have gripes about the site, its direction, etc., a personal email would the kinder route.
And per Jonathan Clements, NO images, graphics, etc., are to be posted on the site.
Very helpful, thanks Elaine.
Thanks for your reminders, Elaine. It’s hard to imagine how challenging all this must be for you but I’m sure all the regulars, both contributors and commenters like myself, are deeply grateful. I know that I am.
I am not a social media guy. HD is the only social media kind of site that I visit or, although just occasionally, add a comment to.
My understanding of HD’s mission, in Jonathan Clement’s words, is that it exists to “help readers make rational financial decisions.”
it seems odd to me, for that reason, that readers who are also contributors or frequent contributors are welcoming and encouraging other readers to contribute articles to HD. Isn’t it the role of HD’s proprietors, Mrs. Clement, Mr. Grossman, and Mr. Bogdan S., not avid readers, contributors, and commenters to welcome and encourage new contributors and to ensure that the site, including new contributions to the Forum and comment threads, maintain true to HD’s mission as set forth by Jonathan Clement? Otherwise, doesn’t HD risk mission creep by the preferences of contributors, new and old, and commenters, frequent or infrequent? Or, in other words, is HD’s management or its readership directing HD into its future after Jonathan Clement’s passing?
My personal impression is that HD has sustained some mission creep of late, which is why I am raising this issue in what I intend as a sincere and serious way.
Some contributors contribute too frequently, and their input can drift off target; sometimes less is more.
Great thoughts Gary – although I haven’t been around enough until very recently to get a feel for how things are around here of late. I just read the “About” section and this seems to be Jonathan’s mission statement for the site:
“Managing money may be simple, but it isn’t easy. Most of us struggle to save diligently, invest intelligently and figure out what will make us happy. HumbleDollar aims to help readers make rational financial decisions, especially when it comes to retirement. But we’re also acutely aware of the human side of money.”
It seems like the “human side of money” provides for some latitude of content and grace from the readers. That’s not measurable numerically, so posts like yours are helpful.
I did find the cartgate post yesterday and howled – wildly entertaining. I think it was off mission and the comments showed there are obvious guardrails in place from the readers.
For the record, I won’t bend my lexicon to appease the speech police, but I won’t poke that bear on purpose, tempting as it is. Fussing about an affectionate term for my wife was silly. After the pushback, I asked her for the first time in our 42 year marriage what she thought about wifey – she loves it. The general reader “guardrails” were largely supportive in my case.
In other news, I’m working on a two-part post on real vs. nominal gains that I’m thrilled about. Wait ’till you see the graphs! : )
Langston, you hit the nail on the head with your comments. HD is about helping readers lead a good retirement, both financially and personally. I wrote nine edited articles, several of which had little or nothing to do with money. I would always ask Jonathan if they were a good fit for HD, and he always said that they were, telling me that they would be well received.
I liked your SS/FRA article, and I like your casual writing style. I’m not a huge fan of graphs, but so what? Other people like them, and I can scroll beyond them if I want to. Keep ’em coming.
I’ve noticed the new peeps as well, and am enjoying the fresh perspectives they bring.
I have to say there are some old timers missing in action, and I miss them. If any are tuning in, I sure would like to hear from them.
Unfortunately, many of the regular writers of the past have not transitioned to the Forum. Look at the list of writers and most are not writing in the Forum. That is too bad. I have my own theory of why that may have happened, but no matter.
Don’t keep us guessing, do tell.
LOL, I’m “guessing” that Dick is trying to avoid another “cartgate”
Ah, enough said. I can be a bit slow on the uptake on occasion, lol.
Not enough graphs around here!
I think we didn’t know we could post graphs and other images. Can you give your steps for sharing (the link to) a graph or other image that’s in your Google Drive?
This is how you add links to your post on HumbleDollar.
I don’t think that is a good idea. We don’t need HD looking like social media.
Agreed on reflecting social media and making a habit of posting videos (poor doc can’t get a break!). I generally hate videos – don’t have the patience for them unless they’re about sailing. : )
Hint: Make AI generate summaries of video transcripts. Copy/paste. Really helpful if you have a bit of interest in some YouTube guy pushing the latest money making scheme.
Thanks so much, Langston, for the clear explanation. After looking at one of your earlier posted images, I anticipated these would be the steps. Still, I figured I’d ask in case other HD readers wanted to learn.
Which video recording app did you use in your explanation?
I converted to Mac’s in 2006 when they adopted the Intel chip. I love their hardware and that gave me the critical ability to run Windows as well. Still into Macs.
The video recording feature is built into the last several versions of OSX. You press Shift+Cmd+5 and select what you want in the popup, choose microphone for the audio source and away you go. : )