Quick note to our awesome and valued existing members:

This text post is written and intended for new users (particularly bloggers, vloggers, podcasters, and content creators) that will be landing onto this community via our blogging and networking channels. We intend for it to be “stickied” to the top of this tribe for an extended period of time, so that new members that find their way here can quickly understand what it's all about and what they can and can't do here. Let's give them the big, warm Snapzu welcome they deserve!

As mentioned before, these people are the leaders that we're hoping to attract. They are more than qualified to run tribes because they already took several steps to create their online home, whether it's a blog, vlog, or podcast. Providing them with a community to build around that is what we want to accomplish. We truly want to lead by example and prove how a community can be a real plus for them.

And yes, there are always some “bad apples” that can paint a dark picture on the entire community they belong to and represent. This is completely normal and unfortunately comes with the territory. However, MOST bloggers, vloggers, podcasters, and influencers fully understand that's not how you build relations or promote your work without ticking off a lot of people.

The controversial “down vote” exists for many reasons, however its most efficient use is to keep the “bad apples” out! You know, the ones that only take and don't give anything in return. So as always, if you suspect anyone breaking the global rules and etiquette, particularly the 10% self-promotion rule, don't be hesitant to use it as that's exactly what it's there for. We fully understand that uncontrolled spam can ruin a community (and even an entire platform), and we will not let that happen... not on our watch.

Finally, as you may already know, Imzy, a similar platform that was somewhat competing with Snapzu recently closed down mainly because they could not pivot to find a viable business model. As a completely bootstrapped company, we've always been in a similar situation, however we feel like we finally found the right strategy to pivot towards that makes real sense for everyone on all sides of the spectrum. Without this pivot, we would likely be facing a similar fate as Imzy sooner rather than later.

For those reasons, if you can, please consider upgrading your account to Platinum for a small contribution of $5/month. Every little bit counts!

Thanks for your time.

Hi /u/bogdan, I read through your feedback and would just like to say that it's a pleasure having you join our little community!

Assurances:

I assure you, and I speak for everyone on the team that we are on here a lot more than we care to admit (I know, I'm horrible for just lurking). We actually spend countless hours coming up with solutions to our self inflicted screwups, but we also streamline functionality and are always working to improve our interface design. We have been working at this for just over 3 years and can say with absolute certainty that Snapzu is our passion, really, we just meet up and work on making this place better, and then get drunk afterwards, and sometimes chat about how awesome it would be to see this place do really well. Well maybe not drunk, maybe buzzed, a slight buzz, I mean just enough to sit back, relax and dream a little.... oh who am I kidding, we drink like fish, but on the weekends!

There is no way in hell we are going to shutter this place because we feel its not making a profit. We might put up a way for people to contribute in splitting the hosting/dev bill but we aren't really interested in selling out for some crappy advertising money. Really though, Snapzu has been online since 2012, and during this time we have not put up a single ad, so we hope this says something about our intentions.

Bugs

Yep, we screwed up (how embarrassing)! You listed a few issues that we are looking to resolve in our next release. We hope you stick around for that, as there are some great things coming along with the bug fixes! I also want to point out that if you do experience a bug please email John at support @ snapzu .com and give a detailed encounter, we will make every effort to get back to you within 24 hours!

Really Bogdan, we appreciate such great feedback and thanks for taking the time to play that wonderful geekstrument!