Tragedy in Shreveport: Eight Children Killed, Including Seven of Gunman's Own
On Sunday, 31-year-old Shamar Elkins killed eight children, ranging in age from one to fourteen, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Seven of the children were his own. Police responded to the scene and shot and killed Elkins.
According to the Forbes article, the New York Times reported that Elkins's family members said he had mental health problems and had expressed suicidal thoughts.
Forbes Article Includes Interactive Prediction Feature
Forbes published an article summarizing these events, aggregating reporting from the Associated Press and New York Times. The article included a "ForbesPredict" feature, which asked readers to predict whether Congress will pass new gun safety legislation before December 31, 2026.
The feature displayed a predicted 18% chance of such legislation passing. Using the feature costs users tokens within the ForbesPredict system. A new, non-logged-in user reportedly had 800 tokens, with a prediction on this question costing 100 tokens.
What is ForbesPredict?
Forbes launched ForbesPredict in January as part of its digital strategy. The company describes it as a prediction market where users earn tokens for making predictions. These tokens have no cash value but provide status and gameplay advantages within the Forbes ecosystem.
Nina Gould, Forbes' Chief Innovation Officer, stated the tool is a response to changes in how people access information due to AI, aiming to deepen user engagement rather than chase scale.
"AI is fundamentally changing how people access information, and that shift is already starkly visible in publisher's traffic. Our response isn’t to chase scale, but to deepen engagement. ForbesPredict gives our audience a reason to return, participate and invest their thinking—not just consume headlines," said Gould.
Forbes built ForbesPredict in partnership with a company called Axiom. Axiom's website states that AI platforms are "permanently restructuring how information flows."
Other Predictions and User Incentives
The feature also includes other prediction questions, such as whether former President Trump would pardon Ghislaine Maxwell before the end of his term. A hint for that question, costing 10 tokens, indicated users gave a 61% chance of a pardon, citing Trump's statement that he is allowed to do it.
Users can receive a daily login bonus of 800 tokens by creating an account.
Forbes did not respond to a request for comment from 404 Media regarding the feature or its placement within the article on the Shreveport tragedy.