The ban became a way to attract companies hesitant to advertise alongside pornography. Tumblr’s various parent companies have long tried to monetize a platform historically resistant to traditional advertising. 17, 2018.īut that same month, Vox reported that the NSFW ban was underway well before the Apple Store controversy. Weeks later, Tumblr announced a ban on NSFW content that went into effect on Dec. That November, Apple Store removed the Tumblr app after child sexual abuse material was found on the site. Then, in early 2018, a federal law called FOSTA-SESTA passed, which made website operators like Verizon liable for sex trafficking or sex work carried out on their platforms. However, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer promised Tumblr users that little would change.Įvents that followed, however, would transform Tumblr.įirst, in 2017, Verizon Communications bought Yahoo. In 2013, after Yahoo acquired Tumblr, there was concern that the platform would tighten its content policies. The embrace of NSFW content – a rarity for social media platforms – was even endorsed by its founder David Karp, who once characterized Tumblr as “an excellent platform for porn.” And for those who produced their own NSFW content, Tumblr’s leniency meantincome. For the user base, access to queer, feminist and alternative representations of sex and sexuality was meaningful, leading to self-exploration and community building for vulnerable groups such as LGBTQ+ youth. Such openness also facilitated the rise in NSFW content that became a core part of Tumblr’s identity. This approach contributed to its explosive growth, which crested in 20 when Tumblr claimed users spent more time on the site than Facebook and Twitter. In allotting greater control over how users presented themselves online – through, for example, pseudonymity and relaxed content moderation – Tumblr stood out as a bastion for creative expression. Both the individualized blogs and real-time feeds display an array of original and re-blogged media, ranging from written posts to videos.
This is partly due to the flexibility of the main user interfaces. In spite of that, Tumblr remains a home to art, fandom, memes and social critique. At the same time, it has long dealt with issues such as recurrent bugs and functionality problems, bullying, hate speech and the glorification of self-harm, leading some users to term it the “blue hellsite.” Since its inception, Tumblr has served as a countercultural hub for women, queer folks, young people and marginalized communities. And in the years following the NSFW ban, I’ve seen many try to make sense of Tumblr as a platform on thecuspofacomeback or a vestige of abygoneera.Īnd yet, long overshadowed by social media platforms like Facebook and Snapchat, Tumblr continues to resist easy answers to what it is and could be.įrom ‘blue hellsite’ to hell in a handbasket The controversial policy led to a mass exodus from the site, the so-called Tumblr apocalypse.īoth as a communication researcher and early era user of Tumblr, I’ve contemplated the site’s unique place in internet culture. In 2018, Tumblr content deemed sexually explicit – or NSFW – was banned.
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