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Personal Finance / opinion
interest.co.nz is a free service for all - help us stay that way. If you know us, trust us, and value what we do, can we ask you to support us - and supporters can go ad-free
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84 Comments

If you got rid of perennial trolls I would do it.

I find some of the editorial approaches strange. Trolls seemingly welcome, yet some people banned for much less (in my opinion)

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5

I get that this is an issue, but I think you're overstating it a bit. The comments are probably meant to be secondary to the articles which cost actual money to produce. I've been reading for a while and you've been a pretty active contributor in the comments for the time I've been reading. For the amount of time you spend on interest.co.nz do you not think it would be fair to maybe chuck them $10? 

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Well said, it would probably amount to about 1 cent per comment for HM

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14

Yet you still comment on them. 

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3

Can you define exactly what you mean by " troll " ?

I'm still stuck on trying to define " what a woman is " .... a trip to Pataya in Thailand left me a little messed up on that one ...given time ,  I'll nut it out ...

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25

I see that scientists have created mice with two fathers after making eggs from male cells.

All the efforts at women's equality have been in vain, and pretty soon women won't be needed at all. And I always thought it would be the other way around; women being born with the anatomy to have children and all.

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1

I heard a story on RNZ one night about that ... but , they hypothesised that they should be able to do the same thing for two women , extracting DNA from each of them , to ultimately produce a child which genuinely is their's ...

... which is fantastic news for same sex couples ...

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1

Here is the definition of troll:

troll (noun; plural trolls): anyone who disagrees with something I have to say.

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    21

    ... nah ... that can't be right ... no ... 

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    7

    I'd call that having your own opinion.

    If you do not like it....

    Take a spoonful of Cement and Harden the F*** up!

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    5

    Gender politics and American culture war BS don't seem particularly relevant to a financial news site.

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    8

    Very relevant actually. For example: If you are going to select a board based on meeting quotas then you are not selecting the best board to provide shareholders with value. I believe one of the banks that collapsed in the us was very “diverse” but short of skills and experience. Also don’t underplay the political risk nz has at the moment. As long as it’s not abusive or derogatory it’s relevant.

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    14

    I'm pretty sure there is evidence that a reasonable gender balance improves a board's performance, on average, so there is some evidence that diversity can improve their function. I haven't looked into whether the various other flavours of diversity have been studied in the same way. 

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    3

    An old joke in the New Yorker, the Chairman of the board, surrounded by balding aged portly male members, says to the only exception,  young Miss Jenkins “that’s a great concept and a great proposal, now could we just wait for one of the other board members to submit it” 

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    1

    I'll double my donation if the site hands out bans for this kind of crap. It's tasteless, potentially offensive and completely off topic. Pornhub has a comment section if you need somewhere to go. 

     

     

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    4

    Are you referring to GBH. Actually I find he is one of the better contributors with his pertinent on-point wit. Like anyone, can get carried away. As the saying goes, dont sweat the small stuff 

    And as for housemouse, he will donate $10 one-off,  for the ultimate power ... to veto those he doesn't like. I personally find his comment, having a go at the editors, troll like. So he could start by removing himself.

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    10

    Dirty ol man right there

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    0

    You're always going to get trolls. The solution is just to ignore them. Banning/censorship is never the answer.

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    23

    Would be good if like many forums you can just ignore anyone you think is a waste of time.  Not sure how much work that is, or how much of a load on the servers.  Make it a feature for paid subscribers only.

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    8

    You got it. The comment system here is extremely rudimentary. If it was a bit more advanced there would be huge potential to monetise it (and reduce the amount of spam at the same time).

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    3

    Sometimes banning is the answer, if what they are posting is genuinely offensive. Most of the rest of the 'trolls' are just single-issue bores who can safely ignored and scrolled by, or small time feuds that would disappear if either participant stopped replying.  

    Personally I think the cost of couple of coffees a month is cheap what we get here. I turned my donations up to $20 a month at the last drive, and still think this is a great deal. Imagine a world with no Interest where you have to rely on Stuff or the NZ Herald's reporting on the latest HPI stats, or current account deficit. 

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    21

    Imagine a world with no Interest where you have to rely on Stuff or the NZ Herald's reporting on the latest HPI stats, or current account deficit. 

    🤢

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    12

    No problem with much of the comment except for the political partisans that band together, often one using several monikers, and cross over one another’s comments, head nodding and up ticking. A whole little coven of them from the left sprung up on here, all registered within hours of each other, in the lead up to the 2020 election.

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    4

    I have noticed that too, also in relation to land tax, capital gains and lots of other leftie politics. Happened with a certain politician as well. I think that probably reflects the increase in social media people in the government. All part of the marketing strategy using peer reviews to introduce, support party lines. 

