17th July, Karachi. Pakistan’s leading and largest “male only” community Soul Brothers Pakistan has bagged yet again the Facebook Community of the Year 2021. The Pakistan Digital Awards recognize the very best in digital platforms and talents across the country, as well as rewarding website, apps and bloggers to reflect the online world that public, private and third sector organizations now inhibit, trade and communication.
On this occasion, Nabil and Midhat in a heartfelt message dedicated this award to all the parents of all soul brothers who gave us this hope to contribute so much for this community. Undoubtedly the brilliance originates from the diligent and untiring members who have always stood up with their unrelentless support in big numbers.
Last 15 months have been challenging for everyone during pandemic, it has taken a psychological and emotional toll in countless lives. While we continue to struggle getting back to normality with erratic conditions around us, people have started reaching out each other in huge numbers via social and digital channels to interact, offer help and support to anyone in need regardless race, ethnicity or background. Soul Brothers Pakistan is no stranger to this, it is known to have provided a platform where support comes in various forms i.e. Jobs, blood and fund donations, business and entrepreneurial support, mentorship and counseling, talent recognition and even emergency situations.
The community always stood up and uplifted the spirits of the members in need. In 2016, group co-founders Danish Javed and Nauman Khan realized that there exist no such platform which brings all walks of life under one umbrella where support is augmented through crowdsourcing. Soon after the beta testing and personal accounts of members who benefited from this platform, the group kicked off and sent positive vibes across hundred and thousands of netizens.
The best part there is no cost! No personal interest or promoting any agendas! The community relies on information passed on by members who have experience in their domain and since they understand the concept of this community, they offer unconditional support to everyone in this group.
But by no means this road to success was easy, it came at the cost of losing the Facebook community twice once on 17-Jan-2021 (127,000 members lost) and again on 11-June-2021 (165,000 members lost). Within a short span of 5 months, the group was flagged and taken down by Facebook upon violation of community guidelines. Anonymous source tied to Facebook informed that a structured and well maneuvered mass reporting by certain group/members cannot be ruled out. Unfortunate how it may seem, team SBP feels there is a strong cause of resentment in light of the recent changes in Facebook Community standards.
However, policies cannot break the strong bond of this community and for the third time the community has stood up with smashing previous member joining requests. Adapting to everchanging Facebook community policing is a challenge which the admin team is proactively dealing, the members are also asked to explore and be part of SBP alternative communication channels such as:
#SBPBroClub Facebook (Business Promotion):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/sbpbroclub/
SBP Telegram Group (General Queries and all other Emergencies):
SBP Telegram CryptoClub (Crypto Discussion):
The pillars which bond this support and sustainability is energy, balance and brotherhood which has prevailed strongly in the last 5 years. The second homecoming of this award is the recognition of our efforts at a national level but a strong SBP presence which is building in countries like UAE, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia and UK.
