I want to thank all our supporters of Bi Social Network for these past three years in helping us continue to share bisexual niche content with the community. We know how important visibility is in stopping biphobia and bi-erasure in and outside the community. By coming together, we can move the cause to a better understanding.

I read on a bisexual community Facebook page called, “Bisexuals Against Douchebags” (BAD), which helps bring to life biphobia in media. A commenter named Atiq Zabinski  posted their feelings regarding our login feature to our site and from what I can tell, “outrage” on us starting the Rally Campaign to help us make basic needs for our site, in ways of support, money to fund our data servers and more.

[Atiq Zabinski] So much for their (her?) [Adrienne Williams] financial model….

This statement was posted on Thursday, January 5, 2012. I want to start to address this first statement.

One of the things I pride myself is being is up front. I have stated from the beginning that I use to work in computer technology. In the year 2008, like countless of others, I lost my job in the tech bubble, and decided to start Bi Social Network and do something I loved, help a cause have visibility and help me in the process to happiness, working for myself and helping others in their craft.

There weren’t any entertainment sites full on in this arena and I wanted to show that bisexuals wanted and needed to talk about all sorts of interests in our lives, not just activism. I thought we could have a space for all to come together. There was no “Financial Model” at the time until I decided I wanted to make something bigger than the initial start. After that, I used all my money to make sure Bi Social Network succeed. But nothing can happen without members, customers, supports, backers, investors, sponsors, and subscribers and advertisers to help it grow. I tried everything, from crowd funding, classified ads, using my own money, getting advertisers, etc. This was what I was trying to do, in Bi Talk Radio, bringing on free mental health advice with “Bi Life” Film, Radio, TV, Magazine. Nothing that isn’t hard work, and done right will ever be free.

I don’t take to heart one person’s viewpoint, but I have to look at what is happening. Does the bisexual community want this sort of bi content? Do our members feel just as Zabinski described here about me and Bi Social Network?

..Being tight-fisted with their media content, trying to pressure everyone into becoming site members, and wasting money on bells and whistles…

I want to address some of the reasons behind adding login access to our database management system. Every site in today’s market, technology, social media, etc, where databases are used to house sites, basic information is always needed to have a healthy website, regarding upgrades, new features, understanding your members and visitors. If you are a business and want to grow—it’s standard regarding why a site will ask for user information, a first or last name etc. It’s always better to get this information beforehand, if later down the line you want to expand your website present. Some of the site was visible in all or in part, but it was there for all to view. Bi Social Network is no different than any company like Facebook, Twitter, or other data driven websites, blog, etc. Bi Social Network didn’t start off with membership access but because we needed to know how the site was being viewed, and to grow our bases, our brand and our advertisers, this is standard information. No one is making anyone do anything. You come and go as you please. Read our policy pages.

Another point is that we wanted the bisexual community to have a great web user experience, and any “bells or whistles” are a labor of love these three years, and hours upon hours of hard work, coding that I felt the bisexual community needed like any other gay and lesbian and straight niche content site around, such as Advocate, Out and others. There is no behind the scene developer, I’m up all hours of the night trying to make the site better. Advocate has their investors…. Do bi businesses?

No real professional site can be housed free, and if anyone thinks you can house many amounts of articles, data, images, audio on a free blogging platform without paying some type of fee, I’m here to tell you that isn’t possible. Our data was getting too large and we had to move it to our own server per our IP Company. Meaning you can’t house a site like ours on a shared server—hence why we pay higher monthly fees. This went into effect months ago. There are no add-ons, we were trying to give you more with less.

…There are more worthy causes to donate money to.

Yes there is. There are many, I donated last year to homeless causes, mental health issues, a bi girl who was about to go homeless just last year. We helped raise funds for that. Someone contacted me who was suicidal and needed help and an ear; we got them support 24hrs later! (Yes I was online all that time) We know there are many companies to donate too. We just feel that Bi Social Network has the potential to be one of those companies. We understand the needs of the bi community, and if we don’t know all of the issues, please email me and let us know how we can move forward in providing it.

I understand that the bisexual community isn’t use to having a site like ours, showcasing a newer approach, so it might be hard to believe that money isn’t needed. But if any bisexual site wants to be taken seriously, as a product, I know it takes hard work, tech skills, money, lots of community support and a little luck to make something happen.

Now, taking into account that this is only one person, I have to pause and reflect that perhaps this is how everyone feels, regarding the support any business might need from the community when trying to move into untapped bisexual media. If this is true, then I can just stop right now, and end it. Or servers are due tomorrow, and there isn’t money to house them. The magazine is being completed; this was the reason to start this project to help raise money. We are not trying to cheat anyone here but to provide a service.

I have friends and loved ones telling me to give up Bi Social Network and go back to technology. I guess I can do that, close shop, forget about the community, only think about myself, and not help others. Only time will tell what moves forward. I do find it interesting that this same person is trying to create a bi network site, similar to our own. But I guess that’s just coincidence right?