#NSFWban

[jewy-gum]

🌐 Week Three: Digital Communities & Tumblr ✨

Welcome to Week Three, where we dive into the fascinating world of digital communities on Tumblr! 🌟 Tumblr isn’t just a platform, it’s a cultural space where online identities, activism, and creative expressions converge. Whether you’re curating a mood board or leading a feminist movement, Tumblr's unique community dynamics make it a key player in shaping digital culture.

🔗 The Power of Hashtags & Movements

Hashtags like #BodyPositive have revolutionized the way we discuss self-image and inclusivity. Reif et al. (2022) highlight that the #BodyPositive hashtag on Tumblr allows women to share diverse body images, encouraging self-acceptance over unrealistic beauty standards (Reif et al. 2022). However, the challenge remains in balancing self-expression with self-objectification, as social media often pressures users to conform to traditional beauty ideals.

Tumblr's history as a subcultural hub was seriously disrupted when it implemented its controversial NSFW content ban in 2018. Users lost not only artistic and expressive freedom but also entire communities that thrived in the platform’s lenient environment (Pilipets & Paasonen 2022). The backlash, seen through memes, screenshots, and GIFs, turned the issue into an emblem of algorithmic failure and censorship. Users responded by creating memes mocking the algorithm, uploading innocent images (like pictures of cats) that were flagged as inappropriate. This resulted in what has become known as the "Tumblr Purge."

✊ Activism & Feminism

Digital communities on Tumblr are also integral to online activism, with movements like Tumblr Feminism gaining ground through creative posts, memes, and hashtags. Keller (2019) explores how teenage girls use Tumblr to voice their feminist critiques, creating a distinctive vernacular that reflects the platform’s creative affordances (Keller 2019). Tumblr offers an inclusive space for young feminists to challenge gender norms and express their ideas freely.

Yet, while Tumblr is a great space for activism, it has its limitations as a platform for political discourse. Kruse, Norris, and Flinchum (2018) note that social media, including Tumblr, often falls short of Habermas’s ideal public sphere, which is meant to foster democratic debate. Instead, users tend to seek like-minded communities, creating echo chambers where diverse perspectives are often missing (Kruse et al. 2018).

🎭 Memes, GIFs, and Digital Resistance

Want to make this week’s post even more engaging? Why not throw in a meme or GIF that embodies the iconic Tumblr humor or critique? For instance, a "This post has been flagged as inappropriate" meme or a simple photo of a cat ironically labeled as NSFW (Pilipets & Paasonen 2022). These images not only poke fun at Tumblr’s censorship but also engage users in a visual language that resonates deeply within the community. Below is an example of a meme structure:

Whether you’re here for the memes, the activism, or the digital culture, Tumblr remains a vital space for creativity, self-expression, and connection.

References

Keller, J 2019, ‘Oh, She’s a Tumblr Feminist’: Exploring the Platform Vernacular of Girls’ Social Media Feminisms’, Social Media + Society, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 1-11, <https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119867442>. 

Kruse, LM, Norris, DR & Flinchum, JR 2018, ‘Social Media as a Public Sphere? Politics on Social Media’, The Sociological Quarterly, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 62-84, <https://doi.org/10.1080/00380253.2017.1383143>. 

Pilipets, E & Paasonen, S 2022, ‘Nipples, memes, and algorithmic failure: NSFW critique of Tumblr censorship’, New Media & Society, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 1459–1480, <https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820979280>. 

Reif, A, Miller, I & Taddicken, M 2022, ‘Love the Skin You’re In: An Analysis of Women’s Self-Presentation and User Reactions to Selfies Using the Tumblr Hashtag #bodypositive’, Mass Communication and Society, <https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2022.2138442>. 

[greysw0n]

tumblr has to drop the nsfw ban right??? its so obviously a good choice

[bananabae100]

What happened to Avewy is so stupid none of her transition timeline pictures I have seen were against TOS and you know what? I ran a NSFW blog and a lot of those NSFW pictures stayed up for a long long time after the nsfwban before I remembered they existed and deleted the blog so as to not go against TOS but if I didn't delete them they would still be there. Why was my stuff fine but a transwoman's was not? My stuff was more explicit, and I never got in trouble never got a slap on the wrist, nothing.

[capesandshapes]

Welcome home pornbots :)

[o-kurwa]

Tumblr: marks blogs explicit, makes them harder to find and takes away your avatar privileges for pics where cameltoe shows

Tumblr's ads:

[ravendumpster]

#LOGOFFSTANDUP

The ignorance of @staff and the continued poor decision making HAS CONSEQUENCES.

REMOVING NSFW CONTENT WILL;

- damage sex workers livelihoods

- damage artist’s livelihoods

- remove an environment where nsfw content could be viewed through filtering tags, which assisted PTSD survivors & others

- close off opportunities of sexual exploration and education

REMOVING NSFW CONTENT WILL NOT;

- fix the bot problem

- fix the nazi problem

- fix overall company revenue & client base respect&response

GET ANGRY. THIS IS NOT THE TUMBLR WE WANT TO SEE.

TOMORROW, REMEMBER TO

#LOGOFFSTANDUP

Oh, also? Participate in armagauden. lets make this hellsite pink in protest. GAUD!

