| Updated: September 15, 2025Social trading: it’s not as easy as it looks
This lesson will cover the following
- Why does it look easy?
- How difficult is it to choose a successful trader?
- Advice and final words
When we first heard about the emergence of this new (back then) concept of social trading, we were thrilled. To many traders it was like the biggest step in online trading we could imagine. Performing financial operations without having to dedicate all the time required for technical analysis? Count us in! It was like a dream come true – a new, much simpler and easier way of conducting business. Sadly, once we actually got into the field, the realisation that it wasn’t as easy as it looked hit us like a sturdy punch in the face.
It’s not as easy as it looks
No, it’s definitely not as easy as it looks. Don’t get us wrong – social trading really does make things much simpler and allows new and inexperienced traders to enter the field without learning everything we already know. It is a way for us to share our knowledge and experience and for you to learn a lot faster. Plus, it gives us the unique opportunity to let someone else do the dirty work for a change. Or so we thought in the beginning.
The truth is a bit different, though. If you’re thinking about ‘get-rich-quick schemes’ involving social trading, we are telling you right now to simply forget about it. It’s not going to happen. You have the same chance of making millions through social trading in a matter of weeks as you have of winning the lottery (actually, winning the lottery might be more likely). Ever since the beginning of this guide we’ve tried to burst your bubble. We’ve told you time and time again that it’s not easy, that you will have to learn, adapt and evolve. We’ll continue doing so. In fact, the following section is dedicated to this goal alone. We don’t want to sugar-coat it – yes, you can make money with social trading, but you will have to earn every dollar, euro or any other currency. It’s not going to be a walk in the park, though – we want to be very clear about this.
Why does it look easy?
It looks easy because the description makes it look easy. You work with information provided by other, supposedly more experienced, people. If they have made a certain decision, then it stands to reason that you should do the same. The information must be legitimate. Even if you’re not too confident, you can always look at a trader’s profile and determine their credibility. Oh, there is a guy with a tie in the profile picture? He’s well dressed, smiling and a lot of people are following him? The information must be good.
It looks even easier with copy trading. You don’t need to think about the information. All you have to do is click ‘Copy Trader’ and he will make 300% profit in the next six months. He’s done it once before, right? He should be able to do it again. And he will – and you will be there to reap the profits without lifting a finger. It’s all so sweet.
Why is it not easy?
What we’ve described above is how many people view social and copy trading. This is unfortunate because it has nothing to do with reality. What’s even sadder is that many websites present it in the same way. How are things in reality, though?
We’ve already taught you how to pick a platform, as well as how to choose a trader. We’ve warned you about some of the dangers, and we’ve informed you of the possibility of failure. This is just the tip of the iceberg, though. There is much more going on beneath the surface than you realise, and this section will make sure that you learn all of that (and more).
The first thing that makes life hard is choosing a trader. As we’ve explained in the ‘Recognising Good Traders’ section, this alone takes a lot of work and is a perpetual process of monitoring how the trader is performing, whether or not he’s hit a losing streak, etc. Even if you decide to stick with copy trading and not bother learning how to trade (which is the laziest of all alternatives), you will still have to carefully analyse every profile, test every trader and, even then, follow them all the time to make sure that they’re not wasting your money. You can’t just pick a set of traders you deem good, sit back and wait for the money to fall from the sky.
But it gets even worse. If you want to become a real trader and not simply wait for others to tell you what to do, there is a lot you need to learn. This is where social trading is great, because it shortens the learning curve and allows you to learn much faster and in a more concentrated fashion, skipping over all the parts you don’t need. But even then it will require time and energy.
Final words
Is social trading easy? Yes, it’s much easier than the alternative trading routes you can take. Is it as easy as it seems? No, of course not. But it’s worth it. It will help you learn what we’ve spent years studying in just a few months. However, you still have to work hard and be diligent. So, if you think that you won’t have to do anything, we’re sorry to disappoint.