Letter from our CEO: It’s Time to Unite

This has been an intense weekend. 

In just 72 hours, big tech rushed to redefine banning (also known as deplatforming), and we all were forced to sort through what free speech really meant.

I don’t have all of the answers. I can’t speak to the conversations Twitter and Facebook are having behind closed doors. Short of having probably read more of big tech’s terms of service agreements than you, I’m no better informed right now and I’m doing my best to keep up with it all, too. 

Tons of people have reached out to me. Messages ranged from gratitude for our platform, which I’ve been told is an oasis among the social cesspool desert, to concern about the future of a platform that embraces the outdoorsman and woman’s lifestyle. 

The first reason I write to you is to assure you that our team is watching and planning to ensure GoWild™’s health as a platform. We’ve been digesting and discussing all weekend. We founded GoWild in 2016 and predicted days like this back then. We built a company on the premise that one day, mainstream platforms would stop allowing the hunting and fishing industries to advertise—which has been happening for years. We predicted that the content would one day not be welcome, which is evident by groups of thousands of sportsmen being deleted without explanation. 

I am not here to stoke political fires. The second reason I am writing this is to ask you to help us come together around what we love, the outdoors. The outdoors has the power to heal. It has the ability to dissolve our political differences, if only for the day. The outdoors is for everyone.

With what else can you say that? 

I hope America can find its way again. We have to believe it will. However, I also believe we need to be realistic with the precedent being set over the weekend. And we need to ask ourselves how much we are contributing to these tech giants who long before this weekend made it clear they didn’t support hunting, fishing or firearms (did you know you can’t even advertise a fishing knife on Facebook?). 

In fact, for every 1000 views of your social content, Facebook makes $7. With a few hundred friends, that doesn’t take long. You don’t have to buy ads or even post—by simply scrolling, you’re driving revenue for these companies, which totals in the billions. 

We make money from ads too, and from your purchases on our e-commerce experience, Gearbox. But we donate a portion of our profits to raise future hunters and anglers by donating to Raise ‘Em Outdoors, a camp for kids.

I have an ask that sounds biased, and I guess it is. But I promise it’s more than that. I’m asking you to help GoWild grow, not just because this is my company and I want to succeed. I’m asking because GoWild is the best social platform the outdoors has seen to date. GearJunkie just said it’s the best social platform of the year. Fox Business recently hailed us as a place of hope for newbies. 

But that’s not enough. 

We have to grow or we’ll be yet another footnote falling victim to big tech, and worst of all, the best place to virtually learn new outdoor skills will go away. Should one day hunting and fishing be deplatformed, where would you go? Now is the time to build that stronghold community that is ours, not when it’s too late. 

I hope you’ll come together with us and share this platform we all love. This is our time. We have brought hundreds of thousands of people together in a community that’s positive and pure. GoWild has a good soul, and that spirit is not fueled by me or some algorithm calculating how to best addict you to the product. It’s fueled by you, our community. 

I have never done this, but I feel compelled to ask you, now more than ever, to step up and share this platform with your friends and family, with your coworkers, your church members, your neighbors, and whoever else could use this message: 

We need to heal. We need to get back to our roots. We need more time outdoors to give us time to think about what really matters. 

We need to get back to what our country was founded on. And it all started with some hunters and anglers who saw a lot of potential in these United States. 

Thank you. And please remember, we are stronger together, 

Brad Luttrell
Cofounder, CEO

To learn how to easily share GoWild, visit this link (you can even get some free stickers for your effort!): https://hints.timetogowild.com/rewards

GoWild is a free social media community that helps outdoor enthusiasts learn new skills, find better gear and share their story. Join today to see why hundreds of thousands of people have already joined GoWild.