#byetumblr
Goodbye Tumblr! So I finally decided to switch over everything to Twitter. You guys have been awesome! My journey has been long and it’s because of Tumblr I have felt so great in my own skin. The wonderful comments and people I’ve met here I’ll never forget please come follow me on Twitter
its time to re think social media, which is becoming increasingly antisocial, anti democratic and overly censored by media companies or the state.
Ive looked over several alternatives since tumblr announced its censorship campaign (and demise). Despite there being more than a dozen of tumblr competitors, my conclusion is to skip the centralized, and thereby unreliable and locked in solutions and finally move to decentralized social media.
Mastodon is a decentralized, like email. You simply join a server, a “mastodon instance”, that is connected to the whole network, or you host you own server and let people join. Each instance is just a point of entry to the whole network, which is build by the community. Each instance can have its own rules, on what is allowed and what is not.
Then you can post and follow people on your, or other mastodon servers.
Its also possible to move your whole account and its content, following list etc. to another server.
f.e. instance (NSFW allowed) mastodon.social
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPSbNdBmWKE
TEXT POST! Maybe don’t scroll through this one though - and I’m SO SORRY for those scrolling on their phones for the slab of text interrupting your porn, if that’s what you’re here for. I love you. I’d love it if you’d read this one… It’s about all of us here on this place. Because websites are “places” kinda, and social networks are kinda real in ways this 80′s kid couldn’t have conceived. And because in ten days you won’t be able to browse for porn here and that’s stupid.
In my OTHER online life I’m prone to #rants and they just organically emerge these days. This one is about porn. Yep, that thing that most human beings in this day and age consume in one form or MANY others for all sorts of reasons. That thing which we CANNOT AND MUST NEVER TALK ABOUT… for SOME reason.
For Those Blissfully Unaware: Tumblr is, as of December 17th (the day AFTER my Birthday, dammit), arbitrarily BANNING and then REMOVING ALL “explicit” content from the site. And in single person TMI news… I wasn’t too bothered by this impending porn ban because over the years I, and I’m sure most of we, have all gone through many different platforms and sources for things like… that. (is that TMI? or have I just admitted that I’m a human being? Let all keep our heads people)
But then I read THIS article, which highlights the ludicrous manner in which they are going about the process. And then I read ANOTHER article which highlighted how damaging and regressive the move is for, well, everyone. And then I thought to myself, heck, the LGBTQI, the marginalised and oppressed, the questioning and uncertain… they BUILT and MADE Tumblr what it is today. And today (for the next 10 days) it is a safe place for ANYONE consenting (they have had explicit content and blogs flagged without being blocked previously) to explore themselves.
This is worse than Melissa George disavowing Home and Away, because Tumblr, being built by the fringe and marginalised, actually HELPS people (Melissa George was just blonde and pretty and good actor needing opportunity who then decided her French bulldog and croissants in Paris made her better than her roots - no help for anyone there except her dog IMO).
But in 10 days a “female-presenting nipple” will be a bridge too far and will be banned, unavailable, removed - except if it is “medically” useful or important. Apparently they’re breastfeeding-positive. Yay team. So AGAIN women’s bodies are reduced to their “primary functions” and further, queer bodies, other bodies, new and undreamed of personages and existences, are hidden, are denied visibility. They are made to be shameful or unworthy by dint of their being INVISIBLE. And it’s not just body parts, it’s attitudes, poses, suggestions… all incredibly arbitrary, unscientific, and SUBJECTIVE. Humanity, we’ve been there. It’s not fun.
At the same time, AND THIS IS THE KEY, READERS, Nazi blogs, White Power blogs, any other hate speech blogs… they’re all fine (one wonders about those BIZARRE BDSM and gay Nazi blogs which, hopefully, SURELY, will also be banned).
THE HYPOCRISY IN A NUTSHELL:
Tumblr wants to make their platform SAFE FOR CHILDREN so they are removing “female-presenting nipples” and pictures of men kissing (and male models, and Garfield, and cartoons…) BUT leaving swastikas, Confederate flags, Hitler-love, lynchings and guns (sorry Americans, I truly love you but I’m an Aussie so guns get caught up in the hypocrisy for me when it comes to “child safety”)
Lady Nipple = BAD
Sexy Man = BAD
White Power = TICK
I’m (seriously) no social justice Warrior (apparently that would mean “leftist”), but I believe in social justice (apparently that would mean “liberal”? Or would it be “centrist?” Fuck it, I don’t care, I want my citizens, wherever they are, ALIVE and SAFE), and I agree with the fundamental principle espoused by Marian Wright Edelman that “you can’t be what you can’t see.”
