SprinkleBit - What would you like to see in an online investment community and what would you not like to see?

Question

What is SprinkleBit?

SprinkleBit is the first social online trading community for the public to communicate, cooperate and trade on markets all over the world.

SprinkleBit Mission Statement:

Our mission at SprinkleBit is to become the premier online investment management provider, enabling individuals to optimize their financial growth by providing a community where users can learn, collaborate, and trade on the world’s markets.

The Bottom Line:

Powered by crowdsourcing, SprinkleBit provides its users with a unique platform that encourages communication and education through an extensive network of people who all provide their own distinct set of skills, knowledge and talents. Investing in the financial markets can be quite an intimidating experience to say the least; SprinkleBit’s goal is to connect people from all over the world and guide them through the nebulous and tacit art form of investing with an educational approach. Create a free account today at SprinkleBit and let’s start investing together!

 

Here's the question we have for the Insight Community:

 

 "What would you like to see in an online investment community and what would you not like to see?"

 

This question hits at one of the main issues we at SprinkleBit are trying to tackle – what exactly would make the SprinkleBit experience the best and most useful? How can we craft SprinkleBit such that it provides best-in-class service while satisfying every need of even the most demanding social media enthusiast?

 

Answer 1

SprinkleBit is really a great platform for online investment as it creates an online community where everyone is free to discuss potential investments and to form pools to compete against each other based on portfolio returns. Recently joined SprinkleBit, I have learned a lot not only from the education section provided on the website but also from all the smart investors around me. I definitely gain a better sense of investment and trading through SprinkleBit as I can always reach out to others for suggestion and recommendation. If you are new to investment and looking for hints and help, definitely try SprinkleBit where collaboration is the key and your voice will be heard.

Answer 2

First off, I think this is a great site regardless of an individual’s investment level. There are a ton of educational features that have helped me as a newbie investor and my recent portfolio growth can vouch for that. Regarding the question posed by SprinkleBit, I would like to see a stronger referral system on the site. SprinkleBit has a very unique feature that allows its members to create pools and invest with one another (essentially an online investment clubs). It would be great if the site could matched users by similar investment strategies, current holdings, articles read, etc. allowing them to meet similar people on the site and expand their investment circles. The next questions is, would this just bring people together who already have similar interests while hindering them from meeting people with opposing investment strategies and a different view of the market? After all, SprinkleBit is trying to increase its member’s knowledge/understand of the market as a whole, not what they already know...

Answer 3

A few general comments on the service:

• I know this is a tough one, but the name just doesn't seem to fit with a stock trading community.  Something about it just feels off, and when you're dealing with stock trading, I do wonder if impressions, such as the name matter quite a bit.
• I definitely think some of the basic ideas behind Sprinklebit seem pretty cool, but before you login in, the "sell" for why I should join is not entirely clear.  What's different?  There have been social trading platforms before, and they've had mixed results.  What's special about Sprinklebit?
• Site doesn't say anything about who you are, which could make people nervous.

In terms of what I'd really like to see: 

• I like the way StockTwits works, integrating what I already do (Twitter) with a social trading setup.  Taking me too far out of my routine means less usage.
• While there's obviously value in sharing with the community, there are times when I don't want information public, so privacy controls need to be very flexible and exceptionally clear.
• I'd like clear "tiers" of service, in terms of a simplified setup for beginners, but more complexity for experts.   Similarly, there's value in letting experts confer with just experts at times.

Comments

@mmasnick
Hi Mike - Thanks for the feedback! We are grateful for the time you spent reviewing our site and all of your recommendations.  We will work on improving and enhancing the services we provide. Also, thanks for giving us this platform to solicit feedback!
 
Regarding our name, we like to think of our name in a couple ways: Sprinkle as in distribute and Bit as in bits of information. Additionally, this last part also suggests "a small piece" - you sprinkle bits of you money in different stocks to diversify your portfolio, hence SprinkleBit.

Please keep the feedback coming - we're working rapidly on our end to make improvements to the service and we take user feedback very seriously.

Answer 4

I think SprinkleBit is great. It has everything traditional investment sites (ETrade, Scottrade, etc) have, but with an added social aspect. Users can interact with each other, learn from each other, and improve their investment strategies collectively. One concern some people may have is the amount of privacy users have with others being able to see individual portfolio, but this risk is mitigated through the multi-tiered sharing feature that only SprinkleBit has. Although still in the initial stages of growth, I think SprinkleBit is a great concept, and I can't wait to see it ripen fully.

Answer 5

I'm a big fan of SprinkleBit-it's a great, easy way for people like me to get into investing and learn directly from professional traders. The site has made me feel a lot more confident in my investing-I feel like I'm right on track to get to where I need to be.

Answer 6

I love SprinkleBit!!  When I took investments in college, it was dreadfully confusing, boring, and to be really honest arid.  The crowdsourcing aspect of the community is best part in my opinion it can't be found in any other investment sites.  The recent orders and motivation features are exceptionally valuable because they help me feel more confident in my trades.  The educational section has improved my understanding of investment lingo, strategies, and what to be aware of when investing.  I’m really excited to share this experience with many more members that join the community.