Tumblr... grr.

[gremdark]

For those who aren't active on Tumblr right now, a tl;dr. A new update to how notes on reblogs work, which has so far rolled out on desktop and to some mobile users, is breaking the way most people use Tumblr. Each reblog-with-text now has its own likes, comments, and notes section. This means that not all interactions on posts are visible to the OP. Artists are in an uproar, but this also breaks aspects of the block function and removes the ability to turn off reblogs on posts that have been reblogged with text.

With that in mind, I've tentatively offered to give mutuals and longtime followers of my personal tumblr access to this account if they DM me. I'm nervous about that, because I like keeping my online identities pretty siloed. I'd previously only connected this account to my fandom identity. I have a good group of followers over there, though, and I'd be sad to lose them. 

I don't think this is The Big One where everyone flees the Tumblr site like rats from a sinking ship, but it does feel as big as the 2018 porn ban, with the added uncertainty that these changes rolled out the day they were announced. The Changes blog on Tumblr has blithely said that they can see the userbase has strong feelings, which they claim they'll monitor over the "next weeks" of this rollout. I'm certainly concerned and making backup plans.

Those of you who use Tumblr, what do you think of all this? What are you planning?

Comments

[sanguinity]

My identities aren’t siloed, so I’ve always let people know I’m here (and reminded people again last night), but I also don’t pretend that DW and tumblr scratch the same itch.

Monitor and see what happens, I guess. Continue to be vocal as the weeks progress. Archive some of the fic and meta that lives only on tumblr.

And if the dust settles and tumblr is no longer enjoyable, I have dear friends on Mastadon.

[capri0mni]

On Tumblr entries where I put in a lot of my own work (that I absolutely don't want to be hijacked, plagiarized, or used as hate-bait), I will disable reblogs from the beginning, post a mirror of the entry on my journal, here, and post a link at the end of the Tumblr entry. And I'll allow anon replies, which will be invisible until I review and release them.

I will probably be less likely to reblog other people's posts, and I probably won;t post as much, in general (I've currently got my queue set up to post six times a day, not that I've been filling it, lately)..

I suspect this change will backfire for Tumblr, which is likely hoping it will increase traffic and "engagement." I suspect the opposite will happen,

[nonymos]

it looks bad, ngl! i tentatively hope the update will be - well, maybe not rolled back, but a simple way to fix it would be to bring back the total notes count on top of the fragmented notes count. seeing which reblog of a post got more traction isn't UNinteresting, yknow? it's the "hiding notes from the OP and the rebloggers" thing that really feels site-breaking to me. it certainly was enough to send me over here with more determination than the last time i claimed i'd do so, in 2018.

anyway, thanks for the welcome, i'm really determined to build something here this time even if (i hope) tumblr becomes functional again!

[tresfoyle]

tbqh, I've been phasing out tumblr for a Bit now for a number of reasons (site culture in my circles turning rancid is the big one), and this has really only cemented for me that I made the right move looking for more deliberately constrained socmed like dreamwidth. I tried doing the whole "neatly partitioned personae" thing for a long time back when I was p much using tumblr exclusively, and the longer things went on, the more absurd it felt—the more I formally divided up my presence, the more I recognized that the people I saw on one feed continued to be relevant in all of the others. By the time I made the move to cohost (RIP) I decided I was done compartmentalizing, and I feel like I have my priorities straighter now for choosing that.

[alatefeline]

I think all the time I've spent reading on Tumblr without getting an account may be drawing to a close, and that sucks, because the maybe half-dozen author blogs I check regularly may be individuals, but they needed that ecosystem of interaction to be awesome. I think breaking features that enable authentic community-formation is a bonus, not a drawback, for the people running for-profit social media these days. I think I really hope a few specific people move to Dreamwidth. I think I was right to hesitate to get an account in the first place; I was going to get around to it and then the porn bans happened. I think lurking used to be a decent way to get to know an online space, and now the spaces themselves are disintegrating.

I think we're all walking along a crumbling cliff hearing screams from the people scrabbling at handholds halfway down into the abyss while desperately hoping our personal pitons and ropes hold. And it's foggy.

I think it's not the worst idea to respond to problems by making connections and inviting trust. Good for you.