tumblr, the platform that defined a generation with memes and adult content, is back in the spotlight. After Automattic acquired the company that owns WordPress in 2019, some remain hopeful that things will return to normal. Unfortunately for them, auto not going back and made it clear that porn will not return to Tumblr.
In a blog post, Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic and co-founder of WordPress, explained why there is no place for adult content in the current strategy. Mullenweg acknowledges that the policy of allowing pornography has helped create a niche on Tumblr. However, times are changing and it is impossible to have an internet platform with random porn rules like it was in 2007.
The CEO of Automattic notes that while they are working on being more open, the reality is that very difficult to monetize Tumblr like in the past. To begin with, credit card companies are against pornography. Mullenweg cites the example of Mastercard, which changed the rules a year ago and, along with Visa, severed its relationship with PornHub.
You may have heard that Pornhub no longer accepts credit cards. […] Whatever crypto-utopia may emerge in the coming decades, today if you are locked into banks, credit card processing and financial services, you are locked into the modern economy.
Matt Mullenweg
“Apple and Google against pornography”
Matt mentions another important issue, namely: app stores like Apple or Google are against pornography. “Apple has its own rules about what’s allowed in the App Store, and the interpretation of those rules can vary depending on who’s viewing your app on any given day,” he said.
The co-founder of WordPress goes further and mentions that if Apple banned Tumblr from the App Store, they would have to shut down the service. Those from Cupertino already did this in 2018 due to the discovery of child pornography on the site. A bug in the ranking algorithms led to the suspension of the app store, resulting in a loss of 30% of traffic in the same year.
Consequently, Tumblr banned adult content at the end of 2018 in a decision that upset most of its users. Images, videos, gifs, and all kinds of explicit material have been blocked, and a new content classification system has been implemented. Jeff D’Onofrio, founder and head of the platform at the time, suggested that those who disagree should look for other sites online.
Tumblr can’t review adult content
Although this decision meant breaking the platform, which was in free fall, Tumblr never had resources to rank content. The algorithm they implemented was so bad that it classified any image, including some artwork, as adult content.
Matt Mullenweg points out that the advent of smartphones means that everyone has a camera to take pictures and videos. Not only is it impossible to guarantee that all content posted on Tumblr is consistent, but the company does not have the resources to review each publication do on the platform.
If you want to launch an adult social network in 2022, it must be web-only available on iOS and download on Android, get paid in crypto, be able to convert crypto for business without blocking, work hard on age verification, identification and compliance. so that you don’t go to jail, protect the identity of your users, and make a lot of money.
Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic and co-founder of WordPress
Bring back adult content this would be a death blow for Tumblr, considering the above points. Mullenweg says that 40% of subscriptions and 85% of visits are on mobile devices. In addition, most of Automattic’s revenue comes from people who pay for their services with credit cards.
“If we were to lose the ability to process credit cards, it would be a threat not only to Tumblr, but to the more than 2,000 people who work at Automattic on all of our products,” he said.
Source: Hiper Textual
