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That's the point the parent poster is making: tumblr had incredible growth at the start and stayed popular, but it was difficult to monetize because of the nsfw

That's the point the parent poster is making: tumblr had incredible growth at the start and stayed popular, but it was difficult to monetize because of the nsfw content.

elsonrodriguez 7y ago
It was difficult to monetize because rather than resetting advertiser expectations for what it means to engage with tumblr's user base, they destroyed their product instead.
- Mirioron 7y ago
  You say that, but I'm sure many platforms have tried doing that for a long time. 4chan, for example, struggled with this from the start and as far as I know, they haven't come up with a solution that isn't porn ads.
- djsumdog 7y ago
  We don't have the internal charts of advertisement revenue and engagement. What if they had tried a lot and that line kept shifting down and down, with small bumps here and there with limited sales successes? What if the execs at Verizon were like, "We don't want to keep going down that route .. we don't want those types of advertisers .. we need to not be afraid of associating this more with the Verizon brand?" I have a feeling there was a lot of internal push back and fourth, but they were either losing too much money or only getting advertisers they weren't comfortable with. It's more complicated that just advertisers expectations.
  - lonelappde 7y ago
    Apple locked NSFW off Tumblr via it's App Store lockdown. https://www.fastcompany.com/90304153/seven-weeks-after-nsfw-ban-tumblr-still-bulges-with-porn https://www.fastcompany.com/90304153/seven-weeks-after-nsfw-...
    - loceng 7y ago
      From my understanding this was due to excess or unreasonably long times to remove child sexual abuse content.
- catalogia 7y ago
  > "resetting advertiser expectations for what it means to engage with tumblr's user base" If the only way to save your platform is to reform society, then your platform is already dead.
rpmisms 7y ago
Doesn't change that the NSFW content was the glue for the community. Without a community, you don't even have a chance at monetiztion.
- mbreese 7y ago
  Well, that's also the question -- if they hadn't allowed NSFW content in the beginning, would a different community (an easier to monetize community) have arisen? There's no way to know.

That's the point the parent poster is making: tumblr had incredible growth at the start and stayed popular, but it was difficult to monetize because of the nsfw content.

elsonrodriguez 7y ago

It was difficult to monetize because rather than resetting advertiser expectations for what it means to engage with tumblr's user base, they destroyed their product instead.

Mirioron 7y ago
You say that, but I'm sure many platforms have tried doing that for a long time. 4chan, for example, struggled with this from the start and as far as I know, they haven't come up with a solution that isn't porn ads.
djsumdog 7y ago
We don't have the internal charts of advertisement revenue and engagement. What if they had tried a lot and that line kept shifting down and down, with small bumps here and there with limited sales successes? What if the execs at Verizon were like, "We don't want to keep going down that route .. we don't want those types of advertisers .. we need to not be afraid of associating this more with the Verizon brand?" I have a feeling there was a lot of internal push back and fourth, but they were either losing too much money or only getting advertisers they weren't comfortable with. It's more complicated that just advertisers expectations.
- lonelappde 7y ago
  Apple locked NSFW off Tumblr via it's App Store lockdown. https://www.fastcompany.com/90304153/seven-weeks-after-nsfw-ban-tumblr-still-bulges-with-porn https://www.fastcompany.com/90304153/seven-weeks-after-nsfw-...
  - loceng 7y ago
    From my understanding this was due to excess or unreasonably long times to remove child sexual abuse content.
catalogia 7y ago
> "resetting advertiser expectations for what it means to engage with tumblr's user base" If the only way to save your platform is to reform society, then your platform is already dead.

rpmisms 7y ago

Doesn't change that the NSFW content was the glue for the community. Without a community, you don't even have a chance at monetiztion.

mbreese 7y ago
Well, that's also the question -- if they hadn't allowed NSFW content in the beginning, would a different community (an easier to monetize community) have arisen? There's no way to know.