A Missed Opportunity - Tumblr

‘Communication’ is defined by the Oxford Dictionary (2019) as, “the activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information.” It is a recently studied term and it’s vital to understand its complexity as meanings can be mixed. Personal life narratives impact how people interpret language. While cultures teach basic symbol to word connections, messages can be skewed (Mentioned in Kuttainen, BA1002 Lecture Narrative and Communication, 2019). One fact is certain: Communication is mandatory for societies.  I’ll be investigating the community of Tumblr's communications. 

Tumblr founded in 2007 by David Karp, is a social networking and microblogging website (Morimoto, L. 2018) which describes themselves as: 

Image 1: Tumblr’s Description (Tumblr, 2019)

I will focus on their claim of putting 'anything a user wants' up. It’s assumed Tumblr is referring to media types due to the paratext (Image 1). Nevertheless, the vibrant colours and tone paints a picture of a platform where free speech is fully supported. When signing up, Tumblr doesn’t limit how the user defines themselves, allowing any descriptions and interests to be displayed. Yet Tumblr has always had limits - eg: extreme content such as videos of murder. Nevertheless, it maintained an open space for many communities to build up over a decade. Last year this changed with large sweeping bans on explicit content - predominantly sexual. Tumblr doesn’t limit what the user can/cannot display about themselves. Nonetheless, they are controlling what content is available on the platform thus restricting users choices.

The first step towards the ban appears to be Apple banishing Tumblr’s app in November 2018 from the iOS store due to reported child pornography. Tumblr began a sitewide removal on pornography. Many users complained that their Not Safe For Work (NSFW) blogs had been unfairly purged in the sweep (Romana, A. 2013). Apple’s “fix it or leave” attitude appears to have affected Tumblr to the point of creating a blanket ban on explicit content during December 2018. Specifically “sexual content and nudity (with some exceptions)” in December 2018, which is also the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (Olson, M. 2018). Tumblr’s actions came from a good place (correcting past mistakes), but it has left its community in shambles looking for new platforms (Image 2).

Image 2: Users looking for new platform (Romano, A. 2018)

While the ban focused on pornography present on the site, not all users see or look for it, yet there are many unrelated communities affected (Figure 1) including 'self-harm'. While many may think it creates a depressive environment which inevitably supports self-harm, the para-text options facilitate diverse and sometimes conflicting representations and meanings associated with self-harm (Seko, Y. 2016). A key need highlighted by many mental health organisations is the knowledge that they are not alone (Gladwell, H. 2019; Lifeline, n.d.). Before Tumblr wiped out the community it could have been a great place to target youth facing social and mental health challenges and provide help. 

Figure 1: Pornography on Tumblr (Pearson, J. 2016)

Tumblr is the perfect example of how without communication people are lost - there are no communities. By banning a wide array of content, one of the most open platforms began inflicting social conformity upon its users.  I believe it restricts both people and solutions to help those in need. Time will tell what Tumblr chooses to do regarding the matter in future.

References:

Gladwell, H. (2019). When You Don’t Want to Be Here, but You’re Too Afraid to Die.  Retrieved on the 29th of August 2019 from. https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/suicidal-but-afraid-to-die#1 

Kuttainen, V. (2019). BA 1002 Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Lecture 5 Narrative and Communication. [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au  

Lifeline. (n.d.)  Preventing Suicide. Retrieved on the 29th of August 2019 from. https://www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/topics/preventing-suicide 

Morimoto, L. and Louisa, E.S. (2018). "Tumblr and Fandom" [editorial]. Transformative Works and Cultures, N/A. no. 27. Retrieved 29th August 2019 . DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3983/twc.2018.1580.

Olson, M. (2018). Tumblr Moves To Ban All ‘Adult Content’ After App Store Crackdown. Retrieved on 29th August 2019 from. https://digg.com/2018/tumblr-explicit-adult-content-policy-ban-december 

Oxford Dictionary. (2019). Communication noun. Retrieved on 29th August 2019 from. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/communication

Pearson, J. (2016). So… How Much Porn Is on Tumblr?. Retrieved on the 29th of August from. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4xa8v3/so-how-much-porn-is-on-tumblr

Romano, A. (2018). Tumblr is banning adult content. It’s about so much more than porn. Retrieved on 29th August 2019 from. https://www.vox.com/2018/12/4/18124120/tumblr-porn-adult-content-ban-user-backlash 

Seko, Y. and Stephen, P.S. (2016). The self—harmed, visualized, and reblogged: Remaking of self-injury narratives on Tumblr. Retrieved on 29th August 2019 from. https://doi-org.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/10.1177/1461444816660783