Inspiration

Some good news, I’ve been talking to two developers now, just had a meeting with the guys behind an existing large (millions of users) site similar to Tumblr, with a vibrant and open-minded community, and more importantly, it has open-minded owners who believe in free speech. They think we can get something done here to rescue the whole community.

I’m not allowed to reveal the site name yet. One of the reasons is they don’t want a “land grab” where people take the names of current popular Tumblr users over there (cyber squatting). So they are looking at ways for existing Tumblr users to keep the same names on the new site.

More info over the days to come.

The plan is, broadly:

1. By 9 December, announcement of the new site and how to secure your username there

2. By 10 December, an online tool for bloggers to copy their existing content to the new site automatically, with the same tags and captions.

3. Bloggers will need to copy their content across between 10 and 17 December if they want to use the automatic tool.

4. My understanding is that after 17 December there will be no public access to any “flagged” posts on Tumblr, but the original poster will still be able to see the flagged post (for a short time at least). Therefore, the original poster may still be able to manually download a post to their own PC or phone, after 17 December, and manually upload it to the other site. But if you have lots of posts that will take a long time, it will be better to use the automatic tool before 17 December.

Please understand that these dates are approximate and may change for technical or other reasons.

There may be a few rough edges or not so perfect looking site design at first. Everyone is doing their best, the main goal here is to help as many people as possible preserve access to their content, in the short space of time Tumblr has allowed us, and preserve as much as possible of the Tumblr community spirit somewhere new.

The new site will cater for photo, GIF, text and html posts. It will not offer video and audio posts, due to cost reasons - maybe in future, but for now you will need to preserve video and audio content yourself in some other place.

If your Tumblr blog has a mixture of original content and reblogs, or all reblogs, all of that can be copied over to the new site. Reblogs will become “your” original content if nobody else posted them yet, otherwise they will be shown as reblogs. The devs are looking at ways to preserve attribution of reblogs back to the original Tumblr poster, if that person also moves to the new site.

Important: your Likes cannot be copied from Tumblr to the new site. You will have to go find the same posts again on the new site, and like them afresh.

(Similarly, existing reblog comments, asks, messages and other user interaction on Tumblr cannot be copied to the new site - that’s just too much to do, in the short time available.)

If you want to preserve any of your existing Liked posts on Tumblr, you will need to either: (1) download the post to your own PC, or: (2A) reblog it now to your own Tumblr blog, and then (2B) use the automatic tool, before 17 December, to move your whole Tumblr blog across to the new site.

If you have Liked a lot of posts here on Tumblr, the Gridllr.com webapp should be able to help you do steps 1 and 2A quickly, I mean download or reblog.

(Someone complained to me today about the appearance of Gridllr on a phone. It’s best to use Gridllr on a PC, Mac or Tablet with a large screen.)

If you have liked a post here on Tumblr and the original poster decides to delete it, or even to delete their entire blog, some time before 17 December then that post will be permanently lost. So if you want to be sure to preserve any of your Liked posts, you should best download or repost as soon as possible.

A former staff engineer, who recently left Tumblr and asked to remain anonymous for professional reasons, tells Vox that the NSFW ban was “in the works for about six months as an official project,” adding that it was given additional resources and named “Project X” in September, shortly before it was announced to the rest of the company at an all-hands meeting. “[The NSFW ban] was going to happen anyway,” the former engineer told me. “Verizon pushed it out the door after the child pornography thing and made the deadline sooner,” but the real problem was always that Verizon couldn’t sell ads next to porn.

Porn on Tumblr is something Verizon needs to wipe out if it’s going to make any money off what it thinks is actually valuable about the platform — enormous fandom and social justice communities that, just before the Verizon acquisition, Khalaf was insisting the staff figure out how to better monetize.

On that note-

Some good news, I’ve been talking to two developers now, just had a meeting with the guys behind an existing large (millions of users) site similar to Tumblr, with a vibrant and open-minded community, and more importantly, it has open-minded owners who believe in free speech. They think we can get something done here to rescue the whole community.

I’m not allowed to reveal the site name yet. One of the reasons is they don’t want a “land grab” where people take the names of current popular Tumblr users over there (cyber squatting). So they are looking at ways for existing Tumblr users to keep the same names on the new site.

More info over the days to come.

The plan is, broadly:

1. By 9 December, announcement of the new site and how to secure your username there

2. By 10 December, an online tool for bloggers to copy their existing content to the new site automatically, with the same tags and captions.

3. Bloggers will need to copy their content across between 10 and 17 December if they want to use the automatic tool.

4. My understanding is that after 17 December there will be no public access to any “flagged” posts on Tumblr, but the original poster will still be able to see the flagged post (for a short time at least). Therefore, the original poster may still be able to manually download a post to their own PC or phone, after 17 December, and manually upload it to the other site. But if you have lots of posts that will take a long time, it will be better to use the automatic tool before 17 December.

