Given that I followed the development of the whole thing, it is really twisted under which rules both networks ban accounts. Reddit is known to be very restrictive, but I'm quite surprised by Telegram, which is known as a hotbed of spam.
Telegram recently updated its rules, and it looks like they have started freezing accounts more actively. I think I understand why our Telegram account got blocked. We received dozens of offers from scam channels wanting to advertise us (of course not for free). We declined all of them, but it seems one of them might have used their bots to mass-report our account (that's just a theory though).
We have already submitted an appeal to unfreeze the account and will wait around 2-3 days for a response. If there's no update, we will create a new account and start from scratch.
The same goes for Reddit: we have already sent an unban appeal for the shadowban. If that gets lifted, there's a high chance the subreddit will be restored as well. Everything depends on that restriction being removed.
I am also one of those who do not like social networks, but they are a reality. For any interaction service <=> user, it can be said that they are mandatory.
Reddit is very demanding, but when it succeeds, it provides the most concrete feedback. When you're running an online business, Reddit (and Pinterest) are the best channels for spreading the word. Like G00gle, they are a necessary evil if a business wants to emerge from the unknown.
Totally agree. Before announcing the project, we ran marketing research and carefully planned each step, except the ban issues, obviously. Now, the only way forward is to adapt to the situation and keep moving.
Here is the initial rollout plan:
1/ Announcement on Bitcointalk
2/ Announcement on Reddit
3/ Twitter and Telegram promotion
4/ YouTube videos and AMA sessions
The first step went really well, thanks to everyone who supported it. It confirmed that the project actually sparks real interest.
Anyway, no time to waste and while waiting for appeal results, we are already preparing backup plans for both Telegram and Reddit.
I think the obstacle here is that the Bridgoro team wants to remain anonymous as much as possible. Well, Reddit and Tg don't collect enough information about them (I assume they use VPN, non-g00gle email address etc...), that's reason enough to put them under suspicion.
I guess that even if we were to do everything through an agency, there is a risk that one day, after the agency's engagement is terminated, everything will come to the same and the ban risk will become high again.
Initially, our goal was to stay as anonymous as possible. However, we still use registered Google accounts for media, official domain-based emails, and a custom proxy server instead of public VPNs. We might reconsider this approach later.
In any case, the project itself is clean, we are simply providing a platform, and users are responsible for their own actions.