[iwannafuckzero]

Even though the NSFW ban is still in effect, it's a breath of fresh air being on Tumblr instead of Twitter. I can't deal with all the puritanical antis clogging up the tags and cancelling people for liking morally grey characters

[japanese-studies]

[cap-coch-cosplay]

Right okay, so we all know the Tumblr community has significantly decreased, I had joined this decrease till now

Tumblr has been sold for a tiny amount of what the company was once worth on the market and it's also no longer seen with the same worth by many members of the community and it's very sad

Tumblr was always a place of freedom and expression where people could come to find like minded people, find themselves and enjoy what they loved and a platform that was always considered the most open place

So the boycott hasn't worked, it was just sold of like an old dog no longer fitting with the owner, so now we have to be louder, I know that the new owners don't want to alter anything currently but we need our safe space, our creative site, our weird place, our outlet, we need our tumblr

You only find things nsfw if you go looking normally and that's fine but the ban on that form of media has affected everyone to some degree now. It could be a fav creator left for the boycott, you can't find an account you found interesting or super helpful as it was deleted, felt the community shift, had your posts removed. So much has gone on.

The boycott hasn't worked and I don't know if we can find a solution but if we don't try now then we certainly won't

[chickenpoxfordinner]

the prodigal son returns

Introducing: Community Labels

As you know, art and artists make Tumblr what it is. We want everyone on Tumblr to be able to fully express themselves while also having control over what they encounter on their dashboards. That’s why we’re introducing Community Labels, an extension to your “Content you see” settings. Our ultimate goal is to create a more open Tumblr, and this is our first step in that direction. 

As a poster and reblogger, Community Labels are your way to help your followers avoid anything they’d rather not come across on their dashboards.

As a follower, setting your content preferences is a way to adjust your feed to your own comfort levels. 

How does it work?

When creating new posts (or editing old posts), you’ll see controls allowing you to label your post as unsuitable for those filtering certain content types it contains. 

When content is labeled, it will either be hidden, blurred, or displayed normally, based on each user’s preferences.

In your “Content you see” settings, you can now choose to show, blur, or hide content that depicts the following topics:

Drug and alcohol addiction: Contains discussions of substance abuse or addiction experience.

Violence: Contains violent or graphic content similar to what you might see in an age-restricted movie.

Sexual themes: Contains sexually suggestive subject matter, such as erotic writing or imagery.

Some examples of content that would require a community label:

Fanart of your favorite ship engaging with each other in…a very private moment 

Euphoria GIFs showing Rue’s substance abuse 

A movie trailer depicting graphic war scenes 

A graphic 50 Shades of Grey edit

This doesn’t change our content policies: spam, hate content, and porn bots are still not welcome in the community. It’s also still important that we abide by app store rules, which means we need to make sure that mature content is only accessible to people who are old enough and have opted in to view that type of content. More information about Community Labels is available in the Help Center.

This is an opportunity to work towards a richer, more nuanced Tumblr experience while making sure everyone who enjoys using Tumblr can do so safely. That future we mentioned above? We’re already moving towards it.

[forestkamu]

To stick it to Tumblr you need to leave.

I know a lot of people are pissed about the NSFW ban right now, and I’m pissed too, but I want to lay some information out there because it seems like people might not know everything about what started this.

A lot of people are saying that the App Store removing Tumblr is what started this, but from what I’ve found it might have only pushed a deadline forward. 

“a former staff engineer, who recently left Tumblr and asked to remain anonymous for professional reasons, tells Vox that the NSFW ban was “in the works for about six months as an official project,” adding that it was given additional resources and named “Project X” in September, shortly before it was announced to the rest of the company at an all-hands meeting. “[The NSFW ban] was going to happen anyway,” the former engineer told me. “Verizon pushed it out the door after the child pornography thing and made the deadline sooner,” but the real problem was always that Verizon couldn’t sell ads next to porn.”

The App Store issue just pushed forward something that’s been in the works for months. 

This is literally the exact same reason that FF.net stopped letting explicit work on their site. 

Companies don’t want ads for their products placed next to porn, it’s as simple as that. And what Verizon wants to do is sell ad space.

If you really want to stick it to them, make them feel the pressure where they care; their bottom line. 

If you can afford to, get off Tumblr and stay off

Delete the app, Tumblrs’ App is one of the best ways to market to mobile users.

If you’re staying on Tumblr, DON’T CLICK ANY ADS. If they have something cool you like or might want, great! But don’t give Tumblr the credit for it. Google the item and buy it directly from the seller.

Doing this might make them reconsider the ban, but based on how long it’s been in the works, it’s unlikely. 

But if you’re petty and want Tumblr to have a rough time for driving out NSFW creators and content, making their daily users and ad revenue drop is a good way to send a message.

[optimistic-neptune]

I use to visit Tumblr every day, for hours on end, but ever since the whole NSFW ban my visits are down to like once a month and only last about an hour... (at most) WHERE AM I SUPPOSE TO FIND MY LEWDS NOW?!? I’VE GOTTEN INTO NEW FANDOMS SINCE THE BAN AND I CAN’T FIND ANY DECENT SMUT. D:< Is there any other site where people can freely post what they want?

[charache-comics]

Bruh...

[transrightsbby]

[princessfluffybuns]

i made a thing

@staff

[crybaby-bunni]

Pornhub here I come!