By: Christopher Lewis

Over the last couple of years, there has been a push in the Forex world towards social media. Many traders find themselves attracted to websites such as Currensee and eToro as possible places for trading ideas. Most of these places will give you an opportunity to follow a particular trader, some for free and some for a small cost. The ability to see what other traders are thinking is in theory a huge advantage. But the question remains whether or not these websites can prove to be helpful for the new trader.

In order to fully understand the concept, let's take a look at some of the potential advantages of social Forex trading platforms. It is by breaking down the advantages into small pieces that we will begin to understand the worthiness of these websites.

One of the first things Forex social trading platforms tout is the ability to follow winning traders. The truth of the matter is that winning traders on social platforms tend to be new traders themselves. It is ridiculous to think that somebody who just started trading is somebody you should follow. While it is true they may be on a hot streak and up 317% over the last three weeks, the reality is that sooner or later they are going to start taking losses. A trader like this is undoubtedly leveraging their account way too high. While he gives them great looking gains, the losses when they start taking them are going to be absolutely disastrous. It is because of this that you see a revolving door of "winning traders".

The other big thing that Forex social trading platforms promote is the ability to see what other traders are thinking. While in theory this sounds like a good idea, the reality is that the average trader on these platforms hasn't been trading very long. Because of this, their opinion may or may not be founded on reasonable analysis. Quite often you will see large amounts of these traders buying at the absolute top, or selling at the absolute bottom. You must know that even the most experienced professionals are taking losses, and as such you should be careful following their thought process. So when it comes to the thought process of somebody who's only been trading Forex for three months, the odds of it being a winning thought process diminish greatly.

Many of these social platforms are simply ways to make money for the owners. It might be through advertising, it can also be through referrals to brokers, or possibly even a situation where the broker actually owns the social platform. It is in the broker's best interest to have you trading is much as possible, and with as much leverage as possible in order to separate you from your money as quickly as possible. 

*The opinion presented in the article is that of the author alone, and does not represent the opinion of DailyForex.com