"I've been here six years, and prior to that I was studying Tumblr in grad school and at my previous job, and every day I'm still surprised to find something where I'm just like, 'Whoa, someone thought of this, this is awesome.'" It's a reversal of the idea that anonymity on the internet is automatically a bad thing, having opened the door to trolls and the darkest aspects of the internet. Back when Yahoo bought Tumblr, then-CEO Marissa Mayer had seen blogging site, founded by David Karp in 2007, as a potential major source of new revenue growth and a way into the social-media space. Greetings, old-timer. You could find an audience for your art or writing, inspired perhaps by your favorite sci-fi franchise. We need places for people to go other than Facebook, which ties everything you do to a single identity; other than Twitter, with its neat little 280-character boxes and sense that you're yelling into the void; other than the Instagram show window, where resharing and opportunities for multiperson discourse aren't built into the platform's core mechanism. If you follow Swift on Tumblr you'll be familiar with the sense of intimacy between her and her thriving fan community. Verizon Looks to Unload Tumblr Blogging Site ... a free service with more than 400 million blogs. Despite the decline, there's life in it yet, what with a current tally of 475 active million blogs, according to the platform's own stats. These days, the fandoms are many and varied, based on diverse interests, including F1 and WWE. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Tumblr is still a safe space for many internet users. Tumblr, the onetime darling of social media, sold for a whopping $1.1 billion in 2013. By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider When Yumna, a 21-year-old Londoner, attended one of Swift's prerelease album-listening parties, known as Secret Sessions, last month, the artist told her that she'd been chosen after taking part in a selfie night. Brennan believes there's something for everyone on Tumblr. Take Taylor Swift, whose use of Tumblr is fully public and yet feels to her fanbase -- and possibly to her -- like a private forum. For many users, a significant part of Tumblr's appeal is the ability to disguise your true identity. "The Swiftie fandom can be seen as a mini society in itself, and so it is important to celebrate those within this fandom who are ethnic minorities or part of the LGBTQ+ community, just as it is important to do so in society itself," Yumna told me over email. If you’re a regular reader here at TIME Tech, you can skip this post entirely, as you already know what Tumblr … Other blogging platforms reported seeing an influx of new users since Tumblr announced its policy change. (Just look at 8chan and parts of Reddit.). Since the debut of the TV show Good Omens in May of this year, it has consistently been the top fandom on Tumblr in every weekly Fandometrics report, according to Brennan. "Tumblr has a completely open discourse about sex unlike any other social media site," feminist porn director, producer and screenwriter Erika Lust told HuffPost. Got a tip about it? But on Tumblr, you might find friends who are the first you've had who understand your hidden disability and are willing to listen to how it affects your life. Tumblr is a unique blogging site that specializes in striking visual design. It features NSFW GIFs, videos, sexy black-and-white photos, and more tailored for women. Pornhub wants to buy Tumblr and restore site to former porn-filled glory Tumblr owner Verizon seeks buyer months after banning adult content. However, traffic to the blogging platform fell after it enacted a ban on adult content. Tumblr, one of the oldest and largest blogging platforms on the web, has announced it will ban adult content. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop. You may have issues accessing it though — I got an error message when I tried to set up my trial because of the unusually "high amount of traffic" the site is getting. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. Most people have written off Tumblr, but there's still value that's harder quantify. "I think he seemed to understand Tumblr, a little more than maybe previous owners, which I think really bought it just because it was a hot item," said Kohnen, who is interested in the idea of providing different access tiers, some of which are paid. Within Swift's Tumblr fandom, it was the discourse around inclusion and visibility for minority fans that resulted in the creation of the LGBTQ, disability and Swifties of Color selfie nights. Recently, she's noticed a sharp increase in the amount of outdoorsy content people are posting -- cozy cottages, camping, that kind of thing. In an interview, Melanie Kohnen, assistant professor of rhetoric and media studies at Lewis & Clark University, noted the importance of Tumblr in popularizing what are today internetwide modes of creativity, such gifsets and meme culture. Pillowfort. Some surnames have been excluded to protect the privacy of contributors. Many former Tumblr users are looking for a new site to host their content and discussions. ", "Some of you might be dismayed at the thought of more lewd content on NG while others are super excited," a post welcoming Tumblr users says. Dreamwidth is a free platform for "creative folk" who want to share artwork and creative writing. In part, this could possibly be attributed to the fact that Neil Gaiman, who wrote the Good Omens series, is active on the platform, engaging with fans and sharing their creative work. A blogging site called Tumblr will be strutting some new-found clout at Fashion Week, with designers making room for dozens of its writers at their shows. Tumblr's NSFW ban comes at great cost to the community and little gain to the company's long-term prospects. There’s even an instant-post button to include quotes from other blogs. A new era for Tumblr. For many, Tumblr was seen as a safe space used for exploration and self-expression. More than 665,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to "make Tumblr rescind their adult content ban.". This sense that Tumblr is a safe space for minorities isn't unique to Swift.