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    2

       ... land tax isn't " leftie politics " ... there's a multitude of centre-right voters who see it as a means to rebalance the tax equation a little more away from taxing wages &  production towards taxing wealth accumulation & landbanking ...

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    1

    ..relax. Skim over them, laugh (sometimes its quite funny), or wind them up and move on. Moderator does a fine job.

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    30

    “..relax. Skim over them, laugh (sometimes it’s quite funny), or wind them up and move on. Moderator does a fine job.”

     

    Exactly, it’s the internet. Very sad some breathe their self confidence from here lol.

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    3

    If you're not going to put your money where your mouth is, who cares what you have to say?

    A bigger improvement (that would possibly help with adding subs), would be to indicate some way that people were subscribers.

    Anyone commenting regularly and not subscribing would fit my definition of a troll, which makes your post ironic.

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    15

    Sooo ... Only the rich can contribute!!!

     

    Very myopic 

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    3

    Not at all. And it's hardly 'rich' to afford $10/month for something that obviously occupies a significant part of their daily routine.

    I bought a 1kg tub of margarine last night for - you guessed it - $10.

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    7

    ... margarine is unhealthy  ... buy butter ! ... 

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    9

    Rich?  You must be kidding, you don't have to be rich to spend 33 cents/day

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    5

    Yes I have suggested that before, the reason being that it may increase subscriber income - bit like twitters blue tick or whatever they are up to.

    NZ needs a subscriber supported media outlet, having int.co relying on industry shifts the influence away from where it needs to be.

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    4

    wd

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    0

    That’s a very good suggestion, cif. Seperate the wheat from the chaff. And yes it will help drive up subscriptions and that’s an issue obviously in need of a boost. Just trying to think of some sort of symbol to identify subscribers. How about a pen rampant over a bible.

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    3

    We could take a leaf out of the Christchurch City Council and give $ 100 000 to some Canadian consultants to come up with a new logo & description ... 

     ... city of play ???? ... and a logo that looks like a rejected 1974 Commonwealth Games symbol ...

    Bloody hell !

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    1

    Do you remember “The City That Shines.” Somebody must have found that on a dusty shelf and thought hey here’s another way we can waste other people’s money.

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    2

    You don't pay?!

    You're one of the most prolific commenters here!

    And it's the "trolls" that are stopping you contributing to int.co.nz storing all your posts on their servers...? Just ignore them?

     

     

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    20

    HouseMouse, just because someone has a go at you, or doesn't agree with you, doesn't necessarily make them a troll.  I think I know who you're talking about and in my opinion your as bad as they are.  You obviously read a lot of articles on here and comment more than most.  Nothing's perfect, give a little, instead of just taking and complaining and trying to justify.  Or are you the sort of person who will always find a reason not to pay. 

    Up
    15

    👍👍

    two upvotes

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    7

    Housemouse why don't you just get paid to comment?  If you need any tips just ask PDK or agnostium as they know all about it. Evidently big oil, big nuclear, farming, big small government, big self reliance are falling over themselves to pay commenters on interest.co.nz. I'm not sure what the business model is but I get told about it endlessly in the comment stream so it must be true.

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    4

    I pay $10 a month and it is worth every dollar. I notice people who use to pay for magazines and newspapers without any problem, are reluctant to give a much smaller amount to support good online news sites. It makes no sense to me why because it is on the internet you think it should be free, when you know it costs money to produce. I hope some of you will change your mind and agree to pay $10 a month for Interest.co.nz.

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    11

    HouseMouse, shame on you for not supporting Interest, given the number of comments you make!

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    16

    Would love too, David. Alas, thanks to 'Shock and Orr' managing cashflow has become my number one priority. Hang in there. 

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    4

    ... for Easter I'm taking clan Gummy somewhere rather expensive ... we're going to the local New World and gonna hang out in the dairy section , oogling the blocks of cheese ...  

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    5

    ..extra treat tell em your going for an open day at a real live Shortland Street set.  There's 15 hours killed.  Added bonus is that it will motivate them to become a Dr or nurse.  

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    5

    .

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    0

    You might though, need to stand behind House Mouse at the cheese counter? 

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    3

    While sampling the blocks hm will complain about the price, or that gummy is in his vicinity.

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    7

    ... he won't hear a sound ... he'll just feel my warm breath gently on the back of his neck ... cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeee .... 

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    3

    Yuck 👍

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    2

    I'm happy to support as the amount of financial literacy I've gained from reading articles (and often comments) more than justifies a relatively small commitment...

    Agree with HM that there's a fair degree of trolling sniping between accounts now and then, but on the whole - the different views and contrarian debate is generally a healthy mix of amusing, insightful, eye-opening, informative etc

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    19

    This.

    The small amount I contribute is tiny compared to the savings I've made by learning things on this site. Paid off mortgage years earlier. Saved heaps in fees from bank/insurance/utilities etc. 

