Why the Furor Over This Photo? Lift Off?

When this photo started circulating at light speed though Minds, the community simply saw founder and CEO Bill Ottman with a radiantly lovely woman with caring, straightforward, intelligent eyes. She was holding the very awake baby of a friend. We knew the woman's name but didn't speak it; that was up to them.That doesn't explain the rapid spread of this photo. Sure, it's a beautiful shot. Minds though is awash in good photography. 

Sure, we wish all Ottmans well, because protecting our liberty has become their family business. CTO and co-founder Mark Harding heads the code team. Minds though was Bill Ottman's idea; and users call him "Bill" rather than "Ottman" to distinguish him from his brother, Minds CTO Jack Ottman, and their father, Minds co-founder John Ottman. Last week, when John announced that Jack was engaged, users flooded Jack with congratulations.

That still doesn't explain the reaction to this photo. 

There's a third factor pushing this pic around at dizzying speed. 

People speaking freely on Minds rattle the tyrannies that characterize the early 21st century. As Minds CEO and spokesman, Bill faces everything from Facebook's defense of its empire to the totalitarian government with a stranglehold on Vietnam. Though Bill was perhaps not expecting 100,000 Vietnamese to arrive on Minds in one weekend, he has in a larger sense been expecting this and is obviously in his element. To a shocking degree, however, our liberty online depends on Bill Ottman's agility and staying power.... 

....and look! he's calm, exuberant, balanced, thriving! That's what many see in the photo: No worries. Bill's not alone and he's got this. While there will always be those who shriek "doom" and prophesy a thunderstorm of aardvarks, the strong consensus on Minds is that the Ottmans and Mark Harding have done it. Minds is at lift off. The photo was unintended reassurance. Clutched.