alright let’s talk about Apple and Tumblr’s current predicament.
If you don’t know already, I used to work at Tumblr as an iOS engineer. Though I keep in touch with current staff at Tumblr (what little that are left that I know) I do not have picture of what’s going on internally. The banned word list is absolutely perplexing and I can only theorize why tags like ‘long post’ are banned from appearing on iOS. What I can do is give you a peek into how the Apple App Store review process works, so you have an idea of the hell that Tumblr staff is dealing with right now.
Hello again, Tumblr. Now that our dashboards are back to normal (‘normal’ doing some heavy lifting here), the crabs are back in tropical paradise (for now), and Mr. Brick Whartley is back with them, we felt it was time for reflection.
In his opening statement on April 1, Mr. Whartley, our now-former Head of Viral Marketing and Exponential Growth and Front End Software Developer, outlined his ambition to “…increase clicks across the platform by any means necessary”. Quite the lofty ambition. And this got us thinking—how did we do? And by we, of course, we mean you. Well, you didn’t disappoint, and if you like unnecessarily large numbers, you’re in for a real treat.
By 12:49 pm (PDT)/3:49 pm (EDT), the community had summoned 7.5 million crabs at a rate of 1.07 million crabs per hour.
By the end of the day, there were 20,000 posts by 14,000 of you with the tag “time for crab.” Time indeed.
The community’s April Fools prank was a resounding success, with more than 52,000 posts from Tumblr users attempting to “crash” this Hellsite by scheduling posts all at the same time.
Mr. Brick Wharley’s blog accumulated more than 3,000 followers and 12,000 notes, while @staff received nearly 50,000 notes across the day.
Perhaps Mr. Whartley didn’t do such a lousy job. Finally, the most important statistic of the day, the community summoned25millioncrabs across Tumblr on April 1, 2022.
Credit where credit’s due, folks. You did us proud, you did Mr. Whartley proud, and most importantly, you did yourselves proud. So give those index fingers a little rest—they deserve it. And you will need all your strength for April 1, 2023.
Hello Tumblr fans! Thank you for supporting me and my blog over the years. Unfortunately, due to Tumblr’s recent policy change on adult content, which go’s into affect today, I will no longer be providing updates to this blog. But please don’t fret; you can find all my latest uncensored content on the following platform:
i would buy officially licensed tumblr shoelaces staff really missed out on a golden opportunity with their new merch store
tumblr is a site that, by tradition, you do not discuss using in public, let alone plaster on your body. however the subtlety of shoelaces combined with the comedy of the Bit would make that specific item worth it
Now when you tap the compose button (that little pencil) in the app to create a new post, you’ll be brought to a fresh blank canvas. The post flower that used to pop up has been removed from the app, leaving you with the simple blank canvas to do whatever you wish. All of your familiar post options are still there, and now they’re easier to access. They just have a new home at the bottom of your screen, waiting to be tapped whenever you need them.
What’s changing?
Not much! The toolbar is the same ol’ thing you’ve come to know and love. You can still create and arrange (and rearrange) photosets, add audio and video, make or add your own GIFs and Loops from the camera or video button, or search for existing GIFs on Tumblr with the GIF button. The biggest improvement? Your recently saved photos, GIFs, and videos from your camera roll are now shown in the mini media picker right below post canvas. This makes it even easier to add that stuff to a post. Just tap ‘em to add ‘em.
The space for a title didn’t go away—now it can be anywhere you want, and you can have as many titles as you want. Your whole post can be just titles if you wish. We don’t advise that at all, but it’s up to you. Just tap into the text you want to turn into the title, then tap the Aa text button to cycle through the text styles. You can also long-press the Aa button to bring up a neat little menu of those same text styles—but hey, you knew that already.
Quick question: why?
This makes posting on Tumblr a smoother experience. And, well, since mid-2018, the post flower actually hasn’t had much to do with how your posts are categorized in your archives or what forms of media you can add to your post. A post with a video in it will be categorized as a video in your archives, no matter what other type of media accompanies it. Posts with photos and no video will be categorized as photo posts. Posts with audio and no photo and video will be—you guessed it—sorted as an audio post. Removing the post flower is simply removing a barrier between you and your post canvas.
If the flower is gone why the floating button still has the tail with the other buttons of the flower?
How do I post a chat?
Why is the hasthags option in the next step when you post something but not when you reblog it?
Really hope you guys answer this, I love seeing dev team trying to improve their product and being nice to users
Oh, hello. We love quick and legitimate questions (though we will also accept slow and illegitimate questions, because beggars can’t be choosers). Here we go:
It sounds like you’re referring to posting on web. For now, you’ll still see the post buttons there, but you can add photos, videos, and GIFs to any post type, and format your text as needed.
There are lots of formatting options for your text, including chat. Tap/hold the Aa icon to see the full menu.
Good catch! We didn’t move the tagging options for reblogs because we wanted to keep that action as quick and convenient as possible.
Thanks for the questions and feedback! Always feel free to drop us a line, too.
If you are located in the United Kingdom, The Beat UK is here to support people who have or are worried they have an eating disorder. You can find all of the support services they provided by clicking here.
If you are located anywhere in the European Union, you can find support resources in your area at Mental Health Europe.
If you need some inspiration and comfort on your dashboard, follow Post It Forward on Tumblr.
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.
