Sometimes the wisdom of the crowd is right when it comes to investing.
Social networks created for investors aim to leverage on that wisdom.
Through these networks, you can meet other investors, get tips, find trends, discover breaking news and more.
In this article, we look at several social networks for investors by splitting them into two categories: one for information based networks and the other for making trades within the network’s platform.
Information Social Networks
The following information social networks are free to use and mainly for collaborating with other investors and traders.
Stocktwits.com - Stocktwits is one of the oldest social networks for investors, launching in 2008. This means the platform has great creditability and a large following.
Posts come rapidly on Stocktwits. The platform integrates with Twitter so you are getting posts from people posting on Twitter and to Stocktwits.
These posts can be narrowed down by stock symbol. Just type “$” before any symbol in the search bar. For example, if you want to see posts on Apple, type in $AAPL.
One of the best features of Stocktwits is the heatmap. A heatmap allows you to see many stocks at once. The redder the heatmap, the more negative prices there are for stocks listed. You can drill down further into different groups of stocks.
For technology, simply click on the technology section of the heatmap. The image below shows the price action for the last 24 hours within technology.
Each block represents a stock. When you hover over a block, you can get additional information on that particular stock.
Stocktwits is a very active network and allows you to get tons of information that can you further sort by people, watchlists, suggested, charts, and trending, allowing you to more easily digest the large volume of available information.
Scutify.com - This site is similar to Stocktwits. It features a scroll of posts from various members with their commentary on stocks. Post are broken up into channels and hashtags.
Channels are a grouping of post by topic. Similar to a room. Hashtags simply aggregate posts from across rooms based on the hashtag topic.
Scutify is an active network and you’ll find plenty of information on tips, news, and commentary. Asset classes are broad, spanning stocks, FX, commodities and more. You’ll be able to discover trends in these assets as well.
One nice feature of the site is the ‘Scutify Sentiment Indicator.’ It allows you to quickly see the sentiment of members for a particular stock.
Scuttles are the main channel on the website. This is where everyone is talking and exchanging ideas. There is also something called Premium Scuttles, which you must pay for.
Scutify calls these “iTunes for Finance.” You can buy popular commentary (premium scuttles) from all-star investors and even sell your commentary.
To get up to speed with the site, there is an excellent tour feature, which you can reach from the right side of the homepage by clicking the ‘Take a Tour of Scutify now’ button (shown in the screenshot below).
The tour is filled with various Youtube videos explaining how to use Scutify.
Like Stocktwits, Scutify also integrates with Twitter.
Scutify can be accessed several ways:
Tradingview.com - This is another site that is laid out similar to Stocktwits and Scutify. It’s an aggregation of traders exchanging ideas, identifying trends and sharing any edge they can find on the market.
Social Networks For Trading
The following social networks allow you to trade through their platform for a fee.
Trade.collective2.com - C2 allows investors to utilize trading systems created by other traders. You can view the systems for free but to use them, you have to pay.
To use a trading system, you must connect your brokerage account with the C2 platform. The system will then execute trades based on the system’s rules.
There are currently four pricing levels, ranging from $19/mo to $299/mo.
Etoro.com - Etoro is a social trading platform. By depositing funds with the site, you can execute trades based on strategies developed by other members. Strategies include asset classes such as FX, indices, commodities, stocks, ETFs, and others.
Fees are captured in the bid/ask spread rather than through a monthly payment.
Myvoleo.com - Voleo is built for investment clubs. You can form your own investment club or join and existing one. Members of each club can then collaborate on their investments and even follow and learn from other investment clubs.
Fees are charged on a per trade basis.
Conclusion
Investing and trading can be lonely endeavors. If you want to interact with other investors, social networks offer lots of opportunities.
You can discuss openly with others on the network or private message each other to keep your conversations between just the two of you.
Besides the social aspect, you’ll also learn about what’s trending, discover tips and breaking news. Hopefully, all will enhance your overall investment performance.
Have you ever used any of these social networks to connect with other investors and learn new strategies?
Robert Farrington is America’s Millennial Money Expert® and America’s Student Loan Debt Expert™, and the founder of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to helping millennials escape student loan debt to start investing and building wealth for the future. You can learn more about him on the About Page, or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.
He regularly writes about investing, student loan debt, and general personal finance topics geared towards anyone wanting to earn more, get out of debt, and start building wealth for the future.
He has been quoted in major publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Fox, ABC, NBC, and more. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.