Some of my Facebook connections are suddenly worried and concerned by the “tide” of trans* people in the media, or even just LGBTQI people. News Flash: it’s because you can’t be what you can’t see.
Ten years ago, as a gay man, I couldn’t see myself in many places except as an outrageous caricature, or as a tragic stereotype doomed to die by my own hand or others, or to “decide” to be straight and satisfy the status quo. But I saw myself in enough places to (eventually) fight through the stigma and social rejection and bullying to accept myself as I AM. Many, many queer folks are still going through this because despite our achievements we’re still not there. I was damn lucky.
Trans* people are really only barely beginning this process. We’re really only beginning to see trans* people on TV and film, and only barely beginning to see them as themselves and not as stereotypes.
So Tumblr is basically shooting it’s core client base in the FACE and expecting to continue on, business as usual. And corporate Earth being what it is, they’ll probably somehow survive. But they will be a pale remnant of what they were if they do. I hope fervently that the desertion in droves of users causes them to fail totally and collapse. Free market bullshit and all that.
OR…
novel idea…
…change your mind. Politicians, corporate juggernauts, men, HR Managers, cats, all find it very hard to do this simple thing which is CHANGING ONE’S MIND. In another life I would drop the wisdom that changing your mind is the true essence of MAGIC. Refusing to change one’s mind is a rejection of the covenant we enter into when we a born into this world - to live in it, to experience it, and to learn from it. The last one is the one we need to focus on. Not changing is not learning.
THANK YOU for reading all of this (if you actually have!).
As an addendum to this rant, out of curiosity I went to check how many followers my Tumblr has - yeah I’ve never really worried about that before. I have over 2,500 followers! That’s 2,500 people I’ve been sharing with that I don’t even know. And yet I you’re all awesome and marvelous, and you all deserve to be able to see and share what makes you happy. If you’ve actually read all of this #nickrant I applaud you and thank you. Now I’m REALLY angry.
Good bye!
Tumblr it was a pleasure to be part of your platform… unfortunately as many I see my self forced to close my profile. This app was the only place where many of us felt comfortable sharing adult content!
Gutted to be losing Tumblr. Please PM /Message me if you want to stay in touch after the shut down….
Going through the comments on all my posts and I’m feeling some kind of way about it. Tumblr is banning NSFW content like it’s some kind of scourge on society (not unlike- oh I don’t know- SUPREMACIST, NAZI, and other related HATE SPEECH groups that it refuses to ban). But you know what I see in my NSFW feed? An imaginative, playful, fun-loving group of incredibly horny people who really don’t mean much harm towards anyone. I’ve made a point to keep a careful eye on my follower base and block any bad seeds that come around. Sometimes it’s time-consuming, but the effort is worth it. I’ve learned that as a content creator, you have the ultimate power to curate your audience. This is a lesson I wish Tumblr (no- Verizon) had learned. In 2018 we can’t pretend that porn doesn’t exist. That’s not the responsible approach that is required of the megacorps of today (Apple, Google, Amazon, Verizon, Comcast… take your pick). These companies have the resources to do just about anything, and they choose to cling to outmoded values like timid children cling to their parents’ pantleg. It’s sad. It’s stupid. It’s preventable.
Sorry to rant. I’ll make it up to you by posting all my unpublished content over the next few days. :)
Please, no matter what happens, keep doing what you are doing. Be horny. Be kinky. Explore your sexuality and try new things. Accept the good experiences and reject the bad. Be open to communication and be quick with the block button as the need arises. Companies will try to tell us what we can and cannot do, but at the end of the day, they need us. We don’t need them.
-cuckqueans-paradise
UPDATE: I guess my title was misleading (my fault) I’ll be sticking around to post stuff. the below info was more for people leaving and wanting to follow me on other platforms.
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Remember to Follow me on Instagram >>Scarlette.art<< If you want to keep seeing my disney/starwars/mermaids/ any other content that I feel like drawing . :)
Im on Ko-fi to! sorry not on Twitter but maybe now I will join to keep posting my art on another platform. (my username will most likely be the same as my instagram)
Tumblr the new Instagram ?
Just a few years late and how stupid. Let adults share what adults what to share and if kids are seeing it that is a parenting issue. I found porn and a kid no matter what tried to stop me. Don’t take the fun away from the adults you prudes!!!
