About Blackbox Republic
What is BBR?
Blackbox Republic is a private, members-only place for people of all orientations and relationship combinations to meet and share their personal lives.
Who is BBR for?
Singles, couples or multiples who are open to people of all orientations, views on relationships, and lifestyles.
Privacy
Yikes! I can see my first and last name when I view my persona! Can everyone else?
Absolutely not! Only you and the people you choose to friend can see your real name on your persona. Everyone else just sees your username.
Is my information secure/kept private?
Yes. Passwords are encrypted, and members are vouched by other members. You can further protect your privacy on the site by choosing which members have access to your activity when you limit your posts to friends, members, or the public stream.
How does my activity cloud work? Where do the words come from?
The words in your activity cloud come from your most frequently used words in the activity stream. Words have to be used at least a few times before they show up, and if they're used *really* frequently, they drop out.
Are words from my private messages included in the activity cloud?
No way! Private messages are just that: private.
Can I keep my slider settings confidential?
You sure can! You can update any of your slider settings anytime – things change! If you feel like keeping your sliders to yourself, just click the “private” checkbox right below them before saving.
What if I don’t want to be followed?
Followers will only see activity that’s made available to all members. Anyone can follow you; it’s like an RSS feed of public activity. However, your friends-only activity won’t be available to followers unless you choose to friend them.
Does the personal information I enter at registration show up in my persona?
No! Your date of birth is used to calculate your age but is not shared. Your email address is used for us to communicate with you but is never shared on the site.
Does my persona information appear in search engine results?
No way! All of your Blackbox Republic activity is contained within a secure system that isn't visible to search engines.
Vouching
What is vouching?
A vouched member is someone who's been deemed trustworthy by at least one member of the BBR community.
But what does it actually do?
Before you're vouched, site functionality is fairly minimal. You can view the public stream, see a limited view of personas, and explore members. When you explore, you'll be able to see only those members who haven't chosen to be invisible to unvouched members, and you won't be able to see their full personas.
How do I get vouched?
You might already have friends on BBR. If so, they'll be ready to vouch you because they already know you're awesome. But if you come in totally new, join the conversation and get to know people! Just get busy using the site and meeting people. BBR staff members also pay attention to the activity stream; if you've got a fully fleshed-out persona and you've jumped right in and become active, it won't take us long to realize you're the real deal and help you get connected.
How do I vouch someone?
Easy peasy! Click the little bottlecap at the top of the persona of the member you'd like to vouch, or click 'vouch' when you roll over their avatar and the mini-persona pops up. To make your vouch more meaningful, you can add text explaining why you've chosen to vouch for them.
Friends and Followers
What happens when I friend someone?
Friending is personal on Blackbox Republic. When you friend someone, not only are you giving them access to your most personal level of activity on the site, but you’re sharing your real first and last name. Friend with care. If you just want to connect with someone and keep abreast of their activity in your stream, follow them instead. Save friending for real friends who you trust or, at minimum, people you’re ready to share personal information with who’ve been vouched by real friends you trust.
How do I add a friend to my friends list?
Visit their persona page and click ‘friend’ at the top of the page, or click ‘friend’ on their minipersona when you roll over their avatar anywhere on the site.
How do I follow someone?
Visit their persona page and click ‘follow at the top of the page, or click ‘follow on their minipersona when you roll over their avatar anywhere on the site.
What happens when I follow someone?
Their activity will appear in your ‘friends and followers’ activity stream. They’ll be part of your everyday world on BBR.
What’s the difference between a friend and a follower?
A follower is someone who sees your activity in their stream, but doesn’t have access to your friends-only activity or your real name. A friend is a trusted person to whom you’ve granted intimate access to your friends-only activity, photos and video. Friend with care.
What does it mean to wish someone?
A wish is an expression of desire. When you wish a member, you’re telling them you’d like to get to know them better, perhaps see them at events -- you generally wish to be closer to them. You can see a member’s wish status in their avatar. A white wishbone means that you’ve wished them, a grey wishbone means they’ve wished you, and a blue wishbone is a mutual wish.
Someone’s bothering me, or I just don’t want to hear from them. Is there a way to block a member?
Yes indeed! Click “Donkey Kick” at the top of their persona page. This will remove them from your friends list (if you were already friends) and block them from sending you private messages. They will be able to see any public activity in your feed, but nothing that is restricted to friends.
Relationships
How do I connect with my partner(s)?
First, friend them! You must be friends before you can create an additional relationship. Now, click "Edit Relationships" beneath your sliders in your persona tab, then click "Add Relationship." Choose your partner from the userpicker, then enter the term that best describes your relationship. There are no pulldowns, no checkboxes, no limits. I'm "blank" with "blank". It's up to you.
Can I be linked to more than one partner?
Yes! You can list relationships with as many partners as you choose. Relationships are flexible in Blackbox Republic; you are “blank” with “blank.” I’m in love with Mary, snuggling with John, buying a puppy with Sam.
Does the relationship I listed show up on my partner's persona page?
Nope. You control your own persona page. Each of you can reflect your relationships in the way that makes sense to you.
How do I remove a relationship?
Click "Edit relationships" beneath your sliders in your persona tab, then click "Remove Relationship" next to the relationship. Best of luck!
Billing
How does the billing cycle work?
Access charges are billed monthly based on the date you sign up. Once you pay for your month, your access is immediately granted and your account will be open for a month. If you take no action, your account will be re-billed for another month on the same day of the following month (at the same level of membership). You don't have to do anything for the re-bill to go through. It will use the same card information you used on signup.
How do I upgrade my account from limited to unlimited?
Contact Blackbox Republic Support to upgrade. Your new billing cycle will start on the day of your credit card payment is processed, and the previous $5 membership will be applied to your first month.
For "multiples" relationship, how does the billing work? Can I split it up?
Group memberships are purchased as a single unit that includes up to three members. Just like your relationship, it’s up to you how you manage the payment between you.
How do I cancel my account?
We're awfully sorry to see you go. Just send an email to angels@blackboxrepublic.com and we'll take care of it for you. No problem at all!
Photos
How do I change my avatar pic?
Click ‘update pic’ on your pretty face in your persona pic. Choose a photo to upload from your hard drive. You’ll be prompted to crop and position it two times, once for use as your avatar and once as your persona pic.
How do I upload pictures to my photo album?
In your persona tab, click the ‘pictures’ tab, then click ‘upload’ in the lower righthand corner. You can either create an album or upload a just a single photo.
How do I delete pictures from my photo album?
Click “Posted to… “ beneath your photo, and you’ll see a delete checkbox immediately beneath the privacy options. Delete away!
Who sees my pictures?
When you upload your photo, you can choose to publish it privately (only you can see it), to friends, to all BBR members, or the world. When you choose to publish a photo to the world, it means you’re releasing it beyond the BBR community. It will appear on the BBR homepage, appear in Google search results, Use “the world” carefully – it’s public!
Registration
How do I register as a couple?
Choose unlimited membership ($25). Unlimited membership permits up to 2 members under a single membership. Set up two separate personas, no matter how much you share a brain. While some sites have couples share a profile, they get a lot of complaints from folks looking to meet couples that they feel like they really only get to know half the couple before they meet them -- the half behind the keyboard. On BBR, you get to show both your individuality and your togetherness.
At the last step of registration, just before you're prompted for payment info, you'll be asked for your partner's email address. Be sure to enter it or your sweetie won't get a chance to sign up! (But don't worry, if you miss it, just drop us an email at angels@blackboxrepublic.com and we'll give you a hand!)
How do I register as a group?
Choose group membership ($49). Group membership permits up to three members under a single membership.
