A common complaint that seems to spread on the community forums is accusations of fake accounts and people stirring issues. I was thinking of a certain online retailer and the often fake reviews that blatantly are not even about the correct product. The way they improve trust in the review is highlighting if they are a verified purchaser and I certainly do trust them slightly more than non verified.
Put another way people can set up many accounts to try and create a fake narrative on a share or improve alleged popularity of an idea. By having verified user markers this would eliminate some doubts and give a similar boost in trust on any posts.
Bearing in mind this is a FT community then everyone should have an account anyhow so shouldnāt eliminate anyone.
Just an idea:)
Another reason I think this is a really good and possibly important tool is that there are people out there that like to manipulate forums for their own gain. Sometimes foolishly thinking it will help make them a millionaire quickly or even just to make it look like their view is superior. Its no coincidence the new account hover around certain subjects only!
These people then muddy the waters and the GENUINE new posters get labelled. If they had verified user badge then I am sure it would help in trust between community members.
There are some fantastic people around here giving great help and advise but sadly also some who dont 
Nice idea. For a point of comparison, when news outlets in the UK write about S&S they have to declare whether they are invested in the company they are writing about. I know weāre just discussing things here and itās not on the same level, but the influence of forums like this one and social media sites should not be underestimated. Where possible FT should try to limit pump and dump behaviour, but I recognise this is a tricky issue to solve.
How does that work though? Forum accounts donāt always match up to the actual app account.
Iām sure you could add something in the registration process. Many sport forums found too many alt accounts cluttering the system so made it harder to sign up and comment instantly etc. With FT having a real user base they could easily add a section where you add your unique ID of your trading account to verify you are a sole user of a real account.
All the animosity of certain subjects when people claim they are fake accounts would be instantly finished. Also, people may be more willing to help the genuine new investors if they see they are real.
All in all it seems a simple idea that could link up to the badge system already in place 
Totally agree!!! Anyone who doesnāt acknowledge that with all the hype around GME there wont be many thinking they can influence with fake accounts is delusional. It is also not fair on new investors if they see several comments reinforce an idea thinking it is worth gambling on when it is only one person echoing their bias.
I mean there was literally a user on this community trying to rally a pump and dump together the other dayā¦
I think a verified user tag is a great idea. Itās got my vote 
There are sooo many trolls on this site who seem highly motivated to create a real negative vibe around FT and this needs addressing. Having a verified user tag would at least reduce it down to genuine complaints!
There are definitely issues with FT but the trolls are really painting an exaggerated picture which is both unfair and detrimental to new members.
There are many really helpful members here but if the forum gets constantly filled with OTT or fake complaints it will only reduce the positives of the community.
I am a firm believer that we need this ASAP and if it is deemed good for a certain large online retailer then I would hazard a guess they realise the benefits it brings to their brand to weed out the troll/fake review/comments.
If you agree then vote in the
I think itās a real mix. I think there are people that are genuinely annoyed or angry and canāt get through to support as quickly as they would like. However, people like this are like fuel to the fire for the trolls.
I think the challenge would be to create either a more contained support sub-community or like you mentioned a verified tag. My only downside with the verified tag does add a level of exclusivity which can off-put to new members. Thereās also the chance of being mistaken for staff. I think if Freetrade does go down this route, itās important that the community doesnāt turn into an āus vs themā between the users.
side note: While Iām on more contained sub-communities, Iād love to see the share request side of the community have some love. itās a bit of a mess at the moment.
Edit: I just want to point out, I do agree with you that steps need to be taken to combat the trolls. Youāve got my vote!
I see your points but my idea was not something exclusive just a simple verified user tag that means you actually have an FT account. The way I see it anyone complaining should be verified to prove they are not fake, duplicate account or a troll. Like in the badge system it could be a simple thing like add your account number to verify you are real. Kind of like the āIm not a robotā tests.
As you say some will be genuine and they deserve EVERY bit of help possible from the community but there are definitely some with ulterior motives. Also, a few who blatantly make several accounts to reinforce their views.
As an example I just bought a new laptop online and one of the comments said it had a CD drive by a random commenter. A verified user said it didnāt and guess which was the correct response
All in all it would eliminate anyone who decides to make false accounts and would actually give a bit of credit to any real complaints and get treated as genuine.
this would exclude non-customers right?
If so, it puts me off. Nevertheless something ought to be done. Not easy. Keep the trolls out while giving access to everyone regardless of being users of the app or not
No-one would be excluded same as leaving feedback on that online retailer with the smile. It would just mean that any just causing issues for whatever reason that were not members would be plain as day.
Besides, why would people not with an FT account be posting divisive messages in a community forum? To me the 99% of people posting should be members and certainly those shouting should definitely be real customers as it paints a distorted picture of the genuine issues.
When I first joined the forum I thought maybe the app was almost a scam by the postings but after a while I saw the pattern so ignore bits but sometimes it is annoying and i just want to read peoples opinions on what to invest in etc.
Anyhow thats my rant over for a bit
Thereās a link in the app against each stock that you click in to get to the relevant stocks thread on the forum.
So thereās an opportunity to capture the forum user thatās associated with the ft account (if itās not being captured already)
Thatās a really good point I didnāt even think about I use my PC for the community and not mobile so never clicked on it.
I posted this idea a while ago to help spot the fake accounts that just cause problems for what is an excellent community and some said it should be open to all. At the time I thought it should still be open to all but a badge added or halo for example to show you are a customer similar to the founding member or investor badges.
I think another good way could be to verify accounts with a one time phone number text code. Every number restricted to 1 account ever as if they still had the number they could reset if needed. So although not a verified user you know that person is a member who either has 1 account or many phones
This could at least prevent people literally getting banned and then making a new account 30 seconds later and not even trying to hide who they are
This forum is a really good format/place with some great members so a simple verification should be in place to preserve the integrity. As someone mentioned on a now deleted thread other firms have had to remove the forums due to this issue so surely putting something in place to prevent it is a great idea?
Nice idea, Gary, let us think about some way we could do something like this, or a similar way to verify users or have more consistent badges in some way.
Appreciate the input!
Great idea @Big-g I think linking the phone number as Amazon do would weed out the riff raff. 
no the riff raff can stay but they only get 1 account like everyone else 
Yeah, Iāve seen a lot of āaccountsā that all appear to have them spew the same thought or talk on behalf of another accountā¦ all with join dates of less than a dayā¦ crazy right?! What a worldā¦
This is a great idea. The constant derailing of threads and topics by individuals (no names) creating multiple accounts and spamming the forum is tiringā¦