By the time you read this, it will be old news, but I am still reeling from the wave of emotions that is hitting me after the dissolution of the BRO community. Sure, I've seen some posts that the community is still kicking, but whether it has been infiltrated or simply changed gears, it isn't the same place I once called home for the past couple of years.
As long as HIVE has been around and even before we forked from that other chain, Discord has been the unofficial back channel of the blockchain. As much as it bugs some people who think conversations like the ones that happen on Discord should take place in the open on chain, as a whole we haven't been able to make the transition.
So these discussions, decisions, and interactions continue to take place on Discord, and the majority of major communities and tokens on HIVE have their own server with multiple channels.
The BRO community was a wonderful amalgamation of users from all over the world who laughed, yelled, complained, uplifted, and any other number of things on any given day. It was a vibrant community that evolved over the years and was built on the idea that people should have a voice even if you didn't agree with it. It was a form of support and a wonderful place to call home.
Of all the emotions I feel, I think sad is the biggest. Sure, it sucks that my BRO and LGN tokens are now virtually worthless, but I think what I am going to miss the most is the community that we had built there on the BRO server.
I'm not going to get into a ton of details, if you want to check out the HIVE Discord, you can get an idea of what went down. I'm also not going to make this post a rant against Ray the leader of BRO despite what you might read otherwise from their account.
If anything I just want to express how concerned I am for Ray and his family. This recent behavior and direction shift of the community as well as the exile of many of the long time users is very uncharacteristic for him. In fact, @themarkymark has seen his fair share of crazy shit on the blockchain over the years and don't quote me, but I think even this shook him a little.
There is a lot of speculation about what might be going on behind he scenes. I'm also not going to get into that because honestly until someone is able to sit down and talk to Ray face to face and get the real story, it is all just speculation.
I think if anything this whole scenario is just a stark reminder of how superficial the connections we make here on HIVE (or Discord) are. I have a lot of respect for the folks that are able to make it to HiveFest and the meet ups that take place through the year. At least then you can put a face on the name. However, no matter how well you think you know that person in Discord, or how often you talk to them through the year, the truth is, you don't really know them. You don't know shit.
I don't typically use such harsh language in my public facing posts, but as I said, this has me shook and all of these emotions are bubbling to the surface.
@dbooster and I have been talking about creating a new Discord server where folks that were recently kicked out of BRO can group together. Of course we would invite others to join as well in hopes of recreating what BRO was when it was running well. This is still a very early thing, but it's always a possibility.
Even if some new community never comes together, I appreciate the time spent with many of you in the BRO Discord. The laughs, disagreements, shared outrage, and connections have been amazing. It's sad to see things end the way they did. I can't help feel like I did something wrong to earn my exile from the community, but I know that isn't healthy. If I did something wrong, that means all the others who got booted did something wrong as well, and that is highly unlikely.
I'm sorry if you got burned by holding BRO or LGN. Please know, this shouldn't be a reflection on the members of the community as a whole. I also urge you to exercise extreme caution if you choose to interact with the BRO community that still exists. It really feels like it has been compromised whether from outside sources or more personal mental health issues.
I truly hope everyone is okay after all of this. Hopefully we all heal and learn from our mistakes.
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