    A contribution is NOT a false economy ;)

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    11

    My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income

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    3

    ... with a name like your's , we are not at all surprised ...

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    5

    I am happy to pay for what I think is an excellent site. Apart from the articles and the comments from readers-sane and insane-there is a wealth of useful information.

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    8

    Remember the  Eta ad, They're all nuts in here. How are you sir, I trust you're doing better and happy Easter 

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    1

    The least non-supporters can do is click on an ad once in a while. 

    Up
    3

    ... we do ... the bloody things are everywhere ... can't be helped whilst scrolling to occasionally finger & open a frigging ad ... 

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    0

    GBH, are you referring to ads on here?  Don't you pay the subscription?  

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    0

    Well GBH I expect means elsewhere. For example, subscribers to NZH paid articles are treated to rolling adverts that spring up in the columns such as Ms Street waxing lyrical about anything that will either increase her fame or revenue. It’s bloody annoying, when you are trying to read what is offered as being serious journalism, to have that interrupting and coming at you all the time. 

    Up
    1

    Have you tried putting some articles behind a paywall, sans the first paragraph or two?

    I pay for WSJ, Tony Alexander and NZH. Last year I paid for NBR but let it lapse this year. I don't yet pay for this site because the content skews anti-property too much to be considered an impartial news website. I concluded that I'm probably not the target audience and check in a lot less now, mainly on inflation and consents news.

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    3

    I don't yet pay for this site because the content skews anti-property too much to be considered an impartial news website.

    ...yet you're happy to pay Tony Alexander?

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    15

    Yes. He also gives forward looking analysis and some estimates based on statistics. Interest.co reports "consents are down" and that's the article. 

     

    Up
    4

    I value interest.co.nz because they present the full spectrum of leading indicators and the full system view, and you can ask questions and get a wide array of responses, then check the hypotheses Vs what pans out.

    With TA you get one cleverly packaged sandwich that is always the same fillings with different bread and has been going mouldy much more quickly of late

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    9

    Skews? As far as I can tell this site just reports the data and lets the readers have discussion in comments, something most other media won't do with property... 

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    12

    Tony Alexander is the most skewed person ever! I'm happy to contribute on here as I've learnt a lot. I hope you all have a good long weekend.

    Up
    3

    Why would you support someone that hates you

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    2

    DC, restrict comments to supporters. 

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    2

    Those with multiple accounts can double and triple up or better still have one account.

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    4

    I don't buy the excuse "I can't afford it" $10/month = 33 cents/day.

    Also the financial benefits are far greater than 33 cents/day.

    CONTRIBUTE !!!

    Up
    5

    Does Housemouse know others come here to hear him speak. That's what we pay for and its good value for money ;o

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    5

    DC, if you don't want to limit the comments to contributors, how about at least PUTTING A SMILEY FACE NEXT TO THE NAMES OF CONTRIBUTORS?

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    4

    Just did the yearly support thing.  Happy to do so for the Truly Independant Interest articles!!
       - Nothing like the totally slanted OneWoof articles,  that leads people off the financial cliff over the last few years......

    Thanks to the Interest Team for the great work you guys and girls do!!!

    Its great to have discussions with like and unlike minded people here,  Its good to test your ideas and your swords steel against the opposite view. 
    Freedom of ideas and speech is important,  we all gain a lot from it!

    Thank you Interest.co.nz!

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    8

    Good on you NZ gecko

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    3

    Can you fix it so that when I'm a suporter, it doesn't keep logging me out at every visit. And when I am logged in, I'm still being prompted to "become a supporter!". I've been using press patron.

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    3

    I think it only logs you out, when you use different devices, eg, two computers.  You stay logged in when coming back to the same computer and also when you swap between desktop and mobile phone.

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    1

    Same issue here, raised it a few times without success. Also get annoyed with 'We see you are using an ad blocker' when already signed in with press patron account!

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    3

    As far as the ads, seemed to be once you subscribed you were ad free but that seemed to wear off after a while. Not life threatening though,  still very much worth the ride.

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    1

    Try duckduckgo browser.

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    0

    The writer simply asks for support and the comments section just went bananas like a bunch of school kids .
    If most of you are here to vent your own agenda, then this is not what interest.co.nz  main aim, go vent somewhere else, maybe a Facebook group where you can vent away with crazies all day. I would have thought this bunch has certainly higher IQ but it seems outrage is now a currency of the internet.

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    2

    Perhaps many on here are frustrated by a few, look at the upticks above.  Some of the 'trolls' are getting a more favorable response than the accuser.

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    1

    Just became a supporter. $10/month well worth all that that you guys do.

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    1

    I continue to pay $10.00 month & believe its money well spent. I agee that personal attacks should not be tolerated - but we have to be aware that our opinions can be challenged! Have a great day!

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    0