Dear Tumblr @staff

Dear Tumblr @staff

I am not just a variable in your algorithm. I am not merely a number in the statistics that you used to first sell yourself to Yahoo in 2013 for $1.1 Billion and thereafter gave a stated value of $618 Million when Yahoo sold its complete portfolio of holdings to Verizon in 2016. 

I am not a pornbot. I am not a spambot. I am not a purveyor of child pornography nor am I one who promotes racist, fascist, or other hate fueled speech (although these latter content categories appears to be saved from your culling). I am not a computer generated program to infiltrate your platform for any nefarious purpose. 

I am a person.  I am an individual. I have been one of your consumers for nearly five years. 

Like many I have never cared about my actual statistics, but at present I have 5,480 followers all of whom are real, actual individuals as I carefully did what you would not or could not do, i.e., weed out bots from my followers and block them (sometimes as many as 20 a day).

I presently follow 1,296 blogs, all of which are also real, actual individuals as I did not blindly follow any blog that appeared on my feed or followed me, but only those with the evident personalized creative content of its owners whether that be original content or expressed through reblogs of others original content to create an individualized expression.

I am both what is reported to be among the 1% of your total users who created this content and the 22% of your total users who consumed this content; content which was reported to comprise (at least in 2013) 11% of your top 200,000 blogs; and content that is reported to be your “top driver of traffic to Tumblr” which accounted for your largest content category at 20.53% of total clicks (as compared to the next largest category “books and literature” at 7.61%).

I am just one of those open and upfront about my desired content.  I will not “out” them, but you might be surprised to discover how many adults followers of mine do not have any such content on their own Tumblr. Beyond those that expressly follow, my feed contains not infrequent and often repeated visits by many who make evident their enjoyment of the content that does not appear on their own Tumblrs.  I am willing to bet that you have not made any accounting for how your decision may impact their future consumption. I’ll certainly be watching your next valuation.

You determined to take what had been exalted as a home for marginalized individuals and have chosen to minimize them.  

You have chosen to devalue me.

But I know who I am. I know my value.

I am just one.     

Yet, I am one of many.

I am one that when joined with others creates multitudes.

And it is this multitude who have contributed mightily to your platform. We are the ones who are among the “generation of artists, writers, creators, curators, and crusaders to redefine our culture and to help empower individuality” that you boasted your platform contained.

Enjoy your defined version of “a better, more positive Tumblr” that seeks to foster “diversity of expression” while restraining the expression of “sex positivity, your relationships, your sexuality, and your personal journey.”

And I am one, hopefully of many, that will purposefully close their account on December 18, 2018 so that I will no longer be counted among your consumers as you shop for purchasers, advertisers, and financial supporters in the future. I will be one, hopefully of many, that will terminate my account on December 18, 2018 so there is no question whatsoever as to the reason for my departure.

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On a personal note. To those here whom I have met, conversed, shared, or simply liked or reblogged content, Thank you. I can truly say my life has been enriched by the interaction with you. May you be well. May you never accept being marginalized in any environment or by any individual or group. 

May you be free. 

May you find comfort. 

May you find acceptance. 

May you and I, again one day, find each other.

Citations:

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/4xa8v3/so-how-much-porn-is-on-tumblr 

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/12/verizon-takes-aim-at-tumblrs-kneecaps-bans-all-adult-content/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/03/tech/tumblr-bans-pornography-adult-content/index.html

https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/28/tumblr-just-added-a-switch-in-the-ios-settings-that-lets-you-turn-back-on-the-porn/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/12/04/tumblrs-nudity-crackdown-means-pornography-will-be-harder-find-its-platform-than-nazi-propaganda/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3d434b453780

https://bgr.com/2018/12/03/tumblr-adult-content-ban-starts-dec-17/

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46435975