Topic: FUDsters become active when the price goes down - learn to spot them - page 2. (Read 332 times)

There's a very clear correlation between the bearishness of the Bitcoin market and the amount of FUD we have to deal with in this community. As a newbie, it's important to understand that this FUD is just a trolling or manipulation, it's there to throw you off balance and none of those posters are arguing in good faith. Their goal is to make you panic sell or at least just feel worried about your coins.

So, let's learn how to spot the FUD on this forum.

1. Account age

Most FUD accounts are newbies that are only a few weeks old at best. This is because they are just sockpuppets for experienced fudsters. This doesn't mean that you should ignore every newbie, but when you read a negative post that was made by a newbie, you should become very suspicious.

Example: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/here-is-why-bitcoin-can-only-go-down-5205246

2. Negative reputation

Boards like Bitcoin Discussion don't display reputation, but this doesn't mean that you shouldn't care about it - if you are starting to read a negative post, check the posters reputation first - if they have been active for a longer period of time, chances are someone tagged them for spreading FUD.

Example: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-2017-price-rise-was-a-scam-by-bitfinex-using-tetherfraud-5198632

3. Indirect FUD

Sometimes FUD isn't as simple as saying "Bitcoin is doomed", and instead the poster tries to make us doubt Bitcoin on our own by portraying it in some bad light. Perhaps not all such posts are FUD, but when other red flags are present, there's a good chance that it is.

Example: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/you-think-terrorist-groups-around-the-world-use-cryptos-as-a-means-of-payment-5205194

4. Technical analysis FUD

Sometimes you can see people predicting extremely low prices and trying to justify them with technical analysis - the rule of thumb here is if the claim sounds outlandish (i.e. $1000 or even lower), then it's most likely just a FUD. It's okay to make bearish predictions, but when someone says that Bitcoin will fall hard and fast, they probably just want to spread FUD.

Example: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/warning-heres-why-btc-is-set-to-fall-to-3000-or-lower-5204105

5. Writing style

Most fudsters aren't very creative, and by carefully reading their posts it's very clear that they just try to manipulate the readers by using emotionally charged language, strawman arguments and other logical fallacies, claiming that their opinions are "facts' or "truth" and so on.

Example: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-the-worlds-first-cryptocurrency-what-does-this-mean-for-bitcoin-now-5203354