For anyone who uses Pillowfort, or supports it for being independent and fighting to support NSFW content, got this in my email today:
To cut to the chase: I'm making this post because Pillowfort needs some helping hands.
I started Pillowfort ten years ago because I, like many others, was growing frustrated with how shareholder interference and corporate greed was degrading social media platforms. The need for a site like Pillowfort, that puts its users first, doesn't take venture capital funding, and doesn't subject its users to corporate censorship for the sake of ad revenue, has only grown since the site was launched nearly 10 years ago. And yet, at the same time, it has grown even harder for independent social media platforms to survive, especially ones that support NSFW creators.
Pillowfort has long been held back by a financial catch-22 situation. We've always needed more personnel in order to put in the features and infrastructure necessary for Pillowfort to grow, and yet to hire these persons we would need money that we don't have. And the reason we don't have that money is because we don't do the exploitative things that other social media platforms do to make money, such as selling user data, displaying advertisements, or driving traffic with opaque content algorithms.
In addition, ten years is a long time for me personally to have dedicated myself to a project that demands so much of me– I've spent the last decade doing work that should have been spread between probably 4 or 5 different people, and the constant stress of this responsibility has been wearing on me. Ultimately, I think it is time for me to hand Pillowfort over to a passionate group of people who can continue what I've started.
As a result, I've come to the decision that in order to give Pillowfort the best chance at surviving and staying loyal to its mission in the face of these challenges, it would be in Pillowfort's best interest to become a volunteer-based nonprofit. I think the world badly needs a social media platform that exists purely to foster genuine communication rather than exploiting user attention for profit, and it's going to take a community of dedicated and passionate people to make that happen.
In order to register as a nonprofit, we will need at least three board members to assume the roles of President and Secretary. We're also looking for people to join as directors and/or officers and helm the following responsibilities:
General Operations & Administration
If you are interested in joining the Pillowfort team in any of these capacities, please fill out THIS FORM!
Note that these roles will not be compensated, at least initially, though there is a possibility for compensation in the future as Pillowfort's revenue increases. I'd also love to talk to anyone who has experience in being on the board of a nonprofit and would be willing to provide guidance as we make this transition.
I believe that becoming a non-profit is the ideal way forward to ensure Pillowfort remains loyal to its ideals; we just need help from our community to make it happen! Please share this announcement amongst your circles so we can reach as many potentially interested people as possible.
This is a big undertaking, but after A03, I do think fandom could manage. So if you have the skills and the time, please consider it.
