What Should I Do - Looking For Opinions

It's not even really a question of PC-ness or identity politics or whatever. My honest take is that I don't really see how a single song, taken in isolation amidst a page of philatelic information, adds anything to the viewer's understanding of the era. Why not a book chapter, or newspaper headlines, or film clip? If I'm going to a site called Stamp Smarter I want to learn about stamp-related topics. If I want to delve into the sociocultural ethos of the time there are many better places to do so. Just my two cents, Don, since you asked.

Dudley,
Understood, please note my earlier post which said..




I agree with you about PC, frankly I am old enough to care little about being politically correct. But what I do care about is reaching the broadest audience; possibly even folks who are not currently stamp collectors. As I mentioned, I think that philatelic websites can be thought of like exhibits at a stamp show. Some people desire the scope to be very focused, no nonsense, no fluff. Others prefer an approach which is broader, more inclusive and with context which makes it more applicable to our lives.

Stamp Smarter already has more databases and raw data then the majority of philatelic websites, maybe more than any other static site. There is no shortage of content and information to pour through. If you spent 1 minute on each page it would take you 33+ hours to view the entire site.

The current update of the site is being driven by providing access to a greater number of potential viewers (i.e. mobile device users). As long as I am touching every page and file, I would like to make any improvements at the same time. Viewing US stamps by date provides a different kind of perspective than viewing them by type (i.e design, commemoratives, Bank Notes, precancels, etc.) And it is my opinion that this perspective is enhanced by having additional date-centric information. Consider this section as a school teacher might; would this not be a good way to spend an hour with the kids (while introducing them to stamps!)? Or a school kid doing a report for history class, coming across these pages, and discovering that stamps make an interesting thing to include in the report.

The good news is that there are ways to measure and determine if this is the right decision or not by monitoring the website traffic metrics over time. With website traffic metrics it is easy to spot the 'deadwood' and prune out the things that are not popular. So if I have mis-stepped it will become apparently within a few months and corrective actions can be taken.
Don

It is not "political correctness." It is cultural and social sensitivity.

Don, Stamp Smarter is a fabulous resource, and it's impressive that you're always seeking to make it better. On this issue, I would definitely omit the racist stuff. I understand that it's a sad part of our history, but being periodically reminded of that fact on Stamp Smarter would not add to my enjoyment of stamp collecting. If you want to have a musical component, a compromise might be to do popular songs of the era, rather than for each year.

Thanks for the great web site but I would leave the music out.I believe it would open a door that might be hard to close. Instead of music have voice overlay with what to look for and explain where to find it on that particular issue of stamp(s).