68 votes

Tumblr will ban all adult content on December 17th

57 comments

  1. [10]
    clerical_terrors
    Link
    I don't think you can just up and take something like that away from your platform unless a big part of the user base asks for it. This seems to be the opposite case, I understand the motivation...

    "If users mourn the loss of adult content on Tumblr, D’Onofrio claims they’ve got many other solutions. “There are no shortage of sites on the internet that feature adult content. We will leave it to them and focus our efforts on creating the most welcoming environment possible for our community"

    I don't think you can just up and take something like that away from your platform unless a big part of the user base asks for it. This seems to be the opposite case, I understand the motivation but there's really no way this is going to be well-received or helpful for the platform is it?

    41 votes
    1. [4]
      spctrvl
      Link Parent
      At this point, I'd be very surprised if porn wasn't the primary use case of tumblr. I think they might have just digg v4'd themselves.

      This seems to be the opposite case, I understand the motivation but there's really no way this is going to be well-received or helpful for the platform is it?

      At this point, I'd be very surprised if porn wasn't the primary use case of tumblr. I think they might have just digg v4'd themselves.

      42 votes
      1. [2]
        Crespyl
        Link Parent
        Dugg themselves a grave, you might say. (It'd be nice if there were a way to tag my own comments as joke or noise...)

        digg v4'd

        Dugg themselves a grave, you might say.

        (It'd be nice if there were a way to tag my own comments as joke or noise...)

        26 votes
        1. teaearlgraycold
          Link Parent
          Seems like a good idea for a PR

          It'd be nice if there were a way to tag my own comments as joke or noise...

          Seems like a good idea for a PR

          3 votes
      2. Amarok
        Link Parent
        That was my reaction as well. Let's see if they are so cavalier about it when they take a 30%+ user hit. :P

        That was my reaction as well. Let's see if they are so cavalier about it when they take a 30%+ user hit. :P

        10 votes
    2. [5]
      Pilgrim
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Not only will it not be well received, it's a colossal blunder in terms of vision and execution. Remember when Omegele had a problem with people showing their dicks on their instant video chat...

      I understand the motivation but there's really no way this is going to be well-received

      Not only will it not be well received, it's a colossal blunder in terms of vision and execution.

      Remember when Omegele had a problem with people showing their dicks on their instant video chat platform? Well instead of banning those people when they were reported they started re-directing them to an ADULT chat platform, made for that purpose.

      That's the real miss here from a business perspective. They have a user base demanding a certain product and they could easily eat their cake and have it to - just move those sites to an "adult tumblr" that's literally the exact same except for some cutesy name change, and then start charging for access, or add in side services, or whatever to help monetize it. Allow uses on regular tumblr to report porn and then tumblr can give those people/pages a choice to move over or leave.

      18 votes
      1. [4]
        clerical_terrors
        Link Parent
        I've been following the fallout on Twitter and Mastodon, where a lot of people are migrating now. Not only are people generally angry about the abrupt decision and the weird disingenuous language,...

        I've been following the fallout on Twitter and Mastodon, where a lot of people are migrating now. Not only are people generally angry about the abrupt decision and the weird disingenuous language, but what does or doesn't get targetted seems beholden to zero logic right now. If I had to guess I'd think they set an AI/Algorithm to the task of filtering all NSFW posts, but it's completely scattershot. Normal posts are getting flagged, posts that are SFW but depict queer characters kissing or hugging are getting flagged, it's farcical. Tumblr is destroying it's reputation and kicking people off the platform who clearly aren't violating the rules.

        16 votes
        1. Pilgrim
          Link Parent
          Well at least their implementation is consistent with their messaging.

          Well at least their implementation is consistent with their messaging.

          9 votes
        2. [3]
          Comment deleted by author
          Link Parent
          1. [2]
            clerical_terrors
            Link Parent
            I mean yeah, why would you try and refine your algorithm if you can just carpet bomb your entire goddamn website and try and salvage the carcass of it later. I'm becoming so allergic to...

            I mean yeah, why would you try and refine your algorithm if you can just carpet bomb your entire goddamn website and try and salvage the carcass of it later.

            I'm becoming so allergic to algorithm-driven corporate policy.

