The mission of the Louise Brooks Society is to celebrate the actress by stimulating interest in her life, films, writings and legacy. To that end, the LBS maintains a handful of social media accounts. Why not join the conversation? While some of these accounts are more active than others, all are a lot of fun. Plus, you’ll never know what you’ll find. Be sure to like and follow the LBS on one or more of these social media accounts. And by-the-way, Thomas Gladysz and the Louise Brooks Society can also be found on film-related sites such as Nitrateville, Letterboxd, MUBI, Vimeo, and IMDb.
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| LBS @ Reddit | LBS @ BlueSky | LBS @ TikTok | LBS @ Facebook | LBS @ YouTube | LBS @ Mastadon | LBS @ SubStack |
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| LBS @ Tumbler | LBS @ AllMyLinks | LBS @ SoundCloud | LBS @ LinkTree | LBS @ LinkedIn |
Along with the just mentioned movie-related sites, the Louise Brooks Society is also represented on Flickr and LibraryThing. The LBS can be found on AllMyLinks and LinkTree, as well as AboutMe, Bio.Site, Carrd, Campsite and Lnk.bio. These are just some of the bits of internet real estate on which the LBS has planted its flag. Please consider giving us a “like” and or a “follow.”
LBS SOCIAL MEDIA: A HISTORY
The Louise Brooks Society™ website was launched in the summer of 1995. That makes it an internet pioneer. The LBS was the first Louise Brooks website, and one of the earliest sites devoted to silent film or just about any actor or actress — silent or sound. The LBS was also an early adopter of social media, even before the term existed. At various points in the past, the LBS had its own message board, web ring (remember those?), Yahoo Group, MySpace page, Geocities account and Tribe.net page. These “satellite sites” were a means to get the word out. And that it did….
Some of its earliest efforts at reaching fans were through messages on bulletin board systems (BBS), listserv’s and newsgroups (Usenet), as well as on AOL, Prodigy, and The Well, back when these platforms were especially popular. The earliest archived newsgroup post mentioning the Louise Brooks Society, from October 27, 1995, announces the website. Another, a query from the LBS asking about a screening of Pandora’s Box in Poland, dates to January 29, 1996. Another, from December 31, 1996, announces the move of the LBS to its new domain at www.pandorasbox.com, where it has resided since. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the LBS began to regularly post news and announcements to relevant newsgroups, such as alt.movies.silent and rec.arts.movies.past.films and alt.fan.louise-brooks. (Newsgroups, for those not familiar, were a form of proto-social media.) In 2004, the LBS started my own newsgroup, LouiseBrooksSociety. These posts and others are now part of the Google groups / Usenet Archive. Complimentary to these efforts was another LBS group begun on Yahoo, News of Lulu, founded October 1, 2000, though now defunct.
The LBS joined Twitter in January 2009, tweeted thousands of times, and gained more than 5000 followers. Unfortunately, the LBS Twitter account was permanently taken down due to the actions of a lone individual who claimed the LBS infringed upon their intellectual property — as if they owned the very name of “Louise Brooks”. (BTW: the former LBS Twitter account has been archived on archive.org – the March 27, 2018 capture, for example, shows 5,397 posts and 4,774 followers.) Likewise, the LBS Facebook page was begun in 2010. It had also gained thousands of followers and been “liked” thousands of times – and yet, it too was permanently disabled due to the actions of the same individual. who made unwarranted claimed against the LBS. A similar story can be told about the original LBS Instagram account. It began in 2015, and it too had proven popular with more than 5300 followers until it was permanently suspended due to the bullshit claims of that same individual. The LBS relaunched an Instagram account in 2023. And it too managed to quickly gain some 500 followers before being shut down, yet again. After having its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts shut down TWICE, the LBS has largely given up on these platforms, at least for the time being. (Twitter is a shit show, anyways.)
Sadly, I also lost my personal Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts following yet more unwarranted complaints from the same individual. Why? Merely because I stated the indisputable fact that I started the Louise Brooks Society. Other social media accounts and internet platforms belonging to the LBS have also been attacked. Some have been shut-down, like its Etsy shop and CafePress store. The latter was launched in 2002, and were the source of the popular pin-back buttons sometimes sold and/or given away at events. This jerk even filed a complaint against the LBS LinkedIn account, but the good folks at LinkedIN knew better. The columns below list the current LBS social media accounts and profiles. Please take a moment to explore those that might be of interest, and be sure to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, or FOLLOW any and all that you wish. The LBS Flickr page, for example, has pictures from past LBS events and happenings, while the LBS YouTube and Soundcloud pages feature rare video and audio. Unfortunately, those marked with a bold strikethru have been taken down, and all their content lost due to the action of the same individual. Those marked with an * have been “attacked,” but have managed to hang-on after putting up a fight.
Thomas Gladysz
Director, Louise Brooks Society
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I spent decades building up both the Louise Brooks Society website and its social media accounts. And from what fans have told me, I brought a least a little joy to the world. When the LBS lost its Twitter and Facebook accounts, it lost more than a decade of outreach, engagement, correspondence, announcements, promotion, work, and friendship. Both accounts had more than 5000 followers, individuals who wanted to learn more about Louise Brooks through the social media platforms begun by the Louise Brooks Society. Regrettably, these channels have been silenced…. to everyone’s loss. Below are all that remains of the wreckage brought by one individual’s malicious attacks.
In the wake of these attacks, I appreciate those who reached out and expressed their sympathy, dismay, and even anger. On one platform, namely LinkTree, I was barred from even linking to the Louise Brooks Society website, my LBS blog, and even the “In the News” page which listed media about the LBS — all due to the complaints from that same icky individual. Certainly, news sources (like the New York Times or USA Today) are not subject to take down notices — though if someone complains, they can be on LinkTree! That doesn’t seem right to me…. it seems like information suppression. Notice the picture of me above? Believe it or not, I was barred from displaying that picture on CafePress because Louise Brooks is pictured in the background — even though that is MY picture of ME showing MY possessions. It is as if someone is trying to erase the Louise Brooks Society from the internet.
On a happier note, I have met (either online or in person) a lot of great people who are fans of Louise Brooks. A few knew or had even met the actress. This is the society of Louise Brooks. The enthusiasm and generosity of Brooks’ many fans have contributed to the growth of this website. Individuals from around the globe have shared rare material. Others have performed research, translated articles, visited libraries and archives, or sent images and interesting, sometimes revelatory information. The LBS ACKNOWLEDGES their efforts. Thank you for your interest in Louise Brooks and the Louise Brooks Society. To learn more about the LBS, including its history, its accomplishments, its mission statement, and its awards and media recognition, please visit the ABOUT page. The Louise Brooks Society would love to hear from you. Please visit our CONTACT page to send a message. Or, if interested, check out our PRIVACY POLICY.