Tumblr pushed out this announcement a few days ago as the tidal wave of "mature" content flagging hit everyone's dashboard and posts.
This passage here is really indigestible and not sitting well with me:
"Why Weβre Doing This These updates help make Tumblr safer and more consistent for everyone. They will help protect users, especially younger audiences or anyone else who prefers not to see this content."
Umm... Why are you putting the burden on the majority of users when those primarily affected already have tools and recourse to enjoy a "safe" browsing experience?
Younger audiences...shouldn't be here engaging in the first place, per Tumblr's own terms of use during account creation, right?
Anyone else "who prefers not to see this content" can learn how to deploy a few little filters for their browsing pleasure in less time than it takes to clutch their pearls.
Letβs be honest: this notion of safety is performative pandering. Itβs not about protecting anyone. Itβs about putting up a front to appease advertisers. Itβs about pretending to solve a problem instead of engaging with it responsibly. Parentsβnot platformsβare responsible for managing what their kids see online. Punishing adults for occupying adult spaces does nothing to make the internet safer; it just makes it emptier and duller.
This is exactly what Vox described as the βenshittificationβ of social mediaβwhere platforms degrade the user experience to chase vague corporate virtue andβof course, that McGinley of everything that was once beloved and became popularβprofit. AI moderation and empty βcommunity protectionβ rhetoric are part of that decline. They strip away nuance, creativity, and humanity in all its chaotic, but honest, glory.
Tumblr built its reputation as a home for artists, writers, and creators who express whimsical, wonderful, weird, and beautiful creativity running the gamut of human emotions and experiences. Now, those same creators are being silenced by a malfunctioning algorithm that cannot tell the difference between art, education, and obscenity. Itβs hurting creators, diminishing visibility, and possibly placing them at risk of shadow bans or account restrictionsβall because of poor automated moderation while ramming this really dangerous, puritanical vision of what is "appropriate" down our throats.
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