#charahub

So why would these accounts target you? Well, as you can see, they will send you a Google Forms link with some kind of “access code”. I noticed that these accounts are basically like any other spambot, as they will have a default profile picture and their pages will be empty. They also followed me and a few other people, including Tumblr Staff (which I think you automatically follow by default when you make a new account). I did some searching, and I deduced these are indeed legit links for a Google Form. However, since I’m a paranoid person, I purposefully logged out of my main Google account and hopped on a burner one to access the form itself:

(The first screenshot is the form linked from the DM I got a few months ago, the second screenshot is from the one I got a few days ago)

Again, very similar wording. TLDR: they’re basically advertising some kind of social “site” where you’d be able to share your OCs with other people and interact with each other. The catch is, they’re “invite only” and you need an access code to get in. As you’ve seen, the only way to seemingly get an access code is to be messaged directly from these spambot accounts. Oh, and they also want your email so you’ll get your actual “invite” to the site.

Hm, yeah, are you sure you’re not also going to leak my data to other fishy sites that’ll end up spamming me? Wait, a bunch of social media sites do that already, don’t they?

Anyway, I simply noped out and marked both these DMs as spam. However, I wanted to do some further digging into what this “Character Social Network” was... what was even the name of this “site”? Why wasn’t it mentioned ANYWHERE in the Google Forms? Who even were these people targeting certain accounts on TUMBLR OF ALL PLACES and sending DMs like this?

I tried typing “character social network” into Tumblr’s search engine... nothing really significant popped up (no one was bringing this to others’ attention? I guess I’ll be darned if I’m the first one to do this). I took it to Google, and ended up finding a Reddit thread! Basically, it was the same deal: the OP got a DM from Tumblr advertising the supposed “site” with a Google Forms and an invite code to join. Many other commenters seem to have gotten the same link! One commenter actually used a burner email to try signing up to the site to see what would happen! Surprisingly enough, they made a breakthrough:

CharacterHub, huh? That’s the site behind all these spambot DMs? I wonder what that site looks like...

Ah, I see. It seems like it’s trying to be like Toyhou.se, another character repository site that also happens to be invite only.  Unlike Toyhou.se though (where you’d have to actively search for someone/somewhere to get yourself an invite code), you can apparently request an invite code right there directly from the site!

This is what you see when you click the “request invite” button.  So they’re “invite only” because they really want to offer the service that their users “deserve” and want to create a tight-knit community. Okay, fair enough. You’d probably run the risk of having trolls flood your site if you made the registration public. That’s probably similar to why Toyhou.se has been in invite beta for so long.

But wait, I noticed something: “We’re in the Discord”.

Well, I don’t know why you couldn’t just let people join your Discord server (if it even exists). Again, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt: you don’t want trolls flooding your server. Since you appear to already have people in your “tight-knit” community (including moderators, which I hope to God you have decent ones), why not have these people make Tumblr accounts and send people invites to the Discord server instead of using spambots to spread a fishy-looking Google Form? I get it, maybe it’s not the greatest idea. I shouldn’t be talking, really. But in my opinion, it probably would’ve made you guys look a lot more legit if I got a DM from an actual Tumblr user (heck, you don’t even have to post anything if you really wanted to, but just edit your description or something saying that you’re from the CharacterHub site and you’re giving out invite codes!) promoting an actual Discord server - LOTS of people use Discord!! Funny story, this is actually how I got into one of my own Discord servers! There was this nostalgic game I used to play back in the day, which shut down a few years ago. An actual Tumblr account from that Discord server messaged me and sent me an invite link to the server!

Hold on, don’t leave yet. I’m not done digging through this rabbit hole. Not only did I find the CharacterHub site on Google, but I also happened to find their Twitter!

A breakthrough! The people behind CharacterHub seem to be tied to another similarly-named site called “Charahub”! You guys remember Charahub, right? I do, too! I actually used it back in the day, but it apparently shut down without me (and many others) even knowing!! Seriously, just type Charahub into Tumblr’s search engine - so many more people have been posting about it. It’s very clearly well known to many.

Allegedly, Charahub had quite a bit of issues - I saw some Tumblr users complaining about data leaks the site apparently had, poor communication from the moderators (people have apparently tried to reach out to their social media but never got any responses back), and the fact that it literally just shut down without a warning, effectively nuking every OC and information that people have poured into their profile.

So riddle me this: is CharacterHub supposedly a “revival” of Charahub????

...because honestly, with everything you’ve done/shown through that previous site and what you’re doing now to try and get people to join your site, it’s looking kind of shady right now. I will NOT be joining your site. I’d always been wanting to join Toyhou.se, and I finally got an invite code this year. As far as I know, Toyhou.se doesn’t seem to have many problems with it. You guys shut down a site only to open it back up again? Logic 100.

To anyone who reads this post: take this all with a grain of salt. For all I know, I could be completely in the wrong and CharacterHub is actually an amazing site. I honestly don’t know, but I also honestly don’t care. If you think this is a scam, go ahead! Block all these DMs! Have you decided to ignore everything I said and gone out to sign up to this site? Maybe you’re even a member of this site? Cool story, bro! No seriously, if you’re a member of the site, how about enlightening me (and other people who might be suspicious) on what you can exactly do on this site? Literally NO ONE has spoken up about this site and it really does seem like they want their little “tight-knit” community to be all “hush-hush” about it, too. All I really ask is to not witch-hunt their Twitter or any of their other platforms, okay? The last thing I want to see is people messing around with them and saying they got sent from Tumblr.