I’m quitting Tumblr
I’m making the decision to leave Tumblr. @staff @support
Having been on Tumblr since 2010, I never really thought about when this day would come, but now more than ever, I don’t see why not.
It has been a great journey, I won’t forget that. From writing little poems to writing more about my personal experiences to reblogging Cyanide and Happiness comics, to memes, dogs, motivational quotes, inspirational images and building a positive community of my own, it felt so empowering and gave me something to look forward to during my high school and my college years.
It was addictive. It felt rewarding when I was featured on Tumblr’s “radar”- hand-picked showcase of creative, interesting, and awesome posts. It was my go-to mood booster. I read up on news, learned new terms, saved a ton of hilarious, fun gifs (back when Tumblr did not have a button to easily look up gifs and what not), became heavily invested in social justice issues, posted my ideas, learnings, what I stand for, and have people thank me and my blog for existing.
I connected with other people from all over the world. I met up with two of my Tumblr friends in person. I could share my thoughts, genuine interests, and have it liked and reblogged by thousands? It felt like a platform I was never ever going to see myself exit from.
Until the start of this year. I don’t feel safe on Tumblr.
On December 17, 2018, Tumblr’s ban on adult content went into effect (after the fact that Tumblr’s official app was removed from Apple’s App Store over the discovery of child pornography on the site). That meant that all pictures, GIFs, and videos that feature erotic content will be removed from the site.
A reblogged photo from back in 2011 of a newborn’s feet was flagged but when a porn blog (blacksinasian) decides to share my (fully clothed) self portraits and write crude things on it, impersonate me in writing those things to lead people to my Tumblr and social media- that is not okay.
I had to find out through Instagram DMs when some people let me know that they saw me on Tumblr, asked if I had Tumblr and if I knew that my pictures were being circulated on Tumblr.
This is screwed up on so many levels. I never agreed to allow my content to be used in this way. The blog decided to repeatedly take my content and twist it in their own nasty words.
This is unwanted harassment and violation of community guidelines, but Tumblr decides to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
I sent in a support request January 21, 2019. I received NO reply whatsoever and followed up on February 5, 2019 to which I receive a reply to on February 11, 2019 with the following:
Hello,
Thank you for writing in. It sounds like you may be reporting a violation of our Community Guidelines instead of a technical issue on the site. In order to more quickly and efficiently handle this, we ask that you use our online Abuse forms located here:
https://www.tumblr.com/abuse
To report a post in the mobile apps, just click the share icon (that paper airplane) and choose “Report.” That’ll open the form and you can tell us what you’re reporting from there. To report an entire blog, tap the blog’s username to view their blog, then tap the little human icon, and then tap “Report.”
Please select the form that most closely corresponds to the violation you’re reporting, which will help us correctly route your complaint.
We appreciate you taking the time to write in.
Jay,
Tumblr Community Support
_
That was a slap in the face. It was a response that was like, oh, seems like you sent in your request to the wrong department, here, try again, I won’t bother reading your request and helping you to route it to the right place and resolve it ASAP. That was terrible customer service for someone who has been a loyal user since 2010. Thanks a lot, Justin. Or as you called yourself in the email, Jay.
After reporting abuse and writing the description of the abuse AGAIN, I received an automatic message from Tumblr Trust & Safety with the below message:
Hello,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We’re checking out the content and will determine an action appropriate to our policies and procedures.
In the meantime, we do strongly suggest you block this user. If you need help doing so, have a look at the docs (
https://www.tumblr.com/docs/en/social#blockactions
). Blocked users can’t follow you, can’t see your posts on their dashboard, reblog your posts, like your posts, or do anything else with your posts. You also won’t get Asks or Fan Mail from users you’ve blocked, and you won’t appear in their search results.
Keep in mind that we don’t notify bloggers that you’ve blocked them—although they may realize it if they try to reblog one of your posts, say, and are prevented from doing so.
Tumblr Trust & Safety
Tumblr.com/abuse
_
Gee, thank you so darn much. Can you tell me something actually valuable in less words? The fact that Tumblr could not give less of a crap about this shows just how hopeless Tumblr is. Take a hard look at your own Community Guidelines and tell me that you’ve done everything you can to uphold all of that. Theblacksinasian blog clearly violated some of these guidelines and they’re still out there, posting away. No suspended account, no consequences. And I’m left here spending countless amount of time and effort in writing something that Tumblr will most likely ignore for the umpteenth time.
Yeah sure, thank you for being the platform from which I got to experience laughs, meaningful conversations, humor, and encouragement. That can be found elsewhere. This just isn’t worth it.
Goodbye.
To all my wonderful mutuals and friends old or new on here, you can find me on Instagram.