Tom Bruni, Editor-in-Chief & VP of Community at Stocktwits – Interview Series

Tom Bruni is editor-in-chief at Stocktwits, where he leads the company’s newswire, newsletters, and other publishing efforts. For the last decade, Bruni has been at the intersection of finance and media, regularly featured in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Barron’s, and more. He holds both CPA and CMT licenses and is co-chair of the NYC Chapter of the CMT Association.

Stocktwits is a social network for investors and traders, known for introducing the “cashtag” to track stock discussions. Launched in 2008, it has grown into a standalone platform where users share market insights and follow real-time conversations about stocks, assets, and financial trends.

Looking back, was there a defining moment when you knew you wanted to be more than just a market analyst—and step into the community-building side of finance?

There wasn’t a specific moment, but the democratization of markets had just begun revolutionizing the way the financial industry served retail investors and traders. As people took more ownership of their own financial lives, I recognized the important role online communities like Stocktwits would play and how those who could communicate effectively with them would win in this new landscape.

Also, there’s just a lot more flexibility in this side of the financial world than the highly-regulated realm of working at a bank or other institution where compliance is king. As a former compliance-focused consultant at EY, I knew I did not want to deal with that for 40 more years.

Stocktwits has become a cornerstone of retail investor dialogue. What do you think sets it apart from other finance platforms?

We’re the only truly verticalized platform focused on finance, and since we’ve been around for nearly two decades, we understand what our audience of active investors and traders wants. Finance communities exist on horizontal platforms, such as X or Reddit, but these platforms must be built for a much broader and more diverse audience. When you’re on Stocktwits, you’re there for one reason: trying to profit in the markets. We’re also unique in that we serve traditional financial markets and crypto, with our recent launch of Cryptotwits responding to the demand we saw from users for an experience tailored specifically for crypto investors and traders.

As VP of Community, how do you define success when it comes to fostering meaningful engagement on Stocktwits?

Success comes down to user retention. When people register for the website or download the app, add stocks to their watchlist, and learn our core features, they consistently come back in droves. It can be challenging to create the perfect experience for everyone in a community our size, but we’ve made the platform more approachable by leveraging AI to summarize key information on each symbol page, introduced unique new features and programming, and are tailoring experiences to individual investment styles. We’ve done a great job of positioning ourselves as a key part of the retail investor workflow and will continue to deepen that position in the future.

Additionally, Stocktwits has evolved into a comprehensive financial media brand, offering core community features alongside publishing (through our newsletters and newswire), social content on external sites, video content on YouTube, and more to meet investors where they are. This approach makes the Stocktwits brand more accessible and valuable to a wider range of investors and traders globally.

How do you strike the balance between amplifying market news and protecting users from hype or misinformation?

We have house rules that govern what users can and cannot post on our site, and each new feature we introduce includes safeguards to protect against nefarious activity. Moderation is one of our largest investment areas, and we continually innovate in this area with modern tools and approaches to keep pace. When it comes to what drives markets, we recognize that it’s not always concrete news that moves an asset’s price. Our role as a platform is to provide people with a space to share their views, equip users with tools to report or flag questionable content for our moderation team, and utilize AI to help surface the highest-quality information possible. Our community team works tirelessly to enhance our platform and foster a supportive environment for investors at every stage of their market journey.

What have been the most surprising behavior trends you’ve noticed in the Stocktwits community over the last year?

The resilience of the retail investor has been most surprising. They now have more information and experience from navigating the volatile cycles of the previous five years, allowing them to stick with their portfolios even through market selloffs. At the peak of the market’s recent decline, industry data showed that most retail investors remained invested and continued to add to their favorite holdings. Additionally, they’ve stayed involved in the markets far after the pandemic boom, much to the surprise of Wall Street. They’ve taken charge of their financial future and are building long-term wealth strategies. Communities like Stocktwits have become a critical piece of that journey as they find like-minded investors.

You lead “The Daily Rip” for over a million readers. How do you approach condensing a day’s worth of financial noise into one cohesive voice?

The key to distilling the thousands of stories you could cover daily into a comprehensive newsletter is knowing your audience. Retail investors primarily hold US equities, so we focus on stories that impact those core holdings. Luckily, our platform also gives us real-time insight into what investors are discussing, and we use price action as a critical filter – the market tells us what’s important by how it reacts. We can cut through the noise and deliver what actually matters to investors’ portfolios.

Has the tone or content of The Daily Rip evolved to reflect the shifting landscape of retail investing?

The content has certainly evolved as markets shift and new trends emerge, but the core principles remain unchanged: to provide the most comprehensive and timely coverage of the market’s top stories and trends for our audience. Navigating an increasingly politicized market has been a challenge as we’re not a political publication, but we must cover political news as it relates to individual stocks, the market, or the economy as a whole. When we do, we focus on objective reporting and market implications, but it’s challenging to please everyone all the time.

You’ve observed thousands of retail traders firsthand. What common misconceptions do you think retail investors still hold?

Three major misconceptions stand out: First, democratized access to markets and tools makes investing easy. The global markets are the most competitive game in the world, and those who don’t treat it as such tend to wash out very quickly.

Second, institutional “smart money” investors always have the edge. Retail investors who focus on trying to beat institutional investors at their own game will have a tough time. However, those who recognize the unique advantages that retail investors have over institutions can achieve long-term success.

Third, there’s only one “right”  way to invest. Success comes from finding the tailored approach that fits your goal, and the Stocktwits community is a great place to leverage the experience of others to accelerate getting there.

Those who persevere through these challenges and embrace community learning have a far greater chance of success than those who go it alone.

What’s your view on the rise of short-term speculation vs. long-term investing in today’s digital-first environment?

Our co-founder and CEO, Howard Lindzon, likes to say, “It has never been easier to invest, but it’s never been harder to stay invested.” Investors can trade almost anything for free, nearly 24/7, from their phone. Crypto and meme coins, online gambling, and betting markets have made it possible to speculate on almost anything, making it harder to stay invested in the markets for the long term.

It’s not our job as a platform to judge it; instead, we provide information, education, and community features to help users invest for profit and joy. Greed and fear have driven markets for centuries – today’s markets are faster and more accessible than ever before, but humans are still the core drivers.

As platforms like Stocktwits continue to grow, how do you see the role of financial communities evolving over the next five years?

Personalization will be key. AI is commoditizing information at a faster rate than ever, so investors and traders are gravitating towards platforms that offer services tailored to their unique investment objectives and needs – customized news alerts, content, and watchlists suggested based on their investment style. These communities will serve as key channels for investor relations and crypto projects to connect directly with retail shareholders. Stocktwits is already developing the features that enhance communication between retail investors and the companies in which they’re invested.

You’ve built a strong presence through “The Honest Speculator” and your personal finance content. What keeps you motivated to continue sharing your journey so transparently?

Wow, you’ve done your research. I’ve been sharing my “markets journey” online for over a decade, and while I’d love to say it’s pure altruism, it’s mostly beneficial to me. My writing forces me to think through ideas thoroughly, and the added pressure of doing it publicly helps keep me honest and accountable. As someone who studied accounting at a non-target school, my online presence built a public resume and network, which ultimately enabled me to break into Wall Street. Every job I’ve ever held has resulted from this online body of work.

I continue to publish my work and build my personal community to motivate others to never stop putting themselves out there. I’m at Stocktwits because I began my own trading and investing journey as a platform user in 2013 and built a following of over 50,000 people organically. My journey equips me well to serve the needs of our core audience.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Stocktwits.