Please understand that these dates are approximate and may change for technical or other reasons.

There may be a few rough edges or not so perfect looking site design at first. Everyone is doing their best, the main goal here is to help as many people as possible preserve access to their content, in the short space of time Tumblr has allowed us, and preserve as much as possible of the Tumblr community spirit somewhere new.

The new site will cater for photo, GIF, text and html posts. It will not offer video and audio posts, due to cost reasons - maybe in future, but for now you will need to preserve video and audio content yourself in some other place.

If your Tumblr blog has a mixture of original content and reblogs, or all reblogs, all of that can be copied over to the new site. Reblogs will become “your” original content if nobody else posted them yet, otherwise they will be shown as reblogs. The devs are looking at ways to preserve attribution of reblogs back to the original Tumblr poster, if that person also moves to the new site.

Important: your Likes cannot be copied from Tumblr to the new site. You will have to go find the same posts again on the new site, and like them afresh.

(Similarly, existing reblog comments, asks, messages and other user interaction on Tumblr cannot be copied to the new site - that’s just too much to do, in the short time available.)

If you want to preserve any of your existing Liked posts on Tumblr, you will need to either: (1) download the post to your own PC, or: (2A) reblog it now to your own Tumblr blog, and then (2B) use the automatic tool, before 17 December, to move your whole Tumblr blog across to the new site.

If you have Liked a lot of posts here on Tumblr, the Gridllr.com webapp should be able to help you do steps 1 and 2A quickly, I mean download or reblog.

(Someone complained to me today about the appearance of Gridllr on a phone. It’s best to use Gridllr on a PC, Mac or Tablet with a large screen.)

If you have liked a post here on Tumblr and the original poster decides to delete it, or even to delete their entire blog, some time before 17 December then that post will be permanently lost. So if you want to be sure to preserve any of your Liked posts, you should best download or repost as soon as possible.

hanks to all of you who were so patient and understanding as we worked on these updates the last few days. If you only just heard about the site during our hiatus, you can now check out our FAQ to learn all about us! (Note, however, that the site is currently getting about 15 times the usual amount of traffic, so you may still have some problems accessing it).

Some good news, I’ve been talking to two developers now, just had a meeting with the guys behind an existing large (millions of users) site similar to Tumblr, with a vibrant and open-minded community, and more importantly, it has open-minded owners who believe in free speech. They think we can get something done here to rescue the whole community.

I’m not allowed to reveal the site name yet. One of the reasons is they don’t want a “land grab” where people take the names of current popular Tumblr users over there (cyber squatting). So they are looking at ways for existing Tumblr users to keep the same names on the new site.

More info over the days to come.

The plan is, broadly:

1. By 9 December, announcement of the new site and how to secure your username there

2. By 10 December, an online tool for bloggers to copy their existing content to the new site automatically, with the same tags and captions.

3. Bloggers will need to copy their content across between 10 and 17 December if they want to use the automatic tool.

4. My understanding is that after 17 December there will be no public access to any “flagged” posts on Tumblr, but the original poster will still be able to see the flagged post (for a short time at least). Therefore, the original poster may still be able to manually download a post to their own PC or phone, after 17 December, and manually upload it to the other site. But if you have lots of posts that will take a long time, it will be better to use the automatic tool before 17 December.

Please understand that these dates are approximate and may change for technical or other reasons.

There may be a few rough edges or not so perfect looking site design at first. Everyone is doing their best, the main goal here is to help as many people as possible preserve access to their content, in the short space of time Tumblr has allowed us, and preserve as much as possible of the Tumblr community spirit somewhere new.

The new site will cater for photo, GIF, text and html posts. It will not offer video and audio posts, due to cost reasons - maybe in future, but for now you will need to preserve video and audio content yourself in some other place.

If your Tumblr blog has a mixture of original content and reblogs, or all reblogs, all of that can be copied over to the new site. Reblogs will become “your” original content if nobody else posted them yet, otherwise they will be shown as reblogs. The devs are looking at ways to preserve attribution of reblogs back to the original Tumblr poster, if that person also moves to the new site.

Important: your Likes cannot be copied from Tumblr to the new site. You will have to go find the same posts again on the new site, and like them afresh.

(Similarly, existing reblog comments, asks, messages and other user interaction on Tumblr cannot be copied to the new site - that’s just too much to do, in the short time available.)

If you want to preserve any of your existing Liked posts on Tumblr, you will need to either: (1) download the post to your own PC, or: (2A) reblog it now to your own Tumblr blog, and then (2B) use the automatic tool, before 17 December, to move your whole Tumblr blog across to the new site.

If you have Liked a lot of posts here on Tumblr, the Gridllr.com webapp should be able to help you do steps 1 and 2A quickly, I mean download or reblog.