            9 votes
            1. Archimedes
              Link Parent
              You need some pretty strong AI to flag NSFW content very well. It's nearly impossible even for humans to do with much consistency to clearly articulated rules.

              You need some pretty strong AI to flag NSFW content very well. It's nearly impossible even for humans to do with much consistency to clearly articulated rules.

              4 votes
  2. [11]
    spctrvl
    Link
    Well that was sudden, giving just two weeks notice before nuking a substantial portion of their platform. Especially considering there's probably a decent number of people who derive income from...

    Well that was sudden, giving just two weeks notice before nuking a substantial portion of their platform. Especially considering there's probably a decent number of people who derive income from nsfw content shared via tumblr, really seems like a dick move.

    33 votes
    1. [9]
      nacho
      Link Parent
      Tumblr delisted all NSFW searches/indexes a couple weeks ago. This was the next natural step. Ironically enough, I think this could be a huge win for reddit, which according to the commenters on...

      Tumblr delisted all NSFW searches/indexes a couple weeks ago.

      This was the next natural step.

      Ironically enough, I think this could be a huge win for reddit, which according to the commenters on the site were always second place in NSFW niches after tumblr.

      28 votes
      1. [7]
        alyaza
        Link Parent
        honestly, i don't know what i hate more: the idea that this will most likely severely damage tumblr, or the fact that reddit is probably going to benefit immensely from it despite being an order...

        Ironically enough, I think this could be a huge win for reddit, which according to the commenters on the site were always second place in NSFW niches after tumblr.

        honestly, i don't know what i hate more: the idea that this will most likely severely damage tumblr, or the fact that reddit is probably going to benefit immensely from it despite being an order of magnitude worse than tumblr in basically every way.

        33 votes
        1. [2]
          Amarok
          Link Parent
          I'm surprised PornHub hasn't got a replacement Tumblresque service ready to launch. This has been in the wind for a while, and let's face it, Tumblr isn't exactly rocket science. A similar service...

          I'm surprised PornHub hasn't got a replacement Tumblresque service ready to launch. This has been in the wind for a while, and let's face it, Tumblr isn't exactly rocket science. A similar service shouldn't be that difficult to create.

          20 votes
          1. moocow1452
            Link Parent
            Pornhub might just buy up Tumblr. You have an ecosystem for your creators and regulars, a monetization backend should you choose to go make that a thing, and all the goodwill you could ask for...

            Pornhub might just buy up Tumblr. You have an ecosystem for your creators and regulars, a monetization backend should you choose to go make that a thing, and all the goodwill you could ask for among your key demo.

            7 votes
        2. [2]
          Diff
          Link Parent
          I'm holding out for Mastodon to make a giant leap forward. Lots of instances have very lax rules on NSFW.

          I'm holding out for Mastodon to make a giant leap forward. Lots of instances have very lax rules on NSFW.

          8 votes
          1. alyaza
            Link Parent
            i'm optimistic about mastodon but the way forward seems like it's going to going to be pretty shit for people trying to make a living (NSFW or otherwise) off of their talents on the internet until...

            i'm optimistic about mastodon but the way forward seems like it's going to going to be pretty shit for people trying to make a living (NSFW or otherwise) off of their talents on the internet until an alternate media place like mastodon takes off. it was always kinda bad and perilous, but with the increasing consolidation of social media and big websites like tumblr cracking down, it's becoming a lot worse than it used to be.

            9 votes
        3. [2]
          Askme_about_penguins
          Link Parent
          Can you expand on that?

          despite being an order of magnitude worse than tumblr in basically every way.

          Can you expand on that?

          2 votes
          1. spctrvl
            Link Parent
            Not parent poster, but one way is that tumblr's search is as good as reddit's is bad.

            Not parent poster, but one way is that tumblr's search is as good as reddit's is bad.

            5 votes
      2. Nitta
        Link Parent
        In discussion threads on reddit people mentioned that NSFW on reddit is often linked from tumblr. People are going to lose content.

        a huge win for reddit, which according to the commenters on the site were always second place in NSFW niches after tumblr

        In discussion threads on reddit people mentioned that NSFW on reddit is often linked from tumblr. People are going to lose content.

