Is the name of the Offbeat Bride Tribe “problematic and frankly racist”?
Since monthly readership of the Offbeat Empire sites is over 300,000 people, it’s to be expected that we’d receive a fair number of reader complaints. Sometimes, these complaints are truly educational (I had no idea that the Society of Professional Journalists had voted to replace the phrase “illegal immigrant” with “undocumented immigrant” until a reader emailed me about it) and other times they’re ludicrous (Offbeat Bride’s hilarious “motherfuckergate” comes to mind here). I’ve written about this before, but this last week I had a especially challenging reader complaint.
How I deal with flouncing
Ah, the the flounce. The term refers to the almost-comical way that frustrated online community members will stand up and yell, “I’M LEAVING! No really, don’t try to stop me! I AM LEAVING. I’m done here. I’m going! I’m never coming back! Did you hear me? I am done with this community! Are you listening? DONE!” Here’s how we deal with them on the Empire.
The biggest business mistake I ever made
I started the Offbeat Bride Tribe on a whim as a way to test out a platform I was curious about, and I have regretted it ever since because A) community platforms suck and B) community management is emotionally difficult for me.