(Someone complained to me today about the appearance of Gridllr on a phone. It’s best to use Gridllr on a PC, Mac or Tablet with a large screen.)

If you have liked a post here on Tumblr and the original poster decides to delete it, or even to delete their entire blog, some time before 17 December then that post will be permanently lost. So if you want to be sure to preserve any of your Liked posts, you should best download or repost as soon as possible.

Since its founding in 2007, Tumblr has always been a place for wide open, creative self-expression at the heart of community and culture. To borrow from our founder David Karp, we’re proud to have inspired a generation of artists, writers, creators, curators, and crusaders to redefine our culture and to help empower individuality.

Over the past several months, and inspired by our storied past, we’ve given serious thought to who we want to be to our community moving forward and have been hard at work laying the foundation for a better Tumblr. We’ve realized that in order to continue to fulfill our promise and place in culture, especially as it evolves, we must change. Some of that change began with fostering more constructive dialogue among our community members. Today, we’re taking another step by no longer allowing adult content, including explicit sexual content and nudity (with some exceptions).  

Let’s first be unequivocal about something that should not be confused with today’s policy change: posting anything that is harmful to minors, including child pornography, is abhorrent and has no place in our community. We’ve always had and always will have a zero tolerance policy for this type of content. To this end, we continuously invest in the enforcement of this policy, including industry-standard machine monitoring, a growing team of human moderators, and user tools that make it easy to report abuse. We also closely partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Internet Watch Foundation, two invaluable organizations at the forefront of protecting our children from abuse, and through these partnerships we report violations of this policy to law enforcement authorities. We can never prevent all bad actors from attempting to abuse our platform, but we make it our highest priority to keep the community as safe as possible.

So what is changing?

Posts that contain adult content will no longer be allowed on Tumblr, and we’ve updated our Community Guidelines to reflect this policy change. We recognize Tumblr is also a place to speak freely about topics like art, sex positivity, your relationships, your sexuality, and your personal journey. We want to make sure that we continue to foster this type of diversity of expression in the community, so our new policy strives to strike a balance.

Why are we doing this?

It is our continued, humble aspiration that Tumblr be a safe place for creative expression, self-discovery, and a deep sense of community. As Tumblr continues to grow and evolve, and our understanding of our impact on our world becomes clearer, we have a responsibility to consider that impact across different age groups, demographics, cultures, and mindsets. We spent considerable time weighing the pros and cons of expression in the community that includes adult content. In doing so, it became clear that without this content we have the opportunity to create a place where more people feel comfortable expressing themselves.

Bottom line: 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.

So what’s next?

Starting December 17, 2018, we will begin enforcing this new policy. Community members with content that is no longer permitted on Tumblr will get a heads up from us in advance and steps they can take to appeal or preserve their content outside the community if they so choose. All changes won’t happen overnight as something of this complexity takes time.

Another thing, filtering this type of content versus say, a political protest with nudity or the statue of David, is not simple at scale. We’re relying on automated tools to identify adult content and humans to help train and keep our systems in check. We know there will be mistakes, but we’ve done our best to create and enforce a policy that acknowledges the breadth of expression we see in the community.

Most importantly, we’re going to be as transparent as possible with you about the decisions we’re making and resources available to you, including more detailed information, product enhancements, and more content moderators to interface directly with the community and content.

Like you, we love Tumblr and what it’s come to mean for millions of people around the world. Our actions are out of love and hope for our community. We won’t always get this right, especially in the beginning, but we are determined to make your experience a positive one.

This has been a safe place for both men and female to share what we fine beautiful! Especially for women!

“We are proud to have inspired a generation of writer, creators, curators, and crusaders to redefine our culture and help to empower individuals”

You have just told us we should be ashamed of what we are and what we do! That the sexual empowerment, whether man or women. Straight, or LBGT or simply a kink is wrong!

“Redfine our culture?”Bullshit!

You are now suppressing whole area of culture!

Just as Tumblr has the right to set its own rules, we have a right to exercise a more important duty, for ourselves and those who come after us. A duty to respond not only to Tumblr, but to the country and moreover, the world, from alienating a legal and ethical community. It took an incalculable duration for even a hint of our lifestyle and choices to be recognized in even the most infinitesimal manner, and now we must find a new home due to the forced “values” of Apple, Tumblr, and a few other companies. Naked bodies are not porn. “Female presenting nipples”, is ignorant, and those artists who have displayed their works and performances here are being harmed and even shamed into converting their pages into a watered down, “Safe For Work” facsimile of there original works. A social media company’s worth is calculated largely based on it user accounts, engagement, and most importantly growth, as those are the metric by which it is able to attract and secure advertising profit. When that growth decreases or there is a dramatic reduction in user accounts, the network feels the squeeze through the diminished enthusiasm and investor faith/backing. Thus, forcing the company to find alternate ways to continue offering its services on a reduced budget, which can be difficult and unpleasant.  I am of the opinion that since we are being inconvenienced and effectively kicked out, and shamed out of our longstanding digital platform, it would only be fair in return, to ensure our absence is demonstrated and displayed accurately. We need a display of solidarity, if you will. If our accounts remain open, they will be used to flaunt a false optic, making it seem as if the policy change did not have a large impact, and that it’s base and growth are strong. Let us show them otherwise.