        13 votes
    2. alyaza
      Link Parent
      honestly given the companies that own tumblr, i'm shocked they didn't just unilaterally hand this one down effective immediately and start blowing people up for violations. yahoo is fucking awful...

      Well that was sudden, giving just two weeks notice before nuking a substantial portion of their platform. Especially considering there's probably a decent number of people who derive income from nsfw content shared via tumblr, really seems like a dick move.

      honestly given the companies that own tumblr, i'm shocked they didn't just unilaterally hand this one down effective immediately and start blowing people up for violations. yahoo is fucking awful for just about everything, and verizon even more so. it'd have been perfectly in character for the both of them. i guess at least they have some sense of brand awareness?

      13 votes
  3. [7]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. [6]
      demifiend
      Link Parent
      Most people don't want to put in the sort of effort it takes to read 2,000 words of hardcore BDSM erotica when they're fapping. That's why all of the real perverts hang out on literotica.com.

      What a weird list of exclusions. 2,000 words of hardcore BDSM erotica is, apparently, less objectionable than a tasteful photograph of someone’s breasts.

      Most people don't want to put in the sort of effort it takes to read 2,000 words of hardcore BDSM erotica when they're fapping. That's why all of the real perverts hang out on literotica.com.

      16 votes
      1. [5]
        Silbern
        Link Parent
        I think Nifty.org takes the cake when it comes to being capital of the erotica world. There is an insane amount of content on there, and it appeals to pretty much all tastes if you're willing to...

        I think Nifty.org takes the cake when it comes to being capital of the erotica world. There is an insane amount of content on there, and it appeals to pretty much all tastes if you're willing to search.

        2 votes
        1. demifiend
          Link Parent
          Yeah, they also include material involving underage characters. Not judging, but I'd rather not frequent a site that hosts that sort of material lest I be branded a pedophile by association.

          Yeah, they also include material involving underage characters. Not judging, but I'd rather not frequent a site that hosts that sort of material lest I be branded a pedophile by association.

          1 vote
        2. [3]
          Diff
          Link Parent
          Sadly there aren't any in my particular flavor of kink. Literotica's also lacking. Tumblr had a metric butt ton but odds are all those content creators will be going elsewhere even if they're just...

          Sadly there aren't any in my particular flavor of kink. Literotica's also lacking. Tumblr had a metric butt ton but odds are all those content creators will be going elsewhere even if they're just literature.

          1 vote
          1. [2]
            Archimedes
            Link Parent
            Mind if I ask what you're interested in if neither of those sites has what you like?

            Mind if I ask what you're interested in if neither of those sites has what you like?

            1 vote
            1. Diff
              Link Parent
              Hearts/heartbeats. Lovely and peaceful to fall asleep to, but can be a lot of fun to listen to during other times, too. The only references to "hearts" on either site are basically in one-off...

              Hearts/heartbeats. Lovely and peaceful to fall asleep to, but can be a lot of fun to listen to during other times, too. The only references to "hearts" on either site are basically in one-off phrases/idioms.

              2 votes
  4. [2]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. Amarok
      Link Parent
      We talked a bit about setting up a Tildes mastodon instance. If the trust system works out for us, a Tildes account 'identity' could be extended to other services. Maybe someday when the site's done.

      We talked a bit about setting up a Tildes mastodon instance. If the trust system works out for us, a Tildes account 'identity' could be extended to other services. Maybe someday when the site's done.

      6 votes
  5. Whom
    Link
    I'm not mourning the loss (the "tumblr is the best site for porn" thing never really appeared to be true for me, the format is almost as bad as Reddit for that), but this is a really strange...

    I'm not mourning the loss (the "tumblr is the best site for porn" thing never really appeared to be true for me, the format is almost as bad as Reddit for that), but this is a really strange decision. You'd think porn and such would be a big enough part of the site that they'd at least try to...section it off? Move it to a sister site that functions similarly? Do something not to lose that crowd?

    I get that there are complications with advertisers, Apple, etc...bur still, this seems like a bad choice from the outside.

    16 votes
  6. [2]
    deknalis
    Link
    "Tumblr shut down"- December 18th

    "Tumblr shut down"- December 18th

    31 votes
    1. Eabryt
      Link Parent
      Man, I can remember back in high school I had two tumblrs, one for normal angsty stuff and the other for adult content. Definitely suspect traffic will go down significantly.

