ok, so my other account has finally been unbanned, so I will say this again, one more time:
if you are using a vpn on tumblr, stop.
yes, vpns are a fundamental of internet security, I use one daily myself, however:
if you use a vpn on tumblr, it is not a matter of if you will get shadowbanned, but when.
if you go look at r/tumblracctterminated nearly every single user was innocently using a vpn while using tumblr.
my theory is that they are using a autoblock on ips when banning the pornbots and spambots, which are going onto an internal list, so that theoretically any other bot accounts from the same user/ip are also caught in the net. it's a lot quicker to automatically feature-block (shadowban) an account, which prevents it from appearing in tags, in people's notes, or be able to DM, than it is for the account to be time-consumingly and expensively manually checked by a human.
which is all fine and good, but obviously, those bot accounts are also using vpns to ban evade, and so when you, innocent person using a vpn, make a post, it checks your ip against the banned list, and oh would you look at that, a spambot used your ip! and so it shadowbans you. it always happens right after you make a post, which is the trigger - I believe the only safe time to use a vpn is when browsing the dash but not interacting with anything (replies, dms, reblogs) but it's not worth the risk.
and once it happens to you once, it will keep happening to you because your account is now flagged - my previous account got shadowbanned twice in one month, and it took 15 days+ to get unbanned both times, and in the interim, my account was also completely deleted for 3 hours at one stage. when this happens the only recourse is to email support and wait for them to unblock you, and they never offer an explanation or solution when they do ("just a glitch" they say) - and in the meantime, none of your posts appear in tags and you cannot interact with any of your friends' posts, send/receive messages or asks. for upwards of two weeks.
I have had to completely abandon that entire account and start over to avoid this happening again, losing everything I built up on that account, which sucks ass. I do not want this to happen to any of you.
please stop using a vpn on tumblr!
