Today we again ask for reader feedback on important aspects of the FM website. Tell us how to do this better. Everything is open to fix. Excerpt for one thing. We’ll continue to annoy both Left and Right, looking for a path to reform America. It’s bad for business in our increasingly tribal society, but such is life.
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Questions
- Daily long posts, or more short posts?
- Promo our successful predictions, or just more on?
- Add your comments
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(1) Daily long posts, or more short posts
The FM website does long-form analysis of issues on the cutting edge of the known. They’re usually 1,000 to 2,000 words long (vs typical posts on the web of 200 -400 words). With copious citations (usually links). Complexes of posts, each a chapter closely examining a sliver of the geopolitical world (from an American perspective). Extensively cross-indexed.
The other side of the operation is the @FabiusMaximus01 twitter feed. Pointers to articles about the themes covered here, often with brief comments on them (1,135 followers).
Short and long. Is this the best way to do this? Most importantly, should we do more and shorter articles — or stick with the one-per-day long-form articles. Other questions appear below the fold.
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Take Our Poll
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(2) Second question: do we promote past predictions enough?
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The web is filled with applause for successful predictions, many of which are no better than those made here. Accurate predictions about our mad wars. About the great financial crisis and its aftermath. Franz Gayl’s posts about China. GI Wilson’s posts about the Marines, and the psychology of a nation using killer drones. Marcus Ranum’s posts about cyberwar and cybersecurity. Don Vandergriff’s posts about the war in Afghanistan. Chet Richards’ posts about many many things.
See lists of our accurate predictions here, and wrong ones here. The latter is complete (I obsessively track mistakes, and readers work diligently to remind me of them). The former is long, and a complete list would be longer.
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Take Our Poll
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(3) Concluding note
Post your suggestions about ways we can do better. Note that the website itself comes from WordPress, and we have only slight control over its design and features.
To learn more about the FM website see the buttons on the top menu bar.
(4) For More Information
(a) About the website:
- Politics of the FM site: radical leftist reformer or right-wing iconoclast?
- About comments on the FM website
(b) Reviews of and thoughts about our work so far:
- Lessons learned during 2012 from comments on the FM website, 30 December 2012
- What can we learn from visits to the FM website from interesting Internet communities, 31 December 2012
- A look at the record hits, and what they tell us about ourselves, 28 September 2013
- Confession about a failed forecast, 26 May 2013
- Looking at the FM website: are we helping to reform America?, 6 November 2013
- Sunday reflections on the FM website project, perhaps an inspiration for you!, 8 December 2013
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