This was the problem: You’d be searching for Field of Dreams, the critical standout film of 1989. But instead of Kevin Costner, you’d get rolling hills and wildflowers. That’s because we’re giving you the best stuff tagged #field or #dreams (or #of).
Here’s the solution: Choosing #tagged in the app bundles the whole phrase together. You just search for something and tap #tagged at the top of the screen to show posts tagged with that exact phrase.
And hey, slugger. Learn about the tons of other ways you can filter a search in our help center, here.
@staff It is incredible how in 2018 you decided to close every porn blog on your platform.
Not only you signed your “death” sentence, since the vast majority of your blogs is about porn and and a lot of non-related porn blogs likes this site because of them
Not only you basically fired every AMAZING artist there is on this platform that draws porn(or even tits), you have also reduced his/her opportunity to get new jobs and now they have to move to other platforms losing THOUSANDS of followers, which are their monthly income btw
Not only you made yourself responsible of a very fascist move, but I guess that’s okay for you since you don’t ban their blogs
You showed yourselves as people who can’t do their job, because you decided it was best to hide the problem instead of resolving it; but that wasn’t enough too.
And I’m sorry for every people that gonna lose their jobs,because this crazy action you did is gonna result in less traffic in your app and in your website, hence less work, hence firings.
I repeat for everyone:
IT’S 2018 PEOPLE!!
I never expected to end this way
I bid you farewell (except for the people who made this decision)
On the occasion of his 10th tumblr birthday Algy has decided to support tumblr by paying the new subscription to go ad-free - even though he doesn’t care whether he sees advertisements or not…
And he hopes that many of his friends will do the same, simply as a way of giving something back to tumblr and helping this amazing platform and community to keep going:
Algy has just celebrated 10 years of his adventures on Tumblr. That’s 10 years in which a strange fluffy bird based in a very remote and isolated area on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands has been able to share his adventures with people all around the world. Tumblr has enabled Algy and his assistant to make many, many new friends, and they have enjoyed the creativity and companionship of countless other tumblr uses FREE - gratis, and for nothing. The interaction with other creative tumblr users of all ages, genders, naitionalities and faiths has provided them with inspiration, support, comfort and joy.
And for a long time Algy and his assistant have felt that getting all of this for free was not quite right, because it costs tumblr a lot of money to keep going, and it’s well known that tumblr struggles financially.
Tumblr has made several attempts at generating money in recent years, but the very special nature of tumblr’s users meant that these have not been successful.
Where else but tumblr could you offer people the opportunity to make money out of sharing their posts, for example, and find that the creative contributors to the platform were simply not interested and - despite the fact that it might take them many hours of work (or even days!) to create just one post - they just wanted to share for free. Crazy folk
And the tumblr folk who mainly wanted to look at other people’s posts, or participate in a community, didn’t want to pay for that privilege either. Of course they didn’t! That was never the tumblr way… Many tumblr users have no interest in money - or indeed, have no money
But now, at last, tumblr has offered a method for its users to help tumblr pay their way without engaging in monetizing their own work which - in the case of Algy’s adventures - they have been sharing for so long for free, and without paying to see other people’s posts.
So Algy and his assistant have gone for it, to pay something back to tumblr at last and to help keep it going. Crazy folk
And Algy hopes that there will be many other crazy folk out there who will be willing to help fund this weird and wonderful platform. Compared with all the other costs in everday life, it’s very little indeed to pay to ensure that tumblr can survive and continue to enhance all our lives.
It has been a real pleasure viewing your adventures over the last five years. Here is to five more years
Back in March 2017. Algy’s artist friend Michael @capiolumen in sunny south California posted this gorgeous original art work on the occasion of Algy’s 5th tumblr birthday - with the caption “Here is to five more years”…
And now it is March 2022 and it really has been five more years! And, despite absences of several months from time to time, Algy is still here, and continuing his adventures on tumblr. And he is truly delighted to find that so many of his old friends - including @capiolumen - are still here too. This is wonderful indeed
Rumours about the possible demise of tumblr have been rumbling around for years now, but the tumblrverse is like no other place in this world (real or virtual) and Algy hopes very much that it will survive and flourish and continue to bring joy and companionship and hope and motivation and comfort - not to mention insights into other lives, cultures and countries - to many, many people around the world who would otherwise never have “met”.
So Algy sends his fluffiest thanks to all the kind friends who have welcomed him back and sent him kind greetings and lovely images on the very special occasion of his 10th Tumblr birthday, and he says…
I want to say thanks to @dch, @frankyeahjessfrank and@ambarrios23 from Tumblr’s @creatrs, who reached out to me, sent me the goodies (3 Tumblr “swag t-shirts” (best name, 10/10) and with which I had a chat about some really cool stuff, and thank you to the entirety of Tumblr and Automattic’s staff!
So, story time!
I was reading Matt Mullenweg’s Tumblr blog, the person which I reblogged this post from, a.k.a. Mr. Automattic Wordpress guy™, after he showed publicly the new design for the t-shirts made for Tumblr’s staff.
I ask if it was merch, because I’m an idiot and didn’t realize they were made appositely for @staff.
Then, David Hayes (@ dch), Tumblr’s Head of Creative Strategy, sends me a text saying “You want a shirt? We’ll send you one”!
They sent THREE!
I ask if there has been a mistake, y'know, to make sure… and they told me to enjoy the shirts. No mistakes.
I am so thankful and a little freaked out, to be honest, haha, thank you so much y'all! ♡
