Burger Kang @burgerkangwhopper - Tumblr Blog

we all have that one friend

Hey Tumblr–

A couple of weeks ago we announced an update to our Community Guidelines regarding adult content, and we’ve received a lot of questions and feedback from you. First and foremost, we are sorry that this has not been an easy transition and we know we can do a better job of explaining what we’re doing. We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy task and we appreciate your patience as we work through the challenges and limitations of correctly flagging tens of billions of GIFs, videos, and photos.

Today, December 17th, our policy begins to take effect. This means that we will start hiding – not deleting – posts that contain GIFs, videos, and photos from public view that are in violation of our policy. Again, this is a complex problem, and over the coming weeks we will gradually, and carefully, flag more adult content. (Yes, we will still make mistakes, but hopefully fewer and fewer.)

More importantly, we want to clarify the things that you, as a community, have asked about the most.

Tumblr will always be a place to explore your identity. Tumblr has always been home to marginalized communities and always will be. We fully recognize Tumblr’s special obligation to these communities and are committed to ensuring that our new policy on adult content does not silence the vital conversations that take place here every day. LGBTQ+ conversations, exploration of sexuality and gender, efforts to document the lives and challenges of those in the sex worker industry, and posts with pictures, videos, and GIFs of gender-confirmation surgery are all examples of content that is not only permitted on Tumblr but actively encouraged.

We also want to reiterate some important information from our Support post:

Your content will not be deleted. If your post(s) are flagged under the new policy, they will be hidden from public view and will only be visible to you. You can appeal these flags if you feel your content was erroneously marked as adult content. Upcoming feature changes will also make appeals more manageable for those of you with multiple flagged posts. Your blog won’t be deleted if you’ve posted adult content in the past, and there is nothing you need to do if you have interacted with adult content up until now–it will just be flagged and not publicly viewable. Don’t forget too that you can download your content. It’s yours after all, and we don’t take that lightly.

What is still permitted? We’ve heard a lot of concern about what the policy does not permit, but we want to make sure that you also know what is still permitted:

Written content such as erotica, nudity related to political or newsworthy speech, and nudity found in art, specifically sculptures and illustrations, is also stuff that can be freely posted on Tumblr. Although, photorealistic imagery or photography – images, videos, or GIFs – with real humans that include exposed genitals or female-presenting (yeah, we know you hate this term) nipples or depict sex acts is not allowed per our guidelines.

Examples of exceptions that are still permitted but that you may need to appeal if they are misclassified 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.

The automated tools will improve. Having a post mistakenly flagged as adult totally sucks; we understand and agree that there have been too many wrongfully flagged posts since we announced the policy change. With tens of billions of GIFs, videos, and photos to review and millions of new posts every day, we really need your help to get it right.

The more you help by reporting content that’s not permitted and by appealing content that you believe was flagged incorrectly, the better our automated tools will get at classifying your posts correctly. The more content these tools review, the more they will learn the difference between what’s permitted and what’s not. Most importantly, your content won’t be deleted if erroneously flagged and all appeals will be sent to a real, live human who can make the appropriate call.

We love Tumblr and the communities that call Tumblr home. You are Tumblr. This place has always been a reflection of the voices and communities that thrive here. As you’ve always done, help us continue to shape Tumblr into the community you want it to be.

2018-12-02

North County, San Diego

#surfing

for the gram

staff

We’re taking steps to protect against future interference in our political conversation by state-sponsored propaganda campaigns

Hi Tumblr,

We’re all grappling with the influence that state-sponsored disinformation campaigns can have on our political conversations—and how wide-spread that interference turned out to be. So please take a moment to read this, think about it, and talk about it.

Last fall, we uncovered 84 Tumblr accounts linked to the Russian government through the Internet Research Agency, or IRA. These accounts were being used as part of a disinformation campaign leading up to the 2016 U.S. election. After uncovering the activity, we notified law enforcement, terminated the accounts, and deleted their original posts. Behind the scenes, we worked with the Department of Justice, and the information we provided helped indict 13 people who worked for the IRA.

Now that the investigations are done, we want to let you know how we’re going to help protect Tumblr in the future and what you can do to help.

Here’s what we know about these accounts

The IRA employs more than 1,000 people who engage in electronic disinformation and propaganda campaigns around the world using phony social media accounts. Their goal is to sow division and discontent in the countries they target. What makes them so difficult to spot is that they’re not spambots. They’re real people who get trained and paid to spread propaganda.

As far as we can tell, the IRA-linked accounts were only focused on spreading disinformation in the U.S., and they only posted organic content. We didn’t find any indication that they ran ads.

Remember, the IRA and other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns play off our zero-sum politics. They want to drive a wedge between us so that we spend our time fighting with each other instead of building towards the future. We’ll be watching for signs of future activity, but the best defense is knowing how they operate and how to judge the content you see.

