BBRN, better than social media

I remember a time when I was a big proponent of social media. Apps like Facebook and Instagram were great for staying in touch with long distance friends, finding social groups with common interests, sharing photos, memes, and jokes, or having digital conversations. Facebook in particular was a great tool for small businesses to advertise, post event schedules, and even host private groups.
Over time, it became less and less awesome. There were more arguments, and Facebook went from giving you a block option to nameless Facebook Admins banning people outright, often without warning. Instead of expecting you to just scroll past something you didn't like, they began filtering and fact checking, and preemptively putting temporary or permanent bans on people's accounts.
That was the case for me in March of 2020. After a few "inappropriate content" warnings for mundane memes and political statements, my business page was deplatformed. I also had a private group for my top customers (the Black Bag Resources Inner Circle or BBRIC) that received a "dangerous persons or groups" warning in 2021- our primary violation was sharing memes relating to the Kyle Rittenhouse case. Keep in mind, AlQuaeda still has their Facebook page, unmolested by Facebook (now Meta) admins.
It became clear we were operating in hostile territory, and while I have always advocated for refusing to give up ground, the writing was on the wall. We were leaving Facebook on our own or getting deleted by Zuckerberg. Friends suggested setting up a Discord chat for BBRIC and that was a good stop gap measure for keeping in touch. Not everyone made the migration, but it worked well enough. A few months later, another friend suggested an independent networking site that allowed you to create a digital community. It was far more focused on small businesses and genuine community than standard social media. The best part was complete independent control over content, without outside biases interfering. We launched the BBR Network a few days later, originally intended as just a space for the BBR Inner Circle. However, I immediately saw the value and opportunity with this new software and decided to upgrade and expand beyond just the small Inner Cirle. Again seeking to migrate members out of the Facebook group was a challenge, but those who did were able to download the app to their phone and access the network easily.
In December of 2021, the BBR Network was launched publicly with a nominal subscription fee and membership is growing steadily while Facebook/Meta and Instagram continue to delete accounts and censor content. We're seeing new social media platforms pop up regularly, each claiming to be better but none really delivering. The BBR Network is unique in that it's not only social media with sharing posts, photos, and comments. We also host educational focus groups, peer lead support groups, and interest groups. We're on track to start offering full online courses in March, and each member receives a membership kit. True to the original plan, the BBR Network is also the best place to score our information, discounts and deals, and keep track of our events calendar including gun shows, trainings, and members only BBQs- or as we call them BBRBQs!
Things always have a way of working out for the best, and getting Zucked from Facebook was the imputes to launching something so much better. Check out the landing page for the BBR Network in the link below!

Join the Black Bag Resources Network