FutureMonitor, is an ambitious online experiment from Monitor Networks and the Financial Times that aims to capture insight about the near-term future from a powerful new source. That insight will make FutureMonitor a valuable tool for managers and leaders who want to anticipate what’s next--what risks and opportunities they’ll encounter shortly ahead, what changes are coming that they can act in advance to mitigate or capitalize on.

The powerful new source of that insight is you. More accurately: you and a whole network of others who are in some ways like you and in other ways not. FutureMonitor is a first-of-its-kind global community, uniquely designed to capitalize on the collective intelligence and predictive capacities of diverse human networks--the “wisdom of crowds.” The emerging science of how these networks function has already shown that they can yield fresher, more accurate, and more useful intelligence than purely expert-driven efforts. The FutureMonitor experiment will push the science further.

Visit the blog on FutureMonitor to read and react to entries dedicated to the research behind the experiment. You can also find resources and links there about collective intelligence and forecasting.

When it comes to qualifying for community privileges, metric ratings/rankings are based on your post count and the number of ‘Insightful’ ratings you give and get.

FutureMonitor provides forums where you can share views on certain topics. It will not be a verbal abuse forum, where you can attack someone inappropriately. You will receive a warning from the FutureMonitor Team, make others resent you and your post will be removed.

In good debate one should always support an argument with historical information and evidence or even sources. Though you may not remember all the details, sometimes referring to a source is all this is needed.

If you post information you found somewhere else or was written by another person, make sure you indicate the source or author.

Spam is any post that does not directly further the objective of a thread, which includes off topic posts, posts which only contain a few words and/or emoticons, and inappropriate replies to a thread. All Spam will be deleted by an administrator without warning.

You may not post anything that is porn-related or are illegal. Anything that is unwholesome or illegal will be deleted or moderated without warning.

Vulgar language is not allowed in this forum. Though we have a filter against certain vulgarity, the vulgar text will be displayed as "*****". If your text is displayed in such a manner often, you will most likely be removed from the forum.

Do not blatantly attack another member because you don’t like them or because you disagree with their opinion on a matter. If you have personal words to share with them do it via private message. Open attacks will result in warnings or banning (temporary or permanent). Unwanted private attacks (flames sent via PM to a member), if brought to our attention, will cost you the loss of your private message abilities. What is a flame? A flame is a blatant attack on another member (not their argument). If you insult another member purposefully to any degree, even in a foriegn language, it will result in a flame warning. If you encounter cases of flame, please report it to the staff, so that the staff can take action in the form of warning or even in the worst case ban.

Racist attacks are not permitted and will be moderated without warning.

Please respect those whose job it is to make this a rewarding place for all who participate. Pay careful attention to communications from administrators and moderators.

Complaints should be administered in private through e-mail. Public complaint/justification will be deleted without warning.

You must be a registered member to interact with the site. Please check to make sure you are logged-in. If you would like to become a member, please click here. Remember, it’s perfectly okay to lurk…

Moderators oversee forums. They generally have the ability to edit and delete posts, move threads, and perform other manipulations. Becoming a guest moderator for a specific FutureMonitor discussion may be rewarded to members who are particularly helpful and knowledgeable in a particular subject and/or those members who achieve an exemplary rank.

Members of FutureMonitor can create a new topic in an existing forum by clicking on the ‘Add New Topic’ link located on the topic view page. The site’s current permission settings do not allow the creation of new forums. Forums are added by the FutureMonitor moderator.

The Notification setting is a request to be notified about recent Forum activity via an email alert. To subscribe to a Forum or Topic, click the paper airplane icon at the top of the page. You will receive an instant email communication confirming your subscription. To manage or view your current notifications, go to your ‘My Notifications’ screen.

If you post a new thread, or reply to an existing thread, you will to be notified by email when someone else replies to that thread. Hint: You can also choose to receive email notifications of new posts in a thread without posting in that thread. Only registered users may receive email notification.

When you are logged into the site, you will see a ‘Report to Moderator’ link at the bottom of every post. Please use this tool to report a post to the moderator for any reason. The post will then be highlighted in red until the Moderator takes specific action.