      Man, I can remember back in high school I had two tumblrs, one for normal angsty stuff and the other for adult content.

      Definitely suspect traffic will go down significantly.

      11 votes
  7. [11]
    tea_and_cats_please
    Link
    The benevolent dictator model fails its userbase again. Lord Tumblr supplicates to king ad bucks. I don't get why we keep reinventing internet fiefdoms. The only one who's seemed to successfully...

    The benevolent dictator model fails its userbase again. Lord Tumblr supplicates to king ad bucks.

    I don't get why we keep reinventing internet fiefdoms. The only one who's seemed to successfully avoid that model is Jimmy Wales and Wikipedia. The amount of money they've passed up in refusing to insert even the most unobtrusive of ads has to be staggering at this point. And the userbase self-governs amazingly well, there's never been any huge scandals that I can recall.

    I wonder if a similar model would work for porn, or if it would just get plagued by pedo shit. It's not the most respectable thing to stick your neck out trying to get to work, and it wouldn't be easy. And the hosting would be vastly more expensive if it was mostly video content. Maybe Wikipedia is a one-off.

    13 votes
    1. [8]
      Deimos
      Link Parent
      Who are you considering the benevolent dictator for Tumblr? It's owned by Yahoo/Verizon, so even if there's someone at the top of Tumblr that's benevolent, they're not really the one in charge....

      Who are you considering the benevolent dictator for Tumblr? It's owned by Yahoo/Verizon, so even if there's someone at the top of Tumblr that's benevolent, they're not really the one in charge.

      It's Wikipedia's non-profit status (and the corresponding lack of corporate ownership) that's made them able to stay user-focused. I think that's the only way it's truly possible, that's why Tildes is set up as a non-profit as well.

      15 votes
      1. [7]
        tea_and_cats_please
        Link Parent
        I'm not sure if my "Lord Tumblr" is a corporate entity or a board of management types, I just meant the "top down" structure where rules come from above, as opposed to the rules being made by a...

        I'm not sure if my "Lord Tumblr" is a corporate entity or a board of management types, I just meant the "top down" structure where rules come from above, as opposed to the rules being made by a consensus of the users.

        I have hope for Tildes, the similarity to Wikipedia is now dawning on me. I was distracted by the similarity to reddit. Remember the explosion of mesh? Mesh everything, there was even a mesh social network that I had some hope for awhile ago... I don't remember the name off the top of my head. Then it was blockchain everything for awhile, ugh. Blockchain really brought out the worst in some people, I'm not sure why.

        Non-profit seems to have more sticking power than those two, fingers crossed!

        2 votes
        1. [3]
          Algernon_Asimov
          Link Parent
          Yeah... I wondered if you had realised that Tildes is, and probably will be for the foreseeable future, run under a "benevolent dictator model" (and I think it's no coincidence you got a reply...

          I have hope for Tildes

          Yeah... I wondered if you had realised that Tildes is, and probably will be for the foreseeable future, run under a "benevolent dictator model" (and I think it's no coincidence you got a reply from our very own Dear Leader).

          5 votes
          1. [2]
            tea_and_cats_please
            Link Parent
            Hah, yeah. But Wikipedia has Jimmy, having a person in charge doesn't mean it's a dictatorship. This place is still small enough to just @ at Deimos and get an answer. If it grows to the point...

            Hah, yeah. But Wikipedia has Jimmy, having a person in charge doesn't mean it's a dictatorship.

            This place is still small enough to just @ at Deimos and get an answer. If it grows to the point where he won't be able to answer all the @s, we'll see how this cookie crumbles.

            2 votes
            1. Algernon_Asimov
              Link Parent
              In this case, it does. What Deimos says on Tildes, goes - and absolutely noone can gainsay him or override him. If that's not a dictatorship, I don't know what is. Even in the future, when this...

              having a person in charge doesn't mean it's a dictatorship.

              In this case, it does. What Deimos says on Tildes, goes - and absolutely noone can gainsay him or override him. If that's not a dictatorship, I don't know what is.

