The titular question occurred to me while reading a post by John P. Anderson, in which he explains that:
There is evidence that at least some of the recent social-media-driven “meme” trading in stocks such as GameStop is being driven by motives other than profit seeking. In fact, many of the retail traders involved in the recent short-squeeze frenzy have stated publicly that they are buying and holding their positions as a form of social, political, or aesthetic expression. ...
An expressive trader does not trade for profit but rather to send a political message or produce a social or aesthetic effect. Social media has made expressive trading practicable for retail market participants by allowing a large number of small investors to coordinate their trading in real time to deliver their desired message in the form of a measurable impact on the targeted stock’s price.
One consistent theme for expressive traders in GameStop has been to protest the Wall Street elitism that motivated the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. In contrast to that movement, however, expressive trading has had very real economic consequences for the movement’s perceived hedge-fund villains. ...
GameStop retail traders frequently quote Heath Ledger’s Joker character from “The Dark Knight” on their trade-related posts: “It’s not about the money; it’s about sending a message.” ...
Censorship of expressive trading may be justified in some instances, but the broader implications of any such regulatory action should be carefully explored in advance.