What we’re doing in response to the interference

First, we’ll be emailing anyone who liked, reblogged, replied to, or followed an IRA-linked account with the list of usernames they engaged with.

Second, we’re going to start keeping a public record of usernames we’ve linked to the IRA or other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns. We’re committed to transparency and want you to know everything that we know.

We’ve decided to leave up any reblog chains that might be on your Tumblrs—you can choose to leave them or delete them. We’re letting you decide because the reblog chains contain posts created by real Tumblr users, often challenging or debunking the false and incideniary claims in the IRA-linked original post. Removing those authentic posts without your consent would encroach on your free speech—and there have been enough disruptions to our conversations as it is.

What we’re doing to stop future disinformation campaigns

You’ve probably read that U.S. intelligence officials expect foreign agents to try similar propaganda campaigns in the future. We’ll be monitoring Tumblr for signs of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, and if we see anything we will…

Terminate the accounts and remove their original posts.

Notify you if we determine that you’ve liked, reblogged, replied to, or followed a propaganda account.

Add the username to the public record.

Alert law enforcement.

There are also things you can do to help stop the spread of disinformation and propaganda.

Be aware that people want to manipulate the conversation. Knowing that disinformation and propaganda accounts are out there makes it harder for them to operate. The News Literacy Project has this handy checklist for spotting their tricks.

Be skeptical of things you read. Disinformation campaigns work because they know people don’t fact check. Look for reliable sources, and double-check that the source really says the same thing as the post. You can also check Snopes and Politifact. Both are award-winning resources and usually have the latest viral claim fact checked on the front page.

Correct the record. When you see people spreading misinformation—even unintentionally—politely say something in a reblog or reply. If it’s your friend, send them a message to let them know.

One last note: Please vote.

Transparency won’t mean a thing if we don’t participate in the process. Whatever your political stance, voting ensures a government that represents your interests. For our U.S. users: You can register online or by mail, and many states are holding primaries right now.

bill murray playing catch

support

Maintenance notice

We’re performing server maintenance starting 3 a.m. EST on August 16. It won’t take longer than a day, but during that time you may experience increased latency and intermittent problems with posting.

Sorry about the inconvenience, Tumblr. We appreciate your patience.

definitely getting married right? i'm being asked about travel insurance

@bdenney

staff

The perfect gift: It’s TUMBLR TV for the new Apple TV, and it does exactly what you think it does. Here’s what it does: It shows millions of GIFs on your TV. It makes your living room a wonder to behold. Welcome to heaven. Have a good holiday!

To get TUMBLR TV for your TV, just search for “Tumblr” in the Apple TV App Store. To watch it on the web, click here.

bill

Today is my last day at Tumblr.

For the past three years I have gotten out of bed, hopped on a train, walked through a frosted glass door with a “t” logo on it, and lived a dream that never stopped coming true. Tumblr is filled with the most intelligent, passionate, creative, and dedicated people, and getting to surround myself with that all day for such a long period of time has been a privilege I’m not sure I could have ever earned. I’m sincerely going to miss it, but I have to continue forging my own story and living my best life.

The most impressive thing about the people at Tumblr is that nobody here is just punching the clock. Every single person cares about the product and the community. It’s infectious. Even people who come to Tumblr just for the technology or opportunity have found immense joy in creating and sustaining a platform that gives a voice to millions of people around the world. You might expect that sort of dedication in something of high ideals like space exploration or cancer research. But to see it in a whimsical platform for creative expression that treats celebrities, nobodies, minorities, the marginalized, the downtrodden, and the downright absurd as equals is incredible. And why shouldn’t that be a high ideal? Anyone can come to Tumblr to have a voice and tell their story. It’s a service that this ever-divisive world needs more and more.

Of course, Tumblr is never perfect. Nothing created for millions of people will be universally loved. But I can tell you that everyone at Tumblr genuinely cares. They read feedback from the community and really do take it to heart. And when you do that, you become well acquainted with the popular meme of hating Tumblr for the changes that they make. I get it. It’s edgy, it’s cathartic to complain. But remember, there are real humans on the other side reading your feedback, taking it to heart, and tossing in the dark at 3AM trying to figure out how to make Tumblr better, how to improve one little thing for millions of people, how to make someone they’ll never meet happy. These people love and use Tumblr just as much as you do, and they’ll continue to work tirelessly to make it better.

So as I move out of Tumblr and on to new and exciting challenges, I want to take a moment to acknowledge and thank everyone at Tumblr. You may know them as “Tumblr Staff,” the meme, the unfeeling monolith of little foresight or regard. But I have known them all as individuals, and their obsession with Tumblr and their dedication to making it better and better transcends any concept of working at Tumblr as a job. It is a faith. And it’s one that I’ll never lose, even after they take my badge and gun at the end of the day.

And now, back to shitposting. It’s been incredible, Tumblr, and I’m so honored to have been a part of it.