It is optional for members to provide off-line access information. To see if a member has currently provided this information, just click on their username. If you would like to connect with other members, go to your ‘Account’ page and click on the ‘Public’ Tab to provide your preferred contact method.

These small images are called Avatars and are currently not provided or permitted on the site.

Yes. Cookies are used to enable functions such as automatically logging you back in when you return to the site after being away for a while. When you register, you will be given the option to ‘Remember Me’ and automatically login when you return to the site. This will store your username and password in a cookie, stored on your computer. If you are using a shared computer, such as in a library, school or internet cafe, or if you have reason to not trust any other users that might use this computer, we do not recommend that you enable this.

There are currently two RSS syndication feeds provided on FutureMonitor. The feeds are currently provided in format RSS v2.

FutureMonitor Most Active Discussions - This feed contains title, author, date and the contents of the latest post of the most active forum topics.

The Experiment So Far – This feed contains title, author, date and the contents of the latest blog post.

Yes. On the Advanced Search page you have the ability to search on a combination of keywords and filters. Current filters include: entire site, forums only, blogs only, by author, and by date range. Site wide search is always available, located at the top right of most pages.

Yes, look for the star at the bottom of every forum post. Members are encouraged to use this ‘Insightful’ tag to rate valuable community contributions where appropriate. When it comes to qualifying for FutureMonitor community privileges, a member’s rank is based on post count and the number of ‘Insightful’ ratings given and received.

The post editor has been implemented as a WYSIWYG editor. For example, if you press the “enter” key, that will equate to a <br> HTML tag when posted. (NOTE: If you enter HTML code in the editor it will be rendered as plain text.) Additional formatting is available by using the toolbar at the top of the editor's entry box. You can insert links, highlight text and make it bold, italic, underscored, or bulleted. You have the ability to edit your posts after submission and the FM tech team is in the process of introducing a preview function as well.

Yes, you have the ability to edit a post after is has been submitted. Remember, if you see a post that requires attention, click on ‘Report to Moderator’ at the bottom of that post and send detailed instructions about the changes necessary.

Current permission settings do not allow members to create polls. Polls are added by the FutureMonitor moderator and designed to show members instant results (to date) after a vote is cast. To vote in a poll, simply select which option you want to vote for, and click the 'Vote' button. Voting in a poll is entirely optional. Generally, once you have voted in a poll, you will not be able to change your vote later, so place your vote carefully!

It’s easy! Click on the blue ‘Invite a Friend’ button to enter your friend’s email address and to send them a brief note.

Please Be Advised: The return email address that is used to send your invitation is the one you provided upon registration. If you prefer to keep your registration email private, make sure you have a ‘Public’ email address entered in your account profile.

Updates to the FutureMonitor calendar are performed by the moderator. Stay tuned to the calendar for notices on important FutureMonitor related events.

In order to fully utilize this site, we require that you register as a FutureMonitor member. Registration is free, and allows you to do the following:

• Participate in discussions
• Receive email notification of replies to threads and topics you specify
• Vote on polls and receive instant results on that poll to date
• Access other member’s offline information to continue a conversation offline

To register, you will need to provide a limited amount of information, as well as choose a username and password and provide a valid email address. Your email address is kept private UNLESS you choose to use the ‘Invite a Friend’ utility without first providing a public email address in your account profile.

If you remember your username, enter it and click on "forgot password" to receive an immediate reminder via email. Please Note: The reminder will be sent to the address you entered upon registration. If you cannot remember your user name, please send an email to admin@futuremonitor.com for assistance.

Unfortunately, you cannot change the username in your account. You can change your password in your profile by visiting your ‘Account Profile’ when you are logged in to the site.

It is your responsibility to keep the information in your account up-to-date. You should especially ensure that your email address is kept current. You can alter any of the fields in your profile, except your username. Once you have registered your username, it becomes yours for life. In extreme circumstances, you may request that the administrator change your username, but he or she will require a very good reason to do so.

To edit your profile, click on the ‘Account’ button when you are logged in to the site.

During registration you will be asked to choose a time zone. To modify this setting, visit your 'Account Profile'. All system times are GMT -5.