pinkbabyprincessblocklist:

chubby-baby:

femme-cutie:

theropegeek:

Dear Tumblr Staff,
I am writing in regard to your recent decision to block links to the site “ManyVids.”

I’m not sure if Staff understands the full extent of negative impact that this decision may ultimately have for the Tumblr community, the artists and performers affected, and the bottom line of Yahoo shareholders. 

What fuels the Tumblr community are the creative minds who produce free content for you–photographers, writers, design geeks, “cam girls,” or anyone else.  These individuals effectively work for you for free.  They are your greatest resource, and they are what sets you apart from your competition. 

The primary incentive for many of these individuals to produce free content is the chance to simultaneously market paid content available through sites such as Etsy, ManyVids, Patreon, etc.

Blocking links to ManyVids removes that incentive for a sizable chunk of the Tumblr Community.  It increases the extent to which you must rely on individuals willing to produce content for truly nothing, and on content which is–frankly–simply stolen from other websites. 

For the artists and performers affected, this decision is potentially devastating.

  The independently-operating sex workers who rely on sites like ManyVids for their livelihood are typically a far cry from wealthy Hollywood “porn stars.”  These are often highly vulnerable individuals struggling to make ends meet, and for many of them, the decision to block ManyVids will take a bite from their already sparse wallets. 

From a shareholder perspective, this decision has the potential to destroy a great deal of the competitive advantage that your website currently enjoys.  If sex workers can’t make it economically viable to produce content for you, then you’ve just made Tumblr notably less interesting. You’ve also created a mile-wide market opening for a competitor to welcome them (and their numerous fans) with open arms. 

If the goal is to remake Tumblr with a more “family friendly” image, then it will be significantly more difficult to set your site apart from competitors such as Instagram and Facebook. If that’s the long-game here, then to say the least, I’m glad that I don’t have your job.

And from a personal perspective, this decision effectively amounts to biting the hand which has fed you.  Some of these artists and performers have spent months or years building up a following on your website in order to finally enjoy a baseline of economic security. For some of them, this decision takes that away in one fell swoop. 

For clarification, I do not personally rely on ManyVids for income. I’m a photographer and kink-educator who sells adult-oriented products via Etsy. None the less, as someone who relies on social media marketing for my livelihood, this decision has particular resonance for me. And as a businessman whose target customer deomgraphic is the same as the sex workers who have been alienated by this decision, the blocking of ManyVids forces me to ask tough questions about this website and my future role as a content-producer for you.

As such, I strongly encourage you to consider revoking the ban on links to ManyVids.  I hope you do the right thing.

-TheRopeGeek

@staff

@staff

@staff

@staff