#ui change

tumblrina gods if you hear this

Worst case scenario, advertisers leave the site, and Mastercard & Visa start blocking payments. The site dies just like it otherwise would’ve. The same outcome, but at least they tried. Now all the Tumblr users know how unsuccessful their pleas for porn actually would’ve been and Matthew is proven right once and for all.

Best case scenario, artists actually come back to the site. The influx of content and users gives Tumblr its positive reputation back and puts it back on the map as the Twitter exodus continues (and TikTok’s second ban date looms). The TikTok-given popularity of the site only increases. Tumblr gets back on its feet. Premium features start selling well because new users have a more positive opinion of the site and are more willing to give it money. Advertises want dash space. Real advertisers. Those good mainstream ones. No longer the porn giant it was in the 2010s, the risk of Mastercard or Visa stopping payments is unlikely. Tumblr finds financial stability and heads toward sustainability.

So the two options are “what was always gonna happen” and “success.” Tumblr quite literally only has room to go up, financially. How Automattic can look at artists on other platforms desiring to return to Tumblr and social media users across the internet constantly being displaced and not try to appeal to them in any meaningful way is beyond me.

You can give the site a new UI all you want. The UI isn’t the problem. The brand image and community trust are. Tumblr can’t expand its userbase because it acted hostilely towards its userbase in the past and continues to do so in many ways, today. Ask any Tumblr user what they think of Tumblr’s management and their opinion is likely negative. That energy and stigma makes its way into the minds of new potential users, too. If Automattic wants to see this platform have success, they’re going to have to repair their relationship with the existing userbase, so they can begin building one with new potential users, as well.