Hi guys, long post here, but I want to explain in detail what I have learnt about Tumblr terminating blogs on this site in the last few days. This includes my blog @justbadpuns, as well as @one-time-i-dreamt and @officialunitedstates.
There are many others that I am trying to contact and will add what happened to them as reblogs if they let me know.
I would like to say that this isn’t an attack on staff, I think that they try their best considering the constant change of ownership the last few years. I would rather this post raise awareness with issues that have arisen and hopefully show what could be improved moving forward.
justbadpuns
On the 27th November justbadpuns was terminated. It had almost 550K and there was no email explaining why. I contacted through support and made a post on my main blog and got a response quickly saying this:
I only posted quizzes and occasionally promoted some t-shirts which I made sure were from reputable sources and I made sure I tagged it #ad to make sure that it was clear. However, I am aware I forgot a few times and rectified that when I could.
After my blog being restored I made sure to purge anything that could be classed as an ad and emailed back asking for clarification on what is classed as deceptive and what could be posted so I followed all guidelines. That email was never responded to and as of today (2nd December where I am) still hasn’t been.
48 hours pass I log back into Tumblr, I had been terminated again. Even though there was nothing on my blog against policy as I made sure there wasn’t. I contacted support and have had no response since. Granted, it is Thanksgiving weekend in America and support may only be based in America.
one-time-i-dreamt
29th December one-time-i-dreamt was terminated. Again no email explaining why to Tea (owner). She has put in support tickets and tried to get a response back and absolutely nothing yet.
Unlike me, Tea never reblogged any ads. Just reblogged the occasional followers GoFundMe and promoting small businesses and never got paid for any of it.
There isn’t much more to add on this as there has been no response from support as of yet.
officialunitedstates
On the 27th November officialunitedstates was terminated. He reached out to support and got this response:
Unlike me their blog was not reinstated. They only promoted their Patreon which they were unaware was against guidelines. After this response they have also reached out for further clarification on why they were terminated and have yet to receive a response.
Common Themes
Between the 3 of us and a few other people that have posted on Twitter:
It seems that of everyone that was terminated, no one was given an email explaining why. As a suggestion, moving forward I think it would be best if there was a reason given so it is easier to appeal if it is potentially wrongful.
It seems that these terminations have started since around when Tumblr made this post on November 27th:
As seen from the emails sent to me for justbadpuns and also to officialunitedstates. This seems to suggest that people may be abusing this feature and it leads to these terminations. Although, this is just a theory.
Personally, I think this feature is great as it could help get rid of pornbots and other extreme content that is posted on this site. I just hope there is protections in place to make sure that people aren’t wrongfully terminated.
Moving Forward
I have been on Tumblr since I was 13, so almost 10 years! I have loved being part of this community and the audience I have been able to build in this time. I even got to visit Tumblr HQ in 2016 and have a tour which was amazing.
I really hope that this post is not seen as an attack but just helps raise awareness of what is going on in the last week. Hopefully, it causes some changes to be implemented that benefit the whole community as a whole now and in the future.
It has been mentioned in the post above but I think the following would be worthwhile changes:
- When a blog is terminated, an email also being sent explaining why and a link to where you can appeal this if wrongful.
- More clear instructions on what is seen as spam and not allowed in terms of revenue based posts. So people can follow guidelines better and not risk termination. i.e Is Patreon allowed to be promoted? Are all revenue based posts classed as deceptive even if made clear you will make money from it? (tagged #ad, mentioned in post text/image)
- A more clear understanding of the new user-based reporting system, to make sure that it can’t be used negatively.
Tumblr has been a place that has helped me grow as a person and been there when I needed it the most during my teenage years. Due to the niche communities, the support that you can find on this website and not knowing you are alone. I am sure that is the same for thousands more. So I hope that I and others can get some clarification and move forward in a positive way for this site.
whoops, look like it’s time to remind you all that I have an emergency backup blog at @heyitsbunjy, which I will hopefully never have to actually use
WTF, tumblr?!