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Wednesday, June 2, 1999

Message Boards: Why You Should Try Them

by Selena Maranjian

"It is not what we learn in conversation that enriches us. It is the elation that comes of swift contact with tingling currents of thought."
-- Agnes Repplier

If you're like me, you may have read the above quotation and asked yourself, "Agnes Repplier? Who's Agnes Repplier?" Well, let me save you a little legwork. She's an American essayist who lived from 1858 to 1950. And ironically enough, she was born on April 1 -- April Fool's Day! (How embarrassing -- I've already digressed from my main point -- in my first paragraph. Let's get back to business.)

An alternative title for this Fribble might be "A Tale of Two Fooldoms." This is because while I and my work-mates here at the Fool think of Fooldom as one big place with lots of nooks and crannies, it has recently come to my attention that many of our regular readers spend most or all of their time in just one corner.

One main area where many hang out is our front page at www.fool.com. From this point, people pop into our news offerings, our Dueling Fools, our special features, our portfolio reports, our stock quotes and data area, our Fribbles, and more.

The other area is also accessible from the main page, but it seems that many people rarely venture there, if ever. Shocking!

I'm speaking of our message boards -- the left ventricle of our community, if not the entire heart.

I'm about to make my case for why you owe it to yourself to check out our boards. (Full disclosure: Yes, the Fool does benefit if you do. But you benefit, too -- perhaps even more than we do.)

5 Reasons to Spend Some Time on our Message Boards

1) You can learn a lot. About investing in general. About many different specific stocks. About countless aspects of life, too, such as finding a job, parenting, retiring, paying for college, buying a car or home, paying off debt, buying insurance, negotiating deals, living below your means... and more!

2) Get answers to your questions. Fooldom is a two-way, or million-way, street on the message boards. We don't want to just publish articles for you -- we want to interact with you. Scores of Fool staffers are out on the boards answering questions and explaining things, as are many helpful Fool readers.

3) Reading the message boards can fatten your wallet. Learn how to save money in myriad ways. Discover some great companies in which to invest.

4) Enjoy the sense of community. Become a regular on a few boards and you'll get to know some new characters. Many friendships have sprung up on our boards, as people share information, thoughts, and chuckles.

5) They're free! If you want to post a message, you'll have to register. But that's free, easy, and sets you up to receive product discounts and special announcements. If you choose to just read through our boards, you don't even have to register -- although we wish you would, of course.

Have I convinced you? Almost? Well, if not, in a future Fribble I'll attempt to shoot down any excuse you can think of for not trying them out.

In the meantime, I invite you to plunge in. Here are some good jumping-off points:

The Main Message Board Page

The Fool Community Main Page

Hot Topics: Discussions of Particular Interest

The Top 25 Busiest Boards

See you on the boards, I hope!

[This has been another installment of Selena's Fribbles. If you're a glutton for the absurd, check out her archive.]

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