When Tumblr — a platform literally designed for horny teens — announced a blanket porn ban late last year, we predicted its days were numbered. The microblogging platform had always been a safe and sex positive space, and the pivot felt like the end of an era.
Users apparently agree. According to SimilarWeb, Tumblr's web traffic has plummeted by 30 percent since December, the first full month of the porn ban being in place. SimilarWeb data says that Tumblr had an estimated 520 million visits in December, 436 million in January, then 369 million in February. That's a steady drop off.
Tumblr's porn ban was introduced in a rush, in response to the iOS store temporarily removing its official app after reportedly finding evidence of child pornography. Posting "photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content — including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations — that depicts sex acts" will see your blog get flagged by Tumblr's team and reverted to a private setting.
While porn and other erotic content has always pervaded Tumblr, and the platform feels weird without it, user frustration can also be pegged to a faulty porn-detecting computer algorithm that ends up accidentally censoring a lot of completely SFW content on the site. Some bloggers have moved on to alternative online spaces like Mastodon and Pillowfort as a result.
Tumblr is dead, or at least dying. Long live Tumblr. Maybe the teens can start hanging out on Soulja Boy's app?
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