              Even in the future, when this site grows too large for Deimos to manage singlehandedly, he will still be the guy at the top of the pyramid. All the first moderators here will have been hand-picked by him (just like the current title-editors, tag-changers, and post-movers have been hand-picked by him), and he will still have the ultimate power to override them or even remove them.

              Just because a dictatorship is benevolent and things are working fine, that doesn't stop it being a dictatorship.

              3 votes
        2. [3]
          JuniperMonkeys
          Link Parent
          Diaspora could be what you're thinking of?

          Mesh everything, there was even a mesh social network that I had some hope for awhile ago... I don't remember the name off the top of my head.

          Diaspora could be what you're thinking of?

          3 votes
          1. Diff
            Link Parent
            I haven't done an exhaustive search but I haven't been able to find any pods that allow NSFW. All the wizards and lists only present metrics/numbers type stuff, none of the squishier stuff like...

            I haven't done an exhaustive search but I haven't been able to find any pods that allow NSFW. All the wizards and lists only present metrics/numbers type stuff, none of the squishier stuff like content focuses or purposes or anything.

            1 vote
    2. [2]
      alyaza
      Link Parent
      i seem to recall wikipedia having some truly awful bureaucracy to make up for that, though, alongside people treating certain parts of it as their own fiefdoms, so i'm somewhat hesitant to say...

      I don't get why we keep reinventing internet fiefdoms. The only one who's seemed to successfully avoid that model is Jimmy Wales and Wikipedia. The amount of money they've passed up in refusing to insert even the most unobtrusive of ads has to be staggering at this point. And the userbase self-governs amazingly well, there's never been any huge scandals that I can recall.

      i seem to recall wikipedia having some truly awful bureaucracy to make up for that, though, alongside people treating certain parts of it as their own fiefdoms, so i'm somewhat hesitant to say even they've avoided that problem.

      7 votes
      1. tea_and_cats_please
        Link Parent
        Sure, they didn't avoid every problem, and they have different problems instead. I'll take bureaucratic democracy over serfdom any day, personally. The "wisdom of crowds" is pretty consistently...

        Sure, they didn't avoid every problem, and they have different problems instead.

        I'll take bureaucratic democracy over serfdom any day, personally. The "wisdom of crowds" is pretty consistently shown to have more accurate results than the guess of an informed expert. Propaganda is showing itself to be a pretty efficient monkey wrench to throw in that machinery, of course.

        4 votes
  8. eve
    Link
    I seem to be in the minority in that I DON'T use tumblr for primarily porn. Occasionally? Yes, but the only reason I made a tumblr was to follow artists who weren't very active on deviantArt. It's...

    I seem to be in the minority in that I DON'T use tumblr for primarily porn. Occasionally? Yes, but the only reason I made a tumblr was to follow artists who weren't very active on deviantArt. It's incredibly unfortunate for the art community that they have these shit guidelines, in part because their bot is absolute garbage and flagging A LOT of content that DOES follow the guidelines. I've even had some of my art flagged and all that was showing was some back and side boob, but absolutely nothing sexually promiscuous. The fact that they say female-presenting nipples is another death knoll for them, seeing as how there's been push back within communities online to get over nipples. Everybody's got em, what's the harm? According to tumblr, something.

    I'm just incredibly disappointed in the flaming trash heap and burning wreckage of what once was an okay website to use, in particular for artists. It just sucks that so MANY social media platforms make decisions that directly harm the online art community (non-linear feeds, ammirite?). I knew tumblr would be going the way of the dinosaur but I didn't think it'd be so soon. And I know that not EVERYONE is going to leave tumblr, but a lot of artists I know and follow will and that's a shame. For better or worse, tumblr was one of the more central locations for a lot of the artists I follow. Oh well I guess.

    11 votes
  9. [7]
    demifiend
    Link
    Does Tumblr have any purpose besides porn?

    Does Tumblr have any purpose besides porn?

    8 votes
    1. [7]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [6]
        demifiend
        Link Parent
        The same can be said of Google+, but that place is playing on No Future mode, too. It could happen here if @deimos pulls the plug. That's what we get for being digital sharecroppers and depending...

        It has millions of users and I’ve made dozens of friends over six years of using it.

