WE BUILT THIS BECAUSE THEY SOLD OURS.
A short document about a long problem. Etsy listed on Wall Street. Instagram traded reach for revenue. The forums got bought, the zines got priced out, the meetups went dark. This is who we are, what we believe, and what we refuse to do next.
/ TORONTO · 2026
READ TIME · 4 MINUTES · OUT LOUD
/ ARTICLE 00
The Problem.
-
ETSY FEE+78%
-
IG ORGANIC REACH-92%
-
FORUMS LOST 2010–202511,400
-
VENDORS WHO QUIT1 IN 3
Then we moved everything onto platforms we didn’t own — and the platforms started renting back access to our own audiences.
So we built a place that can’t do that to you. No algorithm between you and your followers. No fee structure that rewards drop-shippers over makers. No quiet shutdown when a venture fund wants out.
This document is our promise to keep it that way.
ARTICLES 01 — 10 · THE TENETS
WHAT WE STAND FOR.
TEN ARTICLES · WE THE LOUD
NON-NEGOTIABLE · UNTIL THE LIGHTS GO OUT
01
/ ARTICLE
YOUR FOLLOWERS ARE YOURS
Every person who follows you sees what you post. No algorithm. No locked reach.
ENFORCEMENT
HARD-CODED
02
/ ARTICLE
NO ADS. EXCEPT YOURS.
The only ads you’ll ever see here come from vendors inside this community. No Google. No Amazon. No stranger paying to interrupt you.
ENFORCEMENT
CHARTER
03
/ ARTICLE
MAKERS BEFORE MIDDLEMEN.
Verified vendors pay 5% + the transaction fee. That’s it. No listing fees, no surprise charges, nothing until you sell.
ENFORCEMENT
FEE TABLE
04
/ ARTICLE
OWN YOUR EXIT.
Quit any time. Take your posts, your customer list, your sales history. Open formats. No “premium” lock-in. No 30-day waiting period.
ENFORCEMENT
DATA
05
/ ARTICLE
YOUR FEED. YOUR RULES.
Posts show in reverse chronological order with additional filters you can choose. Profiles show humans and their activity. If you can’t tell whether something is a bot, a brand, or a person — that’s on us, and we’ll fix it.
ENFORCEMENT
VERIFICATION
06
/ ARTICLE
NO VC. NO IPO. NO EXIT.
We will never accept funding that requires us to sell our souls, scale past our values, or hand your community to someone who doesn’t believe in what we’re trying to do. Written into the operating agreement.
ENFORCEMENT
LEGAL
07
/ ARTICLE
THE CODE IS PUBLIC.
Our moderation rules, fee math, and platform policies live on public pages. If we change them, you’ll know before they take effect. Early adopters get a direct voice in what gets built next.
ENFORCEMENT
TRANSPARENCY
08
/ ARTICLE
BAN THE COWARDS, NOT THE LOUD.
Threats, doxxing, hate, and scams get removed fast. Strong opinions, ugly art, weird kinks, and full-volume disagreement do not. This is a venue, not a brand-safe zone.
ENFORCEMENT
HUMAN MODS
09
/ ARTICLE
SHIP WORK, NOT METRICS.
Like counts and follower numbers exist here, but they don’t decide who sees your posts. No algorithm bumping popular profiles over new ones. No public sales numbers. Your feed position is earned by when you posted, not how many people clapped.
ENFORCEMENT
UI POLICY
10
/ ARTICLE
IF WE BREAK THIS, BURN IT.
If We The Loud violates any article above, I’ll say so publicly, tell you exactly what happened, and let you decide if we’re still worth your time. No corporate spin. No quiet policy update. Just the truth and a door that’s always open.
ENFORCEMENT
OPERATING AGREEMENT
ARTICLE 11 · THE TWO COLUMNS
WHAT WE BELIEVE,
WHAT WE REFUSE.
UPDATED 12 APR 2026
WE ＋
BELIEVE
/ THE YES COLUMN
Lifetime Reduced Fees
Time-ordered · No re-rank · No "you might also like"
That makers are the economy.
Lower fees for verified humans who make their own work
That community is local first.
EVENTS · MEETUPS · SHOW UP IRL WHEN YOU CAN
That ugly is beautiful.
Patches · tape · noise · no aesthetic gatekeeping · art is subjective
That a small platform that survives is worth more than a big one that sells.
INDEPENDENTLY OWNED · BUILT WITH THE COMMUNITY · IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL
WE ✕
REFUSE
/ THE NO COLUMN
To rank your feed against you.
No engagement bait · No reach throttle · No "boost this post"
To sell your data, ever.
Not to brands · Not to "partners" · Not to AI training pipelines
To run outside ads.
NOT GOOGLE · NOT AMAZON · NOT "FROM OUR PARTNERS"
To take an investor who needs us to exit.
No growth-stage cap · No IPO ladder · No acquihire
To go quiet on the things that matter.
Mod reports public · Outages public · Layoffs public
ABOUT · ORIGIN
HOW THIS STARTED.
FOUNDED APR 2025 · TORONTO, ON
◆ THE STORY
ONE PERSON. TWO DECADES. A LOT OF LESSONS.
I’ve been building things for the underground since before the algorithm was the enemy.
In 2008 I built Rebel Cult, a tattoo social network before it was a thing. It grew fast and got ahead of me.
In 2011 I co-founded Geekpr0n, an alternative fandom blog that spun off a Toronto music coverage site and a development company. We built a real audience. Then Meta changed the algorithm. Then Google did. Then again. Then again. We couldn’t keep up without compromising everything we’d built it for, so we stopped.
Years later I started Be Loud Media coming out of COVID, a creative agency helping small businesses and bands grow, watching the same thing happen to every client I cared about. Great work. Real audiences. Invisible reach. Pay to play or disappear.
We The Loud took about a year to get right. Not the build, but the vision. I wanted something that bridged every passion I have, music, motorcycles, making things, the alternative community I grew up in, into one place that actually works for the people who need it most. The vendors and bands who can’t afford a full ecommerce build. The creators getting throttled into obscurity or nickel & dimed by the big marketplaces. The community that deserves better than a feed designed to sell them something.
I built this. But it was always meant to be yours. Let’s keep the community strong.