the biggest influence tumblr has had on my life is that i always think of that ‘when white people do that half-jog across the road’ post when i do that white person half-jog across the road
Friendly reminder to not punish yourself for creating.
Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?
I have a tendency to beat myself up whenever something I make doesn’t meet my expectations (which is always). The result is that finishing something = bad feelings: I am effectively punishing myself for having created something. The natural reaction to this punishment is an aversion to creation, meaning that my perfectionism is harming me, not only by causing me to despise what I do make and by impeding the creative process, but by attacking even my desire to create.
Today we announced some big updates to our Community Guidelines and what kind of content is permitted on Tumblr. Adult content will no longer be allowed here. While we do not judge anyone for their desire to post, engage with, or view this stuff, it is time for us to change our relationship with it.
We expect you may have some questions on how this will affect you, and we’re here to make sure those questions get answered.
When does the new policy take effect?
Our new Community Guidelines will go into effect on December 17, 2018.
Newly uploaded content flagged as adult will no longer be allowed on Tumblr. We’ll also begin flagging and removing existing adult content with the ultimate goal of removing as much of it as we can.
What is considered adult content?
Adult content primarily includes photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content—including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations—that depicts sex acts.
What is still permitted?
Examples of exceptions that are still permitted are exposed female-presenting nipples in connection with breastfeeding, birth or after-birth moments, and health-related situations, such as post-mastectomy or gender confirmation surgery. Written content such as erotica, nudity related to political or newsworthy speech, and nudity found in art, such as sculptures and illustrations, are also stuff that can be freely posted on Tumblr.
What about Safe Mode?
Our new policy negates the need for Safe Mode so this feature will no longer exist. These new policies are the same regardless of your age. Read more here.
My content was flagged, but I don’t think it should be. What should I do?
If you feel that we have categorized your post incorrectly, you can appeal this decision with the form that was sent to you via email or use the button on the post in question. Please note that this process is only possible to complete on the web or with Tumblr app version 12.2 or higher.
Read more about how to review your content and appeal here.
What goes into classifying content as adult?
This work requires a mix of machine-learning classification and human moderation by our Trust & Safety team—the group of individuals who help moderate Tumblr. We’ve been expanding the team to handle the increased workload, and we will continue to expand as needed.
Computers are better than humans at scaling process—and we need them for that—but they’re not as good at making nuanced, contextual decisions. This is an evolving process for all of us, and we’re committed to getting this right. That’s why when you appeal a post we’ve marked as adult, it gets sent to a real, live human who will look it over with their real, live human eye(s).
Will I see any adult content on Tumblr after December 17, 2018?
Due to the technical challenges that come with moderation at scale you may continue to see some adult content. This is true for all types of content that might be in violation of our guidelines. At any given moment, millions of people are posting to Tumblr. To review everything and to get it right is complex, but we’re committed to continuously improving.
As always, if you see a post with adult content that you don’t want to see, you can report it directly to our Trust & Safety team. Learn about how to report content here.
What will happen to my adult content already on Tumblr?
Starting today, we will begin sending out email notices to members of the Tumblr community whose content has been flagged as adult. This email will provide a link to the post(s) in question and a form to appeal our decision if you think we have made a mistake. Starting on December 17, 2018, any post(s) that have been flagged will be reverted to a private setting viewable only by you. If you want to learn more about how to see those posts, please visit our Help Center.
You can also download the contents of your blog(s) before these policy changes take effect. Find out how here.
What if my blog (not to be confused with posts) was marked as “explicit” before December 17, 2018?
Blogs that have been either self-flagged or flagged by us as “explicit” per our old policy and before December 17, 2018 will still be overlaid with a content filter when viewing these blogs directly. While some of the content on these blogs may now be in violation of our policies and will be actioned accordingly, the blog owners may choose to post content that is within our policies in the future, so we’d like to provide that option. Users under 18 will still not be allowed to click through to see the content of these blogs. The avatars and headers for these blogs will also be reverted to the default settings.
You can check and see if your blog is marked as explicit per our old policy in your visibility settings. If you think your blog has been erroneously marked as explicit, please send an appeal here.
Will I get kicked off of Tumblr if I’ve uploaded adult content in the past?
We’re removing content, not people. However, those who repeatedly and deliberately post new content that violates our updated guidelines may have their account deactivated per our Terms of Service. If you feel you’ve been incorrectly suspended, you can appeal here.
What if I reblogged adult content?
The original poster of the content will be notified of its removal, and it will no longer be on your blog.
What if I have more “What if” questions?
We got you. You can review our updated Community Guidelines right over here. If you still haven’t found an answer to your question, you can ask our support team.
If you’re someone affected by the platform’s definition of what they’re going to be banning, I strongly suggest you back up your Tumblr blog. RIGHT NOW. Info on how to do that is here.
I can’t think why my own Tumblr would be affected, but I’ll be backing things up too… because in situations like this one might expect the algorithm to get a little out of hand and make mistakes that one might or might not be able to recover from. (See this article.)
For safety’s sake – because I’d very much dislike losing the content I’ve shared with other people here – I’l be embodying my Tumblr content in a new WordPress blog over the coming days. I’ll share the address here when it’s ready, for those who might be interested.
But in the meantime, seriously: friends and cousins, back yourselves up.
Yes, we have seen the news! We are planning to have the
site back up either tomorrow or Wednesday; we just have a couple last
security measures we want to put in place today, but we will be working on
it as quickly as possible and we will have a clearer ETA by tonight.
We will also try to come up with a way to lower the barrier to entry for new users, though we don’t want to drop the entry fee entirely because a) we feel that would be unfair to our users who have paid for their registration keys and b) we don’t think our servers could handle a massive influx of new users right now, so we’re going to try to allow as many new users as we can without capsizing the boat. We appreciate your patience and will have more details soon!
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