Tired of Being Censored? This New App is a Game-Changer

I doubt there has been a shooting-related business in the UK that hasn't suffered from Meta's overbearing algorithm. The company I work for had its Facebook page taken down in 2024 and the Instagram page is repeatedly restricted if we use the word "gun" in a post. Given that we are selling guns we have had to get creative to avoid the attention of the digital censor.

It seems Facebook has no problem promoting the latest Hollywood big budget blockbuster with a predictably high (blank) ammunition expenditure, but if you build a best quality gun and want to share your work with the public, you risk getting your account cancelled.

This was exactly the problem Ian Sweetman and his fiancé Rachel Draper encountered but instead of complaining they did something about it and created the Stile App. 

Ian, trading as I.S Sweetman Gun & Rifle Makers, is one of the best gunmakers in the world. Clients from all over the globe send him some of the most expensive guns ever made for service and repair.

He is one of the few people who has the requisite experience to work on the more obscure patents and mechanisms historically employed by some of the most famous names in gunmaking and is justifiably proud of his work. He was also getting irritated by the reach of his accounts being limited by an algorithm that cannot differentiate between a Best sidelock and gratuitous violence.

"Why beg for a seat when you can make your own table" Ian says. What they have created is a combination of the best bits from the most popular social media sites before they were riddled with sponsored posts that try to sell you anything your private search history indicates you might want. Stile is more interactive than instagram and less combative than Facebook.

It is genuinely sociable media. Everything can be tailored down to your local area with a radius filter. If you want to find a gundog training group within 20 miles of your home, you can. Part of living and working in the countryside is dealing with the physical distances between like-minded folk and the problem of isolation that these distances can bring. Stile can help combat that isolation. Private messaging services are already there and group messaging will soon follow.

At present the app is focussed on the Fieldsports sector primarily as that is where Ian and Rachel work, but other parts of country living will be added in time as the platform grows. They wanted to get away from the impersonal vastness of Meta's current offerings and genuinely to address the problem of country people being misunderstood and attracting outrage whenever they post. But it wasn't easy to get started. 

"Most businesses begin when you have experience of the business itself" explains Ian "we entered looking to solve a problem but knowing nothing about app development". Rachel continues "We came up with the vision and the developers polished what we had".  And together they've done it in less than a year.  

An app has to do one of two things - it either has to be so entertaining you can't put it down, or it has to solve a problem.  Although the first part of that we know can be damaging, what Ian and Rachel were looking to do was foster real life connections rather than regiments of digital 'friends' there purely for influencers to make their reach look as large as possible. 

"We are offering an alternative, we are not trying to change the world" Rachel says. They recognise that there is value in continuing to spread the word about the benefits and enjoyment to be had from Fieldsports to those who are not from this background, and they are not looking to replace Instagram. What they are looking to do is provide a space where those who are from this sector can have the free exchange of ideas and images without the fear of censorship. But there will be safeguards in place to prevent it descending into chaos.

What Ian and Rachel want is for users to be able to dictate what they want to see. "There are differences of opinion between what some find acceptable and what others find disrespectful to the quarry they are hunting for example, and users will be able to tailor their content" says Ian.

As small business owners themselves Rachel and Ian are cogniscent of the needs of those who may not have a marketing team behind them. 'How to' videos will be available soon providing guidance on the creation of high-quality content to improve interaction.  The ability to target those posts more accurately to people who will be interested, even if they are only potential customers, will make the time spent on brand awareness far more worthwhile.

As the app grows and attracts more users, the feedback they provide will enhance the user's experience. For now it is just a relief to have somewhere we can go to talk about guns and hunting without feeling like we have to defend every word and every image.

You can find Stile on the Apple App Store here, with the Android version out now too with the Google Play link here. For more about Stile, do check out their Instagram, @stilecountryapp or their website here.