        The same can be said of Google+, but that place is playing on No Future mode, too. It could happen here if @deimos pulls the plug. That's what we get for being digital sharecroppers and depending on platforms instead of using the web itself as our social network.

        16 votes
        1. [5]
          Silbern
          Link Parent
          I still remember Club Penguin. RIP. Someday I dream of a decentralized social network making it mainstream, allowing users to communicate and share information without relying on any sort of...

          I still remember Club Penguin. RIP.

          Someday I dream of a decentralized social network making it mainstream, allowing users to communicate and share information without relying on any sort of central authority. The kind that, unfortunately, only exists today in cheesy hacking movies or idealistic predictions of the future from 1980 or earlier.

          7 votes
          1. [4]
            Akir
            Link Parent
            I feel that Mastodon is incredibly close to this. While it's true that right now it's mostly filled with fringe groups, the federation is helping to cross the gaps across them. There aren't that...

            I feel that Mastodon is incredibly close to this. While it's true that right now it's mostly filled with fringe groups, the federation is helping to cross the gaps across them. There aren't that many laypeople yet, but I am sure they will come soon.

            5 votes
            1. demifiend
              Link Parent
              And when the normies show up, the people who matter will start using Pleroma instead. I've got news for you: the Fediverse doesn't need ordinary people. We're doing just fine by ourselves, being...

              And when the normies show up, the people who matter will start using Pleroma instead.

              I've got news for you: the Fediverse doesn't need ordinary people. We're doing just fine by ourselves, being gay and doing crime, while normies suffer with Birdsite, Failbook, and Fumblr.

              8 votes
            2. [2]
              Askme_about_penguins
              Link Parent
              Tried to check Mastodon out but it's a lot less noob-friendly than Reddit or Tildes.

              Tried to check Mastodon out but it's a lot less noob-friendly than Reddit or Tildes.

              3 votes
              1. Akir
                Link Parent
                There is not too much to it, really. It's almost exactly like Twitter except for a few small differences. Much like Twitter, you have to be following some good people in order to get content you...

                There is not too much to it, really. It's almost exactly like Twitter except for a few small differences. Much like Twitter, you have to be following some good people in order to get content you want to see. The best way to do that IMHO is to join an instance centered around your interests. For me, that was SDF's instance.

                2 votes
  10. [2]
    jkirchartz
    Link
    Perfect time to share this article: YAHOO DIDN’T KILL TUMBLR BUT VERIZON SURELY WILL: The soft touch of Yahoo versus the suspected iron fist of Verizon.
    7 votes
    1. clerical_terrors
      Link Parent
      Seems like this article was completely right on the money. What a shame.

      Seems like this article was completely right on the money. What a shame.

      1 vote
  11. [3]
    Jedi
    Link
    I'm good with this, when I'm incognito on some content and I click a tumblr link, it tries to make me log in to disable "Safe Mode". I wouldn't go incognito if I wanted that linked to an account....

    I'm good with this, when I'm incognito on some content and I click a tumblr link, it tries to make me log in to disable "Safe Mode". I wouldn't go incognito if I wanted that linked to an account. With it going away, hopefully people will migrate to a platform that doesn't require an account to view it.

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      clerical_terrors
      Link Parent
      To what platform though

      To what platform though

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. clerical_terrors
          Link Parent
          Twitter rules are somewhat more lax but I honestly don't think it's a good transition from one site to the other. Tumblr was blogging with a good dash of personalisation and discoverability,...

          Twitter rules are somewhat more lax but I honestly don't think it's a good transition from one site to the other. Tumblr was blogging with a good dash of personalisation and discoverability, Twitter is not.

          Mastodon may be a better model but it still has kinks to iron out and usability in general just isn't quite where you'd hope it to be.

          2 votes
  12. Octofox
    Link
    Never used tumblr myself but I never heard of anyone using it as anything other than a porn website.

    Never used tumblr myself but I never heard of anyone using it as anything other than a porn website.

    5 votes
  13. unknown user
    Link
    Time to make Tildes, but for porn. I wonder if a not-for-profit porn site is even possible.

    Time to make Tildes, but for porn. I wonder if a not-for-profit porn site is even possible.

    2 votes