Just as Tumblr has the right to set its own rules, we have a right to exercise a more important duty, for ourselves and those who come after us. A duty to respond not only to Tumblr, but to the country and moreover, the world, from alienating a legal and ethical community. It took an incalculable duration for even a hint of our lifestyle and choices to be recognized in even the most infinitesimal manner, and now we must find a new home due to the forced “values” of Apple, Tumblr, and a few other companies. Naked bodies are not porn. “Female presenting nipples”, is ignorant, and those artists who have displayed their works and performances here are being harmed and even shamed into converting their pages into a watered down, “Safe For Work” facsimile of there original works. A social media company’s worth is calculated largely based on it user accounts, engagement, and most importantly growth, as those are the metric by which it is able to attract and secure advertising profit. When that growth decreases or there is a dramatic reduction in user accounts, the network feels the squeeze through the diminished enthusiasm and investor faith/backing. Thus, forcing the company to find alternate ways to continue offering its services on a reduced budget, which can be difficult and unpleasant.  I am of the opinion that since we are being inconvenienced and effectively kicked out, and shamed out of our longstanding digital platform, it would only be fair in return, to ensure our absence is demonstrated and displayed accurately. We need a display of solidarity, if you will. If our accounts remain open, they will be used to flaunt a false optic, making it seem as if the policy change did not have a large impact, and that it’s base and growth are strong. Let us show them otherwise.

Just as Tumblr has the right to set its own rules, we have a right to exercise a more important duty, for ourselves and those who come after us. A duty to respond not only to Tumblr, but to the country and moreover, the world, from alienating a legal and ethical community. It took an incalculable duration for even a hint of our lifestyle and choices to be recognized in even the most infinitesimal manner, and now we must find a new home due to the forced “values” of Apple, Tumblr, and a few other companies. Naked bodies are not porn. “Female presenting nipples”, is ignorant, and those artists who have displayed their works and performances here are being harmed and even shamed into converting their pages into a watered down, “Safe For Work” facsimile of there original works. A social media company’s worth is calculated largely based on it user accounts, engagement, and most importantly growth, as those are the metric by which it is able to attract and secure advertising profit. When that growth decreases or there is a dramatic reduction in user accounts, the network feels the squeeze through the diminished enthusiasm and investor faith/backing. Thus, forcing the company to find alternate ways to continue offering its services on a reduced budget, which can be difficult and unpleasant.  I am of the opinion that since we are being inconvenienced and effectively kicked out, and shamed out of our longstanding digital platform, it would only be fair in return, to ensure our absence is demonstrated and displayed accurately. We need a display of solidarity, if you will. If our accounts remain open, they will be used to flaunt a false optic, making it seem as if the policy change did not have a large impact, and that it’s base and growth are strong. Let us show them otherwise.

Just as Tumblr has the right to set its own rules, we have a right to exercise a more important duty, for ourselves and those who come after us. A duty to respond not only to Tumblr, but to the country and moreover, the world, from alienating a legal and ethical community. It took an incalculable duration for even a hint of our lifestyle and choices to be recognized in even the most infinitesimal manner, and now we must find a new home due to the forced “values” of Apple, Tumblr, and a few other companies. Naked bodies are not porn. “Female presenting nipples”, is ignorant, and those artists who have displayed their works and performances here are being harmed and even shamed into converting their pages into a watered down, “Safe For Work” facsimile of there original works. A social media company’s worth is calculated largely based on it user accounts, engagement, and most importantly growth, as those are the metric by which it is able to attract and secure advertising profit. When that growth decreases or there is a dramatic reduction in user accounts, the network feels the squeeze through the diminished enthusiasm and investor faith/backing. Thus, forcing the company to find alternate ways to continue offering its services on a reduced budget, which can be difficult and unpleasant.  I am of the opinion that since we are being inconvenienced and effectively kicked out, and shamed out of our longstanding digital platform, it would only be fair in return, to ensure our absence is demonstrated and displayed accurately. We need a display of solidarity, if you will. If our accounts remain open, they will be used to flaunt a false optic, making it seem as if the policy change did not have a large impact, and that it’s base and growth are strong. Let us show them otherwise.

In a world where nearly everything is politicized and contested and argued over, I’m struck by how universal the feedback is to today’s news.

No one